Day77 A Laracha - La Coruna -THE FINAL DAY!

Today we employed a new tactic for my foot!  No painkillers, but I applied a lot of tape to all the right places and we decided we would not mention the foot all the way to La Coruna.  I must say it worked a treat, helped by the thought that this would be the last trek for a long while!

We continued along the AC-552 where we found a lot more traffic than yesterday.  The road is quite narrow in places with no hard shoulder and at times it was scary just how close some of the big lorries came!  After the town of Arteixo we elected to go via the AC-415 which seemed a straighter route.  This worked well although we had to climb a few steep hills before the road levelled out!

The entrance to La Coruna was a bit disappointing as we went in through a large industrial estate.  In addition we went past the local petrol refinery.  It is a sad reflection of the world that we live in that we started our walk going past the refinery in Campamento and finished it also going past a refinery, both of which were belching pollution into the air.  We thought back to our treks along the mountain tops where we breathed clean air and longed for those days again!

The road took us straight into the city centre where we stopped for a photo at the km0 marker.  Later we made our way to the church of Santiago in the old quarter of the city where we had our last stamp on our "credencial".

A tram ride along the seafront followed before we went back to our hotel for a drink and some rest.  Tomorrow morning we are catching a coach to Santiago and hopefully a train to Madrid where we hope to spend a day or two before heading south to Gibraltar.

It still feels incredible that we have walked all this way.  Earlier this evening we were sitting at a bar having a drink when we saw a map of Spain on the wall.  We stared at it in disbelief!  This will take a long time to sink in.  I am not sure how we feel at this moment.  A bit lost, I suppose.  It is already strange not to be thinking of filling our water containers and making sure we have some fruit and dry fruit for the journey tomorrow.  A short day of 15 miles or a long one of 22?  Where are we stopping for the night etc etc.

It is ironic that tomorrow it will take us just one hour to travel by coach from here to Santiago!

Today we were also able to reflect on why we started this walk.  In remembering William, we were also trying to highlight his love of music and his desire that the music scene in Gibraltar continue to flourish.  Towards the end of last year I wrote to the Chief Minister of Gibraltar, The Hon. Peter Caruana, suggesting that the Government might like to mark the 10th anniversary of William's death in some way.

I am delighted to say that he replied immediately and proposed that I speak with the Minister for Culture, The Hon. Edwin Reyes, to consider staging a suitable event.  This I have done and with the help of the Gibraltar Philharmonic Society who are making all the arrangements, a concert is being held at St Michael's Cave in Gibraltar on 2nd September 2010.  Jose Maria Gallardo del Rey, one of the world's leading classical guitarists will be playing the "Concierto de Aranjuez" one of my brother's favourites and one which he played many times with many of the world's leading orchestras.  William's Ave Maria will be sung by Andrea Martin, a local Soprano, who William encouraged to pursue a musical career.  The conductor will be Gibraltar' own Karel Mark Chichon, who is now recognised as one of the leading conductors of his generation. It will be a fitting tribute to William.  Full details of the concert will be available soon.

A few years I walked the Thames Path in memory of William.  A man, Benjamin Spender, turned up at the start of the walk.  It turns out that when he was 13 William taught him to play the guitar.  He now teaches classical guitar at the School of Music & Performing Arts at Bath Spa University.  He has kept in touch with me these past few years and recently sent me a note from which I will quote the following, "Do give my regards to Judas Bensadon if you see him in Gib - we were both "disciples" of William in the early 70's.  Charles Ramirez had already left to study at the Royal College Music by then so I never got to know him.  Charles is now Professor of Guitar at Trinity Guildhall, and in his book, "Technical Development for Guitarists" which is now a major publication in the guitar world, he gives the following dedication "With thanks to the inspired teaching of William Gomez MBE........"

William's legacy lives on and it is imperative that the current Gibraltar Government and all subsequent Governments ensure that music always forms part of Gibraltar's great cultural heritage.

Day 77 San Roque Coristanco - A Laracha

After our very long and tiring walk yesterday we decided to have a short day (for a change!) and set off at 0815hrs intending to reach A Laracha, some 12 miles away. Although it was a shorter journey than usual, it proved to be a painful one as a dose and a half of painkillers failed to alleviate the acute pain in my foot!

Listening to William's music on Ana maria's Ipod helped to ignore the pain. We found the road today leading us through more built up areas than the previous days, indicating we are getting near to la Coruna. Ana maria had fun photographing lots of different flowers. At one point the proud owner of the garden she was shooting insisted that we go in and view her garden from up close!

Many passing cars hooted as they went on their way as an acknowledgement that they knew we were doing the Camino to La Coruna. It lifted our spirits somewhat and we finally arrived in A Laracha at 12.30p.m., for a well deserved rest.

We are treating ourselves to a "suite" at the only local hotel and had lunch at the town's "hotspot", a burger bar!

Tomorrow, God willing, we will reach La Coruna the end of our epic walk. We continue to be amazed that we have made it this far and it is going to be difficult to know what to do with our days once the walk is over. Who knows - we may decide to start planning the next one!

Day 76 Vimianzo - San Roque Coristanco

POSTED ONE DAY LATE

We set off from Vimianzo rather later than planned. We had arranged to have breakfast at our Hostal at 0730 hrs but when we got up we found the place closed. We couldn't just go because we still had to pay for our lodgings. After several phone calls our landlord turned up. He had overslept! He had probably been to a good party on the Friday night!

The weather was overcast with a slight drizzle as we finally set off at 0900hrs with the intention of walking some 14 miles. Unfortunately we were unable to secure any accommodation and had to carry on an additional 6 miles. The last three miles or so were pure agony as my foot had given up by then, but with Ana Maria's support and encouragement we finally arrived in San Roque Coristanco some eight and a half hours later.

The road went uphill for the first six miles or so and then levelled off. We passed innumerable villages where we had trouble finding somewhere to have a drink! at 12.30p.m. we had our weekly live chat with Brooklands FM Radio from a bus stop on the AC-552 where we updated their listeners on having reached Finisterre a couple of days before!

Eventually in San Roque we found the Hostal Alaska which being Saturday had closed its restaurant! (some things just don't make any sense at all). Luckily we found a very nice resturant nearby where we had a delicious mixed grill for dinner while watching Spain beating Paraguay in the world cup.

Tomorrow we hope to reach A Laracha which will then leave us about 13 miles from La Coruna, the end of our epic journey.

Day 75 Muxia - Vimianzo

After talking with various local people and a representative from the Spanish Tourist Office we agreed that the best way to reach La Coruna was to go via two secondary roads all the way.

And so, we set off from a very wet

Muxia, Ana Maria with her poncho on although I decided to brave the weather! We had hoped to refill our water flasks after about seven miles but found the bar closed and had to wait another hour or so before we could have a drink!

The road went up and down like a roller coaster and was quite tiring. Eventually we reached our destination for the day, the town of Vimianzo. We found everyone getting ready for a local fiesta. There is a small but beautiful castle and tomorrow they re-enact the storming of the castle in 1461.

The local bars had stocked up with special tapas at a very low price and so we went on a pub crawl, Spanish style!

Tomorrow we continue for around another 25 kms and hope to reach La Coruna in about three days. On this stretch there are no more "Pilgrims" and we are already missing their company. Walking on the road is not very exciting but it is realistically the only way to get to La Coruna within a reasonable period of time.

We are hoping that the weather will improve tomorrow as we are not looking forward to more rain!

Day 74 - Finisterre - Muxia

POSTED A DAY LATE

In Finisterre we stayed in a Casa Rural where we had one of the best breakfasts we have enjoyed on the whole Camino! The evening before we had met Felix and Francisca from Switzerland and enjoyed talking with them over a bottle of wine! This is really one of the fun things about doing this walk - the amazing number of people one meets. I have no idea what we are going to do when this walk is over!

We left the hotel at 0930hrs, the latest time we have started any day's walk, simply because we intended to do a short ten mile walk. Along the way we met a Spanish couple Antonio and Ester whom we had met before at a couple of Albergues, and a new friend Soona Kwon, from South Korea. All of them had decided to do the long 20 mile walk to Muxia, whereas we had thought of stopping in Lires, the half-way mark.

To cut a long story short, they convinced us to carry on with them to Muxia and so we ended up doing 20 miles! It was truly a fun day and we had lots of laughs on the way. At one point we knew we would have to ford a stream but were assured that the stepping stones there were above water and we would have no problems crossing.

Antonio and Ester went first and after we saw both of them sinking we decided to take

our shoes off and walk over the rather slimy stones. Soona brought up the rear and being very

small she was almost in up to her knees!

The weather throughout the day was at times overcast but mainly sunny and the path took us through woodland, roads and even the beach! At around 6.30 p.m. we staggered into the seaside town of Muxia, rather the worse for wear but happy to have done the 20 miles in one day. Ester, who is a nurse, had given me a pill to line my stomach so that I could take stronger painkillers for my foot and the combination worked well.

Antonio, Ester and the two of us decided to stay at a hostal instead of the Albergue. Mostof the establishments wanted to charge over £80 for rooms not worth more than £30! Once you arrive in Muxia there is nowehere else to go for another 15 miles and so you are caught in a trap! Thankfully we managed to find something on the edge of town where we had a very nice meal. Antonio, who runs a teaching academy and Ester had to catch a bus to Santiago very early the following morning after which they were taking a train to Ciudad Real to start work ma few days later. We have promised to go and see them when we drive back to the UK.

Tomorrow we will carry on to La Coruna. Our first stop will be Vimianzo some 15 miles away, my left foot permitting!