St. Jean to Madrid

St. Jean to Madrid

It was a long tourist day, but we had a very nice start by walking back along the Camino for about 5 kilometers to the steel and glass sculpture and pilgrim statues looking down over Santiago. The view was wonderful and we could see the cathedral steeples and a Ferris wheel, that we would seek out later that afternoon. After visiting the statues we walked back trough a huge complex of campgrounds, hotel, and amphitheater that looked to have been closed for several years. Grasses were starting to break through sidewalk and roadway cracks. Aluminum signs where showing oxidation and vinyl letters were peeling and dropping away. It took us 15 minutes to walk through the complex and back to the main road. We stopped for breakfast and I had a chicken cutlet sandwich and a big coffee, Mona had a yoghurt and chocolate croissant.  

We went back to the costa Vella for a shower and a little rest before checkout. We left our bags at the hotel and went for lunch at an amazing tapas place. We ordered by pointing and had a feast. The restaurant has a dumb waiter system were you picked raw dishes from the case and the were shuttled to the kitchen for preparation. After lunch we went to a park and wandered for a while and rested on park benches. Then the big mistake of the day. We decided to ride the little tourist bus on a 45 minute tour of the city. I was miserable after about 15 minutes, the bench seat and tiny footwell was really uncomfortable. Had more tapas for dinner and then a terrifying cab ride to the airport. I think the driver confused “we have plenty of time before the flight” with “if the ice in this cooler melts before we get to the airport this heart won’t make it to surgery”. Needless to say we made it to the airport very early. I had a drink at the bar before the flight. A quick hop to Madrid where we cabbed to an airport hotel.