October 17, 2026

Saturday

Santiago de Compostela, A Coruña, España

What a night. At 03:00, just after the bars closed, people were in the street singing and have a good time. By 04:00 they were gone. Then at 05:30 the delivery trucks started to arrive. Arriving wasn’t the issue it was the back-up signals which were maddening. Otherwise, it was a good night.

The bed was comfortable and the room was at a good temperature. You would think after being on the bus as much as we were yesterday and not very much walking, we managed less than 5,000 step, we wouldn’t be tired. However, somehow, we were.

This morning was breakfast here in the hotel. It really isn’t much different from the standard at the other Paradores. Definitely not five star! The cappuccino was mediocre at best. Even the fried eggs and bacon were just ok.

The walking tour began at 09:30 with a tour and explanation of the hotel and its history. Again, a lot of the architectural details have been preserved. It is an impressive complex of buildings and worth staying in should you get to Santiago de Compostela. After walking through the hotel, we went out into the square in front of the building.

We went into the cathedral museum, apparently it is a short cut for getting into the actual church. Again, it is a really impressive building. They have a collection of Goya tapestries which were amazing. The church itself is also quite nice.

This is the outside of the front of our hotel

The outside of the church from the front of our hotel

The main alter, like everything else being restored.

Our group in front of the church 

After the tour we joined up as a group again and had lunch in the hotel. Lunch was salad and little sandwiches (cheese on one and ham on the other, there was a third one but it was tuna, so who cares). There was supposedly a torta de Santiago that was supposed to be something special, but it was an apple pie with no flavor.

The afternoon was “free”. For those who wanted to there was a 5 km walk on the Camino de Santiago. Mary and Maddie did that at 14:30. Mike and I walked to find a bank to get cash to do the tipping of the driver and tour director, Fernando. We also stopped at a pharmacy and got a heated back brace for Mike and a replacement tube of Voltaren Gel I gave to Mike.

The afternoon was spent trying to nap and working on the blog. Mary returned about 17:00. We relaxed until 18:00 when we walked to the Carrefour Market and got some cheese, salami and trail mix for dinner. We came back and sat in the library and ate our dinner and drank a bottle of wine Mike and Maddie has from our stay at the Marques de Riscal hotel.

We returned to the room about 19:30. Mary took a shower. I worked on the blog. Then it was bedtime. In the morning, we leave for Porto, Portugal – 273 km to the south.

Buenas noches y hola - Buonanotte e Ciao,

Enrico e Maria