Day 26, cooling my heels and bus to Santiago…

I spent day 26 cooling my heels in Villafranca del Bierzo waiting for the bus at 4:20. While waiting for the bus, I ran into two fellow pilgrims from Mexico. One of them had an ankle with considerable tape/bandages on it. With my near useless Spanish and their minimal English we communicated as best we could. I learned the two of them were busing ahead about 50km to await their friends. The one with the bad ankle was told to stay off of it for 3 days. We must have looked like a bunch of mimes as we used hand gestures and pantomime to communicate. As the bus arrived we shook hands and wished each other a Buen Camino.

With the 3 1/2 hour bus ride I arrived in Santiago around 8:30 PM. It took another 45 minutes to navigate the streets to the hotel.

I then set out to find dinner. Having gotten directions from the hotel staff I located a suitable restaurant that had a pilgrims menu. (Discounted menu with three courses). The place I selected was busy, so I grabbed a menu but could not find the pilgrims menu I saw outside. When the waitress arrived I inquired about the pilgrims menu which sent her off to find a different menu. Returning in a hurry she flipped to the page, flashed the page and I said “Si” thinking she would leave the menu, but nope off she went with it in a hurry. So, I guess I was getting what ever the menu was…

I contemplated leaving, but stuck it out and ended up with a delightful bowl of soup, a grilled lamb steak and desert. Yet another adventure! ( Those that know me well understand I am not a very adventurous eater…)