What a long strange trip is been

We finally made it to Santiago and got our compostelas. The city of Santiago was much less eventful than we anticipated. We expected it to be what Rome is to Italy, but we found it less than safe with a large homeless population, and the monuments, though impressive, were not in the good repair we experienced in Italy.   We spent the night in the 15th century monastery and got on the first bus to Finnestere the next morning.

Once in Finnestere we found our lodging at Hotel Allén du Mar. It's the best room, view, and service we have found all month. It is family run and 3 km away from the harbor at Finnestere. They have bicycles available or they will drive you into town as you need. It is new, clean, and our room is spacious. We were only scheduled to stay there two nights, but we liked it so much we canceled our reservation in Santiago and we are staying to stay here 4 nights. Since we extended our stay the friendly staff upgraded us to a room with a large balcony overlooking the beach.  After Finnestere we will taxi to Santiago, fly to Madrid and fly back to the states first thing the next morning.

Today we got up late after the best night's sleep we have had since since we left the US. Breakfast was simple and delicious consisting of coffee,  a fresh fruit salad, fresh squeezed OJ, toast and a semi sweet pineapple upside down cake. More than enough to start the day.

We spent the rest of the morning into the early afternoon exploring the rocks and tide pools at the beach. After that our host drove us into town so we could have a late lunch and go to the grocery store. We ate at El Puerto where the local seafood was as fresh as all of the reviews we read had described.  I started with razor clams (navajas) followed by a variety of pan seered local fresh fish steaks. To finish the feast the waitress brought out a Galician liquor flavored with herbs with a traditional Galician dessert cake. Nap time.

This is the most relaxing time of our trip. It is a nice change from walking all day, finding a place to sleep, hand washing clothes, and packing up the next day just to start the whole process over again.  Lu is especially enjoying daily bubble baths in the oversized bathtub.

Tomorrow we are planning on riding the hotel provided bicycles into Finnestere to explore the city further.   We are both looking forward to that!