19/5 Thursday Santiago to Negreira 19km
Last Night's evening meal at Restaurante Maria Castaño was with Patrick, Heike, Robyn, Annette all of course I knew and Daniel and Deiter, from Germany who knew the others. A nice meal but so good to spend the last night, for most people, together. Lots of fond farewells at the end of the evening.

My new bunk had a heavy snorer down below and a lot of street party noise too so in the night I moved out and slept well on a couch in the lounge.

Setting out in the morning felt like a whole new start! I was a little worried that my baggage transfer plans might go astray as the hostel seemed a little vague about how the bag could be collected with no one on Reception before 10:30.

I had breakfast on the way out of Santiago and soon after met Zan (pronounced like French Jean) from Slovenia. He was maybe 30 and was good and thoughtful company. He felt the Camino was like life, how you meet people, make friends and then loose them too. Also, that at the start you don't think about the end but the closer you get to the end the more it preoccupies you.

I was already enjoying leaving my weight to the taxi before we stopped for coffee at Alto do Vento after about 6km.

Walking was mostly through woodland and quiet lanes as we approached Ponte Maceira a beautiful riverside lunch spot and another 8 km by 1pm. The restaurant is not the most friendly but the setting fantastic and the scallops we shared were delicious just with bread to soak up the juices.

Before long, after lunch, we were at Negreira and my Albergue Anjana where I said another goodbye to Zan who was aiming for another 7km.

I got sorted, found my luggage with relief and wandered into the small town to check eating options as the Albergue didn't do food. I didn't fancy the large, recommended restaurant but spotted a bar over the road that looked authentic. I asked a lady drinking outside what she made of the place and was soon chatting to Janet, from Canada, about her Camino Portugués.

I decided to go back there in the evening but headed off to the supermarket to buy picnic supplies for tomorrow.