Dear All we haven´t found an internet site for ages so here we are finally in a small Galician town called Playo del Rei (I think).  We passed the 100 Kilometre way marker yesterday which was a moving experience and of course we took photos of ourselves looking at it.  We have moved on now and have about 65 Kilometres to go to SantIago.  We should be there by Tuesday or Wednesday at the latest.  This means we may get to Finisterre, though I´m pretty certain that those 95 KMS will have to be by bus.  We are both excited and delighted to be so close and a little amazed that it´s all so close.  We can´t wait to see Paul and Juan.  

The philosophical discussion for today is on the nature of the true pilgrim.  We have been struck by the number of different ways that people ´do´the Camino and what it means to them and to us.  Christoph,  from Eastern Europe, started off the Camino with his wife Boogie.  He has now decided to go on on his own with no money and see how far he can get in these modern times, with the help and kindness of strangers.  Is he mad or is he pushing the boundaries of the Camino?  There´s a large group of walkers who choose to have their bags sent on by the mule service which operates all along the Camino.  Are they true pilgrims, lazy, or just sensible?  There are many people across Europe who walk the Camino in chunks, year after year picking up where they left off, not having the luxury of 6 weeks from work.  Then there are the weekend walkers who do small chunks of it and I´m sorry to say get in our way and take bunks - making weekends a bit fraught at refugio time.  So where do we fit in all this.  We´ve been very British and queued when we needed to unlike many of our European counterparts; who can be pretty rude at times.  
Mostly we´ve met many wonderful people who walk for diverse reasons, personal, spiritual and meaningful to them.  There is a young Italian couple walking the Camino and getting married in Santiago.  

We walk for our own reasons, carrying our world on our back - not using the mule service.   Ñot really tempted to actually.  We´ve discovered the most wonderful thing; that we miss Paul and Juan and our children and families and friends and just how much they all mean to us.  Six weeks has been a long time away from home, but this last week or so has flown and we have to think about re-entry into real life and how we will have to accomodate being back in a our former roles and not on the road.  Walking, walking, walking.... On the plus side no more bedtimes at 8.30pm, clean clothes not washed in horse trough with cold water or travel wash in stone sink.  Then hung out to dry on our rucksacks with nappy pins - an older German man took a photo of my bra and knickers as they swung in the breeze next to my sleeping roll and Manx Flag and Santiago shell.  We need commission from the Isle of Man Tourist Board as we have told so many people about the IoM, its culture and life and, of course, about the Walking Festival and the TT.  

Since we have been in Galicia we have been surrounded by the most beautiful mountains and hills - it is probably our favourite part of the way.  The flowers are stunning and we have planned a Camino flower bed.  The weather has been fresh and today it rained and we walked through the sort of mist you´d find on the IoM.  We stayed in an Albergue the other day and heard Galician music with all its Celtic overtones and distinctiveness of its own.  We danced with the host Pedro and an Italian cyclist Mario and did a jig of sorts.  Though we love Galicia in actual fact all the walk is different - landscapes, buildings, town and people.  We have loved it all for different reasons and more than just the wine.  

We might manage to get one more diary entry in once we get to Santaigo and perhaps one after we get home for completion.  We feel massages, pedicures, facials and retail therapy coming on.  Joy of Joys! we can actually pull our trousers down without undoing the buttons or zips!  The Camino diet works!