Palas de Rei to Melide (Camino de Santiago)

June 6, 2012 We had gone to bed early last night so had plenty of sleep and only had 8 miles of walking  for the day to get to Melinde. We had decided to break the 16 mile day into two with Mike and Tim pushing on to Santiago. I had a nice breakfast of coffee, juice and a very large pastry but Beck being gluten intolerant only had juice and a piece of fruit. It was a rough start this morning as Beck had a sharp pain in her ankle and kept having to stop to retie her boot laces. I pulled out the athletic tape and was able to tape her ankle and that seemed to do the trick. The morning was cool and cloudy with the path passing  through one small hamlet after another. Many pilgrims are now walking this last stretch of the Camino as one still gets their composela if they walk the last 100 kilometers. We arrived in Melinde around 11:00am and easily found our hotel, Carlos 96. As I tried to use my basic Spanish to check in I was pleased to meet the front desk attendant, a Brit, who as one would imagine spoke perfect English. We had a beer, got our room and quickly headed to the main square to find a pharmacy to purchase more tape for Becks feet. It was still before the 2pm siesta  so we found a restaurant to try the local dish of boiled octopus (pulpo a la Gallega). The small chunks of chewy pungent meat served on a wooden plate was not what I expected and something I will not try again. Journal: ” Only three days remaining after 31 days of walking. I can actually think about this being over. I am very happy to be finishing these last miles of the Camino with Beck.”