So what does one do after walking 790 km across Spain? I flew from Santiago to London’s Gatwick airport. I booked a night in the Bloc hotel. It’s conveniently located on the 3rd floor of the airport terminal. The next morning, I made my way downstairs, to the Underground Station. There was a long queue, at customer service. I was told by a guard to tap my credit card and not bother with getting a ticket. I did as I was told and headed to Paddington station. Once there, I tapped my credit card to exit. At the railway ticket counter, I purchased a one way fare to Cardiff, Wales. I had just enough time to grab something to eat. By 11:00 am, I was seated and ready for departure.

This time last year, I was using the Amtrak rail pass to travel by train in the USA. I spent a month, crisscrossing from Chicago to New Orleans, Los Angeles to Seattle, Seattle back to Chicago, Chicago to Dallas, and Dallas back to Los Angeles. When the long haul trains were stopped, before a supposed strike (that never happened), I went from Chicago to Niagara Falls and crossed into Canada. I road the rails, in both the US and Canada, for almost a month. When my train from Paddington pulled into Cardiff, Wales, in just over two hours, I had to laugh.

After booking and changing hotels, for forty nights, while walking the Camino de Santiago, the ability to be in one place was extremely important. I rented an AirBnB, in Cardiff, for September. I’m now a six to ten minute walk from coffee shops, grocery stores, and American fast food restaurants. The bus to downtown is across the parking lot from a TGI Friday restaurant. I took the bus downtown and had lunch at a recently opened Popeyes (Louisiana Chicken) restaurant. Pilgrim meals on the Camino are now a distant memory.

After all that walking in Spain, I decided to take a Hop on Hop off tour bus, for my first outing. The bus picks up passengers directly across from Cardiff Castle. On a rainy morning, I was the only one there. The driver hinted at the senior discount. When I told him that I really was a senior, a sixty seven years old senior, he was shocked, but very happy to give me the discount. The Hop on Hop off bus tour takes around an hour. You’re given a map with information on the route and earphones. You simply plug in the earphones and select a language. The first time around gave me a good idea of where I wanted to stop, the next time.

I took the bus back around to Cardiff Castle and decided to grab lunch. I went into a Starbucks for coffee (and to recharge my phone). The barista was American. He’s enrolled at the local University. We got to talking and he told me that Popeyes had just opened and it was only three doors down. I ran! Once there, it was so funny watching the reactions of people waiting for their orders. Being new, the restaurant is still frying chicken on demand, while figuring out how much to have on hand. Orders took quite a while to get. If they had red beans and rice, it would have been the perfect post Camino meal. I had to settled for them having biscuits!

After lunch, the sun decided to come out. I hopped back on the tour bus and went around a second time. I almost got off near the BBC Studio and looked for a Dr. Who tour, since the popular series was filmed there. I decided that I was just not ready to walk, for an hour, on a tour. I stayed on the bus. Once back at the Castle, I crossed the street and went inside. One building had 150 stairs to get to the point where you could walk another 100 stairs to get to the top! Too soon! I went into the main information building and charged my phone, so I could Google map my way home. I made the mistake of walking back to the Hop on Hop Off bus. I should have just across the street, after exiting the castle.

I walked ten minutes back from the tour bus and it was just enough time for both knees and my right foot to believe they were back on the Camino. Everything began to hurt and I started walking with a limp. I found the bus stop and had a short wait. I tapped my credit card to pay and took a seat. The bus drove pass the Hop on Hop off bus and then stopped directly across from where I had exited the Cardiff Castle. Then, six stops later, I was back to the strip mall, near the AirBnB. I decided to treat myself to BBQ ribs, at TGI Friday. I tried to break apart the ribs, then to use a knife and cut through the ribs. Both methods were impossible. I turned the meat over to see undercooked fat. I carried the plate back to the kitchen. The cook apologized. He even asked if I wanted the order redone. I said no and settled for having my entire order comped.

I like Cardiff. I like that I have nothing to do in Cardiff. I’ve been sleeping quite well. The only major event has been my toenail coming off. I didn’t stop soon enough, one day, on the Camino. I had an hour to go, after a long day of walking, and I just pushed through the pain. Bad idea! Never push through the pain, on the Camino. I should have stopped and changed both my shoes and socks. I didn’t and a blister formed. The toe began hurting, after my Cardiff tour day. I wrote it off as too much walking. A day later, I felt down to see what was causing the pain and the nail moved. As predicted, on the Camino, I was losing the nail.

I fired up Dr. YouTube and decided to go with the “pull it off if you’re able” camp. To my surprise, a new nail was actually underneath the dead one! It’s a miracle, a Camino miracle! Hey! I’ll take it! XOXO— GGT