Sunday 29th June 2014...Camino Day 26!!

Probably had the best sleep last night till 8am the sheets and pillows were so inviting...I could not wait to dash down and see what the breakfast was like... I was so shocked the array of food was incredible and I looked it over and was starting with cereal when the young owner produced this for me to eat!!!! As usual a little found it's way into my lunch bag!! This was taken last night we Pilgrims have to have the luxuries when we can!!! What a magnificent stop over this was for me I arrived yesterday looing like a drowned rat and left this morning as a perky Pilgrim. A walk of 29 km today with not too much to see

and I arrived in Ribadeo around 4pm and had arranged to meet my host Diego at 5pm at the tourist office..so I walked around town and took a couple of shots

and went and met Diego..a nice young man he and Paloma live one minute from the tourist office in a lovely two bed roomed flat... I have my own bedroom and bathroom and use of the house and kitchen..

....Diego and I talked for a few minutes and then he had to leave...amazing a stranger walks into your home and the owner leaves you there a second later!!!!! I got clened up made some tea and then went around the corner to a bar to watch the big game Netherlands V Mexico...it was a great game and the below taken from the Internet!!! Netherlands produced an astonishing late comeback to rescue their World Cup dream and deny Mexico a first quarter-final in 28 years. Substitute Klaas Jan Huntelaar scored the decisive goal from the penalty spot in injury time after Arjen Robben was fouled by Mexico captain Rafael Marquez. They had equalised in the 88th minute through Wesley Sneijder's thumping strike from the edge of the penalty area and with extra time beckoning, Robben won Louis van Gaal's side the spot-kick that took them into the quarter-finals. It was a heartbreaking moment for the Mexicans, who had gone ahead just after half-time through Giovani Dos Santos, the former Tottenham and Barcelona player, who scored from 25 yards with a memorable strike. At the final whistle at Estadio Castelao in Fortaleza, Mexico's players fell to the ground, unable to grasp how the game had slipped away. Match analysis "You have to say you feel sorry for the Mexicans they were brilliant for the first half and maybe 10 minutes of the second. "You really believed that their goalkeeper looked unbeatable. But, however you have to do it, whether it is long ball or technical stuff, you find a way to do it and that is what the Netherlands did. "Robben became unplayable at the end of the game. Running with the ball at pace, he was simply astonishing." For long periods they had out-thought and out-fought their more celebrated opponents as the Netherlands appeared to wilt in the stifling heat. Yet, when the final whistle blew, this would be marked down as the sixth successive time that Mexico have lost in the second round of the World Cup, dating back to 1994. The Dutch will now play Costa Rica or Greece in Salvador in the last eight. The heat was a significant factor throughout. The spiralling temperatures, which reached 38.8C, meant that Fifa allowed two cooling breaks to take place. In parts of the stadium, fans struggled to take their seats because they were in direct sunlight, preferring to stand at the back and watch from an area of shade. On the field there was no hiding place for either side. Mexico played with courage and cohesion, tempo and tenacity. They had the better of the first half, with Hector Herrera and the excellent Miguel Layun a constant thorn in the Netherlands' side. Carlos Salcido tested goalkeeper Jasper Cillessen from distance, while Dos Santos forced another good save from a narrow angle. The Netherlands were struggling in the conditions. Mexico looked more ambitious, more attack-minded. Van Gaal's side sat deep, defended in numbers, sometimes with a back seven, and looked happy to rely on the attacking brilliance of Robin van Persie and Robben. It was a plan that ultimately paid off, but not until very late on. It was not until the second half that Netherlands found their rhythm but by then they were behind. As in the first, Mexico began the second half with a bang - Dos Santos gathered the ball 30 yards out, held off Daley Blind and thumped a wonderful left-foot shot into the bottom corner on the turn. The celebrations rumbled around Estadio Castelao. Mexico might have had another soon after as Marquez headed over from a corner. Could the Dutch respond? Van Gaal moved away from a back five and pushed substitute Memphis Depay into a more attacking midfield role. It almost paid off for Netherlands but the brilliance of Mexico goalkeeper Guillermo Ochoa kept them at bay. Robben's corner was flicked on by Stefan de Vrij but the Mexico goalkeeper reacted instinctively to push the ball against the post and to safety. Huntelaar had seven touches against Mexico after coming on as substitute on 76 minutes, including a goal and an assist. Netherlands have now turned their last four World Cup games in which they fell behind in regular time into a victory. Mexico have failed to win any of their last seven knockout matches at the World Cup Sneijder has scored five goals in his last five World Cup knockout matches for Netherlands The Dutch were coming forward in wave after wave of attacks now. Robben felt he had won a penalty when he went to ground under a challenge by Layun but the referee waved play on. Ron Vlaar headed a Robben corner over the bar as time ticked on. Just as the Dutch looked out on their feet, Sneijder rescued them, pouncing on a loose ball that had run back from a corner and firing an unerring shot low beyond Ochoa to change the game. With 30 minutes of extra time looking likely, Robben raced into the right-hand edge of the penalty area. Marquez stuck out a boot and the Bayern Munich player went to ground for a penalty. Hunterlaar kept his cool to put Netherlands through. So it was heartbreaking to watch and I feel sorry for the players and the fans....now i can cheer for the USA!!! Came home and met Paloma she is lovely and teaches Italian to adults, she welcomed me and said her house was my house.......so the Camino provides again!!! Tomorrow a day off and Diego is going to lend me his bike to go to some beaches about 5 miles away which are supposed to be stunning!!!! Well I surpassed the 600km mark today and have about 220 km left...hard to believe and even harder to believe that I feel so refreshed and healthy.....again thank you so much for the support you have been a big part of this for me...... Yashi Kochi!!