It was great! We had really nice weather, as forecasted (69 - 72 F max, sunny/partly sunny). It did rain on us one morning, at the start of the ride, for about one hour. Then it cleared up and we were dry by the time we finished the day. Spectacular views, very green hills, and the coast was great. Several bays, deep blue ocean with varying shades of great colors. Hilly terrain, but the hills were doable (unlike the life-sucking hills of England last year). Most climbing was on long (1 to 2.5 miles) but not very steep hills. The descents on the other side were great, sweeping S-turns, broad roads, smooth pavement. There was nothing flat, though - we were always either pedalling up a hill or coasting fast on the descents. (Except for one day were there were flat areas, between the coast and Santiago de Compostela).
Food was great, the best was fish, shellfish, and octopus. Lots of "tapas" and a wide variety of dishes, including lamb, veal, and pork. Beer was OK, wine was very good.
We did 280 miles in six days of riding. Typical elevation gains (according to Chris's GPS) were from 2900 ft to a high of 3900 ft, but we were rarely over 1200 ft above sea level. (The high point was about 2200 ft).
We did part of the pilgrimage route to Santiago de Compostela after hitting the coast, on the way back to Santiago. As good pilgrims, we stopped at the main church in every town we hit on the route and had or pilgrim passport stamped by the local priest. In Santiago, we went to the main cathedral (impressive!) and became "official" pilgrims by getting the final, and coveted, stamp. We saw lots of pilgrims on foot, along the road. Their path crisscrosses the roads we were on. We actually got on the path for a few miles, just to say we did it. Mostly gravel, packed dirt, with a section of rocky, hilly path that was better left for mountain bikes. We went back to the paved roads at that point. I believe you can do the entire foot path on a mountain bike, but there are some very technical sections.
As usual, no problems finding places to stay in any of the towns where we stayed. Also as usual, we were still finalizing the exact route on the parking lot of the hotel the first day, as we were about to hit the road. Which way to go, how far, what town? That was the daily discussion. And, like every other trip so far, it all worked out and we had a great time!
Room and board was relatively cheap, as we often shared rooms (rooms with three beds are common in Europe; sometimes we stayed in a double and a single). My share of room and board was around $800 for the whole trip (from Saturday to the following Sunday, 9 days). That included really good lunches and dinners, some times at fancy places. And, lots of beer and wine.
