Footsteps to Journeys

12.5 Miles

The last day of our pilgrim journey. Surreal, to say the least! Since breakfast was included with our room, and it was a relatively short walk, qw left our hotel about 8. Our hostess kindly indicated the way to the camino which saved us at least 1 km. 

Although heavily overcast, we did not have too much actual rain.

Muddy and/or slick paths and roads were what required careful stepping! But, it became really windy after an hour or so, and it continued all the way in. Since we’d had such a good breakfast, we didn’t stop to eat, but decided to “motor on” at a reasonable pace.

Whether because we left later than usual, and later than many of our pilgrims friends, we really didn’t see many that we knew along the way this last day.. 

Journey’s End

We arrived on the outskirts of Santiago just before noon and had our first glimpse of the cathedral towers. Passing by a gigantic and beautiful park, we entered the city which is bustling and modern around the edges. Another 40 minutes of walking brought us to the back of the cathedral! We saw a line and got in it, thinking it was a pilgrim line. When we realized it wasn’t, we started to head around the outside and ran into Chris, Zach, and Debbie. Then Tessa showed up. It was a great reunion! They had arrived earlier, and pointed us in the right direction to reach the plaza in front of the cathedral.

We passed through a short tunnel where a young man was playing the bagpipes! Then came into n the plaza. So many pilgrims were there, greeting each other, laughing, crying, taking photos, cheering, or just sitting and gazing at the cathedral. We just stopped and breathed, looking at each other. Then hugged, kissed, and took pictures of each other, ourselves, other people, and they took ours. In the words of my sister-in-law, Tricia….YOWZA!!

Settling In

We finally left the plaza and found our hotel. It’s a “Rick Steve’s find” and it really is a fantastic one. We thought we’d have a bit of time to relax, but Dale discovered that we had to pick up the suitcases we had shipped before 2! So we went off (in the rain, now) and retrieved them. It’s nice to have a couple of different clothing options after wearing the same 2 shorts and shirts for 5 weeks!

After  a bite to eat, showers, and a bit of reorganization, we rested and then braved the rain to get our Compostelas. This is the official certificate from the pilgrim’s office verifying that you completed the camino. We were fortunate and walked right in…no line! We also bought a couple of small momentos…although I think my callouses may last longer!

Sorting

Not the Hogwarts variety of sorting. Going through all the things we carried and deciding what to keep and what gets tossed. Alot is being tossed! The shoes I walked in…though new at the beginning, are ragged on the inside. No One would want them!

We discovered that the place that held our suitcases has space where you can donate items for other pilgrims to use. Some things are going there!

Dinner Celebration 

Dale found a nice restaurant and was able to get an 8:45 reservation. Yep, that’s right. 8:45. And it wasn’t crowded when we arrived. That didn’t happen until about 9:30 when the place filled up! We had an excellent celebratory dinner.

Tomorrow we’ll explore, and take care of a few necessary tasks before we have to leave the next day.

Finishing this kind of endeavor is a first for me. And while I had my injury issues and had to taxi a few times, in the end, we completed a challenging, wonderful journey!

Easy pathways today in spite of showers and wind.