We set out in the dark again, on another grey and misty morning, but it was dry and we expected the weather to improve. Sara and Evan started out alone, but we met up with Sanne and Katherina at First Breakfast. Sanne had especially wanted us to make our arrival in Santiago together. Katherina sometimes moved on ahead, but then met us again later in the day,.
After the sun broke through, we were enjoying Second Breakfast at a lovely outdoor stopping place when we saw the group of Mexican pilgrims pass by. We had heard about this group – perhaps 25 people, men & women, younger and older – all marching along, single file, without speaking, their poles striking the ground in unison: click, click, click, etc. We could not imagine hiking for a whole day in that manner, but this group had done so for days.
Santiago de Compostela is a big city, so today’s hike took us through suburban areas, some industrial areas, past an airport, and then through city streets until we reached the old centers of town. We climbed another hill/mountain approaching the town until we reached Monte del Gozo from which we could look down across the city. We could spot the spires of the cathedral in the distance. Monte del Gozo features some monuments. We especially liked the two pilgrims pointing over toward the cathedral. Of course, this provided us another rich photo shoot.
As we made our way through the city streets, we followed the arrow markers and Sanne was our guide. It was mid-afternoon before we reached the center of town. When we heard the bagpipes playing, we knew we were near the Cathedral and the square. Walking through the arch, we dropped some coins into the hat for the bagpipe player and walked into the huge square in front of the Cathedral.
It was not packed, but there were many pilgrims there. Sanne, Sara & Evan celebrated our arrival with hugs and kisses, and photos to commemorate the event. And we even saw the arrival of the Mexicans, still walking in unison, a single file line, leading right to the open center of the square. At that point, it was great to watch them all finally breaking ranks to congratulate and to embrace one another.
Then we had to find the pilgrim’s office to present our credentials and get our “Compostellas.” At the office we were each given a number and an “app” to keep track of which numbers they were working on at any given time. We calculated a wait of at least an hour and a half, so we went out to a café across the street to kill time enjoying a celebratory drink and a snack. About two hours later they were approaching our numbers, so we went back to the pilgrim’s office to await our turn. When called, we showed them our credentials with stamps reflecting the many stages of our Camino walk, answered their questions, “Did you walk all the way?” and “Was the purpose of your Camino religious, spiritual or recreational?” We each got two documents: one, the “Compostela” verifying that we had completed our Camino, and a second which documented the number of kilometers we had traveled to do so.
We had told our Camino friends arriving on this day to meet at 7:00pm in the square. Nicki and Andrew (New Zealand) were there, as were Candace and Jane (Seattle), and Sanne. We also happened upon Jeannie & David (Ohio) who we had met in Sarria a few days before. Not everyone was up for sharing dinner, so we found a bar. Andrew bought two bottles of wine for a group of eight and we visited and sang “Happy Birthday” to Nicki, her big 50. When that broke up, Sara & Evan went to dinner with Candace and Jane.
Our Camino now completed, we planned our next steps. We would stay one more day in Santiago and then go to visit Muchia and Finisterre – this time by bus.
