Day 29: Santiago!

I had a private room in an albergue in Pedrouzo.  Yes, there is such a thing.  I had a private bath, towels... what more could you ask? 

I was on the road, again sneaking out the back door, at 5:50 AM. I was not the only pilgrim on the street.

Main street in Pedrouzo.  There was actually a coffee bar open at six,  and it had a line. I broke my own rule and kept walking.

The Camino doesn't go through town. I runs north of it, so I angled on side streets to find it.  It was pitch black but there were no dogs...  

Up ahead, I saw someone else's flashlight.  I remember this from four years ago: confirming the way based upon the lights of those before you. 

That's what I'm talking about...

Eventually,  I caught up with the person and introduced myself so it wouldn't be creepy.  I ended up walking all the way to Santiago with Manuela,  an elementary school teacher from Rome. She spoke excellent Spanish (and English too, I later learned. )

By 7:15, we'd reached the Santiago airport and the town of Lavacolla.  We both snapped photos of this monument. 

Honestly,  there's not much else to photograph that early in the morning.  Shortly afterwards,  we found an open bar.  Given the choice of yet another Spanish Omelet or Gluten-free Tarta de Santiago,  I chose: 

You guessed it.

Today's hike was 20 kilometers for me and 23 for Manuela.  She'd started in the small town of Santa Irene at 5:30.  Here was a kindred spirit.

An hour later, 8:30 AM,  in the small town of Vilamaior,  we met a 22 year old American from Nashville named Brock.

The fact is that the signage at Vilamaior started to get confusing.   There seemed to be only one route to follow, but for a while it seemed that the three of us were on an alternate route. (At least that's what the signs said...) The lack of other pilgrims made it worse.  Had we made a wrong turn?

We hadn't.  In fact,  we were making great time and reached Monte de Gozo about an hour an a half later.  There were lots of pilgrims. 

Monte de Gozo, as the name implies,  is a mountain.  It's overlooking Santiago, and you can see the spires of the cathedral for the first time from there. After weeks on the road,  that gets to a lot of people. 

There's also a famous pilgrim statue there which we intended to photograph,  but it was 500 meters from the road.  Walk an extra kilometer?  You've got to be kidding! 

Manuela and I trudged on, and Brock stayed behind to write down his thoughts.

Shortly after 10, we were in the city limits.   This part if the walk seems to take forever. 

I held back the urge to get a celebratory tattoo for a mere 40 euros. 

Just before 11 AM, we got the Praza de Obradoiro, in front of the cathedral. We were met there by Tina, my son Chris and my new daughter in law, Laura.  We exchanged hugs and introductions,  and took photos. 

It's hard to smile after anticipating something for four weeks.  You kind of just want to sob.  It's over. It's really over.

We said goodbye to Manuela who still needed to find a bed for the night, and went to the pilgrims office, where I got my Compostela. 

Right after this photo,  I finally got my gluten-free beer!  While we were sitting there, we saw Brock,  and I introduced him to the family. 

There are two more things on the list, but they may wait for tomorrow:  1. Attend the pilgrim's mass at the cathedral,  and, 2. Give Saint James' statue a big hug.  It's a thing. 

Next up is a nice lunch with the family wearing different clothing than I've worn for the past month.

I'll share some closing thoughts soon. Thanks for following the blog!