Our alarms went off at 5:30 AM, but they really didn't need to. Knowing that it's the last day is like being a kid at Christmas. It's all led up to this. We had no fruit or cold coffee drinks, so all we could do was pack up, fill our water bottles, and head out by 6 AM.
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| The Camino at 6 AM |
It was overcast, so there was no moonlight. The air was humid, and that meant that dew was falling. Normally, dew is something that you feel in the grass or see on your car's windshield in the morning, but in this case it was a fine light show in our head lamps--like something out of science fiction. At times, the tiny reflected points of light were so many, that it was like driving your car in a snowstorm in whiteout conditions.
We figured out that if I changed my headlamp to the color red while Tina left hers on white, we could see without the glare of light reflecting off the dew. Who knew that was a thing?
Today's plan was very straightforward. Walk 25 kilometers to Santiago. Stop along the way for coffee and maybe a Coke. Without hills, backpacks or breaks, that would be five hours. With all three, the hike should take six to seven hours. We were up for it.
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| The first two girls to pass us. |
At 6:00 AM, there was nobody on the Camino, for at least the first half hour. The route was clearly marked, but the overcast meant that the headlamps stayed on much longer than usual. Somewhere in the process of walking through little towns and along the edge of forests, two girls (probably from Germany) passed us. At this time of day, you don't ask where people are from. Then we passed them. You can't walk full speed in the dark because you're always checking to make sure if you're on the right path. (In any case, our paths crossed repeatedly throughout the day.)
We don't have a photo of the most striking thing we saw during the first hour of the walk. We were approaching an albergue, and maybe a block and a half before it, there was a structure, like a lean-to, right there on the path. Open to the air on three sides, we could see inside with our headlamps. It was full of sleeping pilgrims--young people who probably could not find room in any hostel the night before. We walked quietly by.
At 7:00 AM, we found an open cafe, and of course, we stopped for a coffee. They had no tortilla--and worse yet, the coffees were tiny. We saw people we recognized from lunch yesterday in the place, and said hello. In the 20 minutes that we were there, the skies lightened, and the pilgrims started appearing on the road. In droves. From everywhere.
So, while yesterday was a story of 20 miles of silent, thoughtful, contemplative walking... today ended up like being part of an ant colony approaching the hive. Except ants don't talk loudly, constantly...
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| Me posing with hay bales before it got too crazy. |
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| Some people, at about 8:45 AM |
At about 9:00 AM, we reached the tiny town of San Paio, about ten kilometers into the walk. There were two open cafes. It seemed like every single pilgrim was stopping at the first cafe. We went to the second and ordered two big coffees and a slice of Tarta de Santiago, the signature dessert of our destination, made with almond flour, so it's gluten free. It was wonderful. It was also a mob scene.
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| I snapped this photo of the tiny chapel in San Paio from our cafe. |
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| The inside of the chapel. |
Three hours in and 40% of the way there, we were happy to have a chance to have some food, coffee, and a chance to use the rest rooms. It was easy to see that we weren't going to escape the crowds on the road...
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| 10:45 AM Beautiful road. Pilgrims ahead... Lots. |
Funny story: about 15 kilometers into this, walking
through a forest, Tina says "We should be getting close to the
airport." That's it. Just gut feeling. A minute later, through a
clearing to our left, we saw the landing lights on the runway of the
Santiago airport, about 10 kilometers out of Santiago.
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| 11:15 AM walking through a small town... |
Nine years ago, I walked the Portuguese route of the Camino with my daughter Michelle and a small group of fellow travelers that we met along the way. I remember how on the last day, Bart, the schoolteacher from Holland that I'd befriended apologized and said that on this last day, he preferred to walk in private silence. We respected his wishes--and we understood.
There was none of that today. These hordes were yacking it up. Clearly, they were excited to be approaching the finish line, but it seemed like some of them had been talking loudly for the last 100 kilometers!
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| 11:22 AM Our first glimpse of Santiago de Compostela from Monte de Gozo |
We were on a roll, making excellent time. We were excited to reach our destination--and we were tired of the chattering hordes. That said, when we reached Monte de Gozo, we decided to walk an extra kilometer to see the famous statue of pilgrims spying the city for the first time. We missed this on our previous walk five years ago.
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| As close as we got to the statue. Maybe next time! |
Continuing our descent from the countryside into the city's outskirts, the reality was hitting us: this one-year long odyssey was approaching its end. The distances on the waymarkers kept dropping. They were in the single digits, approaching zero kilometers. Now, we were walking on city streets, behind other backpackers, and past locals who were probably trying not to notice yet another day's crop of visitors.
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| For the record, neither of us has any plans to get a souvenir tattoo! |
It happens every time. The first time that you catch a glimpse of the spires of the cathedral over the rooftops, you get choked up... and excited. As you approach the main square, the Praza de Obradoiro, there's always a bagpiper playing in an archway that amplifies the annoying sound. You get even more teared up. It's almost over.....
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| In front of the Cathedral. I'm terrible at selfies. |
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| A Dutch pilgrim helped us out. |
We're here! The first order of business was to go to the pilgrim office and to get our pilgrim passports, our credentials, verified so we could get our Compostelas. I got mine saying that I walked from Gijón. Tina's shows that she started in Irún and walked a total of 828 kilometers. The lady behind the desk was floored--she'd never seen so many stamps on a passport.
We've had lunch, showered and done laundry. Tomorrow is another Sunday off. We'll attend a Pilgrim's Mass at the cathedral and hope to see them swing the Botafumeiro, the huge silver incenser over the alter. (I shot video of it in 2015 http://pacosage.blogspot.com/2015/07/epilogue.html). It also makes a memorable appearance in the movie The Way.
Now, we're discussing our planned visit to the end of the earth, Finisterre. It's where pilgrims would go after Santiago, and we've never been. It's the Westernmost point in continental Europe. We just figured out that it's another 90 kilometers. I'm feeling it... We both are.
Tina will pick up the narrative tomorrow.
