Oct 4, 20176 min read

Day 32 – Santiago de Compostela – we made it!

Updated: Sep 10, 2022

Day 32- O Pedrouzo to Santiago de Compostela. 20km. 6 hours

Eager to finally get there and knowing it was still 20km away, headlamps on we hit the track at 6am. It was through a forest for a few kilometers and i really need to stop freaking myself out in these places!

The walk in today was boring, its probably the most walked path in the world and thats why it was a fully formed path.

Our hopes were high for cafe in the town 10kms in but after 32 days we should have known that never happens. Defeated and starving, we continue walking the 5.3km to the next town.

I send this overweight american man on the right path but then at a cross roads, he starts walking back and accusing me of leading him astray. I tell him there have been yellow arrows on the road but he didnt believe me and all grumpy and short questions whether he should go down this dirt track. My patience is wearing thin so i just said ‘look im going to santiago, you go where you want, feel free to take that path’. Hes lucky i didnt snatch his pole and whack him for good measure. I pop my head phones in and power up the hill. I Never saw him again. RIP.

The walk into santiago was the longest in history. Its like everything we learnt on the camino had come back to test us. Dont always trust the arrows, distances are never correct, drink more water than you think, wear sunscreen and always look to the right and not left when crossing the road. How i havent been taken out by a car yet is a miracle.

We thought 20kms in 6 hours would be a breeze but we were pushing it to make it to 12pm mass. We could hear the bells chiming for 12 but do you think we could find the front of the cathedral through all the narrow alleys and lanes?!? After resigning to the fact that theres no mass for us we found the front of the cathedral and that was that. We had made it to santiago de composatella. There was no fan fare, no one excited to see you, it was just a cathedral. And then you say ‘now what?’ I would say it was a bit anticlimactic but at the same time i had mentally prepared myself as it wasnt the end point for me anyways. I knew i couldnt let myself get excited because there is still another 88kms and 3 days to walk.

We gave each other a big hug, so very proud of us all making it and what we all had been through on the way. Its been one hell of a journey and those girls have been my saviours every minute of the day.

But honestly for me, i was never out to seek an answer, i was not walking off a heart break or loss, i wasnt after direction or looking for the meaning in life. Maybe if i was, arriving in santiago might have been different? Im not sure. I did this more as a challenge, for something to do, there was a walk across spain, why not do it? I was content in my life but needed to be challenged. And challenged i was.

Ive had some of the most random, though proviking questions thrown at me about faith, work, life, love, character, politics, religion. And the best thing about the camino – you can answer absolutely everyone in complete honesty without fear of rejection, defense, arguements. The respect from others has been like no other.

–/–

After arriving in santiago you can take your pilgrim credential, with the stamps collected along the way to the pilgrim office and receive an official pilgrim certificate/compostella. We only had to wait in line an hour for that, which is quite lucky as most people have to wait anything from 2+. If any one can read latin, an interpretation would be great!

After that we went straight to our apartment. Yep forget an albergue, we wanted a bath, fresh sheets, a real towel and to sleep in! The apartment was right in the old town so very handy.

After a quick ice footbath, showers, a blow dry and a bit of mascara (because thats all the makeup we have between us), we went out to celebrate with yep you got it, beer, patatas bravas and croquettes, gelato and coffee.

What i enjoyed most about Santiago. The reunions. Catching up and seeing people you hadn’t seen in weeks or those you had forgotten about. People who were only one day ahead but were in a different camino world. Experiences completely different.

We caught up with Katherine and Dani who arrived today also. We ran in to Tiago, the guy well known on the way. He was dressed so smartly and his mum and dad were with him, it was so lovely, so heart warming.

I also ran into Mama Maria. She was with a group of german pilgrims so i just went up behind her and surprised her. And oh my goodness did she squeal and give me one of the biggest hugs i have had in a long time. Im lucky my jaw didnt break the way she hugged me. And then she told everyone that this was the daughter she had been talking about. Maria has said i must must come and visit her and stay with her family in germany so i will try and get there.

I also got to catch up with Davide and Gino. It is such a weird, strange concept to have only met these guys early on on the walk and once they were a day or 2 ahead, that was it, your paths dont cross. But we had kept in touch so much via messaging that it feels like you have walked their journwy with them and have known them a life time

Davide also gives the best hugs. And id been promised 100 hugs to redeem when i last saw him but that got converted to a hug emoji through messaging.

I can honestly say, that alongside Jessica and Anna, Davide helped me get through this walk. When i was at my lowest his messages would pick me up. And i will take that away. Check up on friends, see how theyre doing more. It takes a simple message to change ones day.

Gino! Gino Camino. You cannot help but smile and say his name with excitement. I was not expecting to see him in Santiago so that was an added bonus! Italian guys and their hugs..!

Its been great chatting to people after say 2 weeks of not seeing them and seeing if theyve worked things out, if a decision is now clearer in their head. How the camino has changed them.

I ran into a few others as well so while i might say its anti climactic, it actually was a really happy and heart warming day. Everyone has walked the same walk so everyone has the same sense of proudness for the other.

There was mass at 730pm so the 3 of us went to finish our camino experience together. Mass was packed! I think a good few hundred people. Dad would be proud, i tried working out the stats. 4 people per pew, 20 pews this side, 20 that side, 3 arms but then i remembered i cant do maths so just settled for a few hundred. There was singing, communion and an incense burning thing flying through the air. Im very glad i got to go. They spoke about setting your eyes on things from above, lifes not a race, its not about competing with others and that the last shall be first and first will be last.

I then went out and caught up with Davide and Gino after dinner. Lots of laughs – probably wont look at tabasco sauce the same ever again. It was lovely wandering through the city again late at night!

What wasnt enjoyable was getting back to the apartment at 11pm and not being able to unlock the door. Jess and anna fast asleep inside. All my calls and texts unanswered. I knocked so loud for a good 20 minutes, i screamed, i yelled, i rang the doorbell. My phone also quickly dying on 2% battery. What else can the camino throw at me?!? So i resigned to the fact that i would be spending the night in the stairwell. At least i could use the door mat as a pillow. When after a half hour, a couple who live upstairs came home, wiggled the key, told me to turn it to the right twice and wallah the door opened. Exhausted i couldnt even feel frustrated, i walked in, just laid down on the bed fully clothed and was out to it.

32 days. 799kms (and a few extra for getting lost a few times and for taking alternative mountain and monastery proutes).

88kms to go to Finnistere – the end of the world.

R. X