September 29, 2011

Yesterday, I arrived!! I am now in Santiago de Compostela having completed my Camino.

I arrived after an 18 km walk in from Arca. I left there at about 7:45 in the morning.... in the dark.... in the rain. Which is much as it was when I started this so many mornings ago in Pamplona. The first half (approximately) was through eucalyptus forests.... I now know what they look like. Interestingly, I would guess that about a quarter of the walk was around the Santiago airport!

I arrived in front of the Cathedral in Santiago at about 1:30. The first thing I did, as a macho long-distance hiker was to call my wife and ball my eyes out. I wasn´t emtotional on the walk in, but the minute I tried to tell her that I had arrived, the flood gates openned.

I was also met by a couple of great friends from back home. They were vacationing in Galicia with another couple and they greeted me with signs reading "Go Bob Go". I strongly suggested that Bob wasn´t going to "Go" anywhere for a while. They were the perfect tonic to my unforeseen emotional arrival. They really raised my spirits and I am forever grateful for that.

After that, I checked into my hotel and slept for about 5 hours.

This morning I went to the Pilgrims Office and got my "compostela".... the document showing that I finished the Camino. Then I went to the Pilgrims Mass in the cathedral. At the start they list all the pilgrims who had arrived that day, their starting points and nationality.

I´m also meeting up with many of the different people I´ve met along the way. We hug, compare notes, exchange email addresses and then go our separate way. Some will stay a few days in Santiago. Some will go one to Finisterre, mostly by bus. Some begin the journey home tomorrow.

I don´t think that this is the end of the blog, although it is certainly the end of the story of the walk. I plan to organize my thoughts on the Camino, and the effectiveness of my preparations for it

And, now it´s back to the hotel to give my ankle some more rest. Tomorrow, I vacation as a tourist Santiago.

P.S. I have taken many pictures and it is my intention to post some of them on the blog. But, that will have to wait until I get home and have my wife to show me how to do it!