I got up at 7:15 this morning and immediately noticed that I was one of the last pilgrims to get up that "late". In fact, many had already begun walking. I'd heard a few days prior that pilgrims begin walking really early here, with the hopes of arriving in Santiago in time for the Pilgrim's Mass at noon. Turns out this is actually true!
After drinking a coffee, I began walking too.
I still had to wear my frontales (head lamp), as the picture below indicates, because it was still too dark, especially in forested areas.
But even after sunrise, it was foggy until well after 10.
Just after 10am I stopped at Casa Porta de Santiago for a bicocho and a hot chocolate.
Today's route was pretty easy, no ups and downs, just pretty much a straight road. This is probably the main reason that I did excellent time, arriving in Santiago at 1:30pm. By 2:30 I had my Compostela (certificate).
I walked around the main city square and cathedral area, taking pictures, and eventually ran into Leah and Cathy, a mother-and-daughter team from Vancouver Island that I'd met yesterday on the road. They'd walked all the way from St. Jean Pied de Port. We took some pictures, before agreeing to meet up again for the Pilgrim's Mass tomorrow.
At 4:30 I checked into my pre-arranged accommodations, the Pension Badalada.
The next few hours were priceless: lying in bed, reflecting, napping, showering, shaving (!), and watching Lord of the Rings, which happened to be showing on tv at the time.
I ate dinner at Rúa Bella, a restaurant owned by an Argentinian. The hostess at Badalada, too, is from Argentina.
A few emotional moments worth mentioning about today.
1- leaving the albergue "for the last time." Although I didn't write much about friendships formed over the past few weeks, I do think that a certain camaraderie is established among Camino pilgrims at the hostels. Pilgrims are "linked" to each other - because of the blisters, the meals, the exhaustion, the elation, the disappointments and the successes - in a way that perhaps only someone who's walked the Way can understand.
2- entering the outskirts of Santiago. There was definitely a "buzz" among the Pilgrims. Spirits were high, pain was either forgotten or ignored, cameras were out, and smiles were on everyone's faces. This was definitely contagious. I teared up on several occasions.
3- crossed fences. As the two pictures below show, the Camino passed a number of fences that were filled with stick-crosses. Walking by what seemed like kilometers of cross-filled fences was very emotional for me. When did this tradition begin? Who are the people who put them up? What are their stories, pre-, during, and post-Camino? These were questions that raced through my head.
I also noticed that there were numerous partial crosses that people had placed strategically - either horizontally or vertically - along the fence, inviting me to "complete" the cross. Where a horizontal stick was already placed, I would add the vertical stick to make it into a cross, or where a vertical stick had been placed, I completed it by adding the horizontal piece. I participated in this tradition, walking slowly, meditating on the significance that each of these crosses could hold. A few times I began weeping, not really caring if others saw me in such a "weak" state. On one occasion another pilgrim smiled compassionately. On another occasion a local nodded his head forward in what seemed like some kind of solidarity. It was beautiful, sacred, perhaps one of the most holy moments of the entire Way.
4- arrival at the Cathedral. Naturally, this was a highlight, but there were so many people around, it was hard to be present in the moment, much less dwell on the significance of the accomplishment. All in all, a bit anti-climactic.
Below is the video I took upon arrival at the cathedral.
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