Camino de Santiago from A Rua to Santiago: A Pilgrim’s Diary (6)

It’s hardly believable but it’s the last stretch till Santiago de Compostela. Only 22 km left to complete the 120 km from Sarria. And just now, that we got used to all the walking!

It had started a few days ago already but the closer we came, the more pilgrims we shared the way with. While we had some stretches in the past where we hardly met anyone, the road had become quite busy.

We took a break at Vilamaior in a cute restaurant with garden. We had some jamon with Arzúa cheese and quince paste.

After crossing the airport and the radio station “Galicia”, I felt like in the middle of a zombie apocalypse. It becomes a bit hilly and when you’re on top and look back, you see so many pilgrims behind you that it feels a bit like you’re followed by a horde (Yes, I’ve watched too many horror movies 😛 ).

At Monte do Gozo, the “Hill of Joy” from which you can see Santiago and its cathedral for the first time, it culminates and it’s just a “Gewusel” of people, some even singing.

Fun fact: The pilgrim who reached the hill as the first out of a group of pilgrims was called “king of pilgrims/Pilgerkönig” which had an influence on some last names in Europe (König, Roy).

One comment to Monte do Gozo: when you look a bit to the left standing in front of the monument, you see some figures on another hill. I was already on my way there when Mom said “Let’s go with the others, no one is going there, it’s most likely nothing”. Tired as I was, I let her convince me although I kept thinking about going back. Turns out later that these “figures on the hill” where quite popular pilgrim statues and one apparently has an awesome view from there. Uff! But apparently, nobody really cared – or knew.

One might think that we would reach the cathedral soon after but nope… It was another 7 or 8 km which seemed longer than the way before. What I learned on this trip was that if you don’t know how far away something is, the way seems much shorter. The moment you start checking the distance, the way seems endless!

The closer we got to the cathedral, the more beautiful Santiago got. I fell in love with the old city centre right away. We had one last coke (#cokeambassedor) at Praza Porta Camiño before we managed to go to the cathedral.

In one small bakery I found a mini Tarta de Santiago which tasted so amazing that I went there almost daily on the next couple of days. <3

We somehow thought that we would get the pilgrim’s certificate and last stamp directly in the cathedral. Luckily, a German woman came to our rescue. We apparently looked a bit lost, trying to find the way to the cathedral in the maze of the old city and she right away came and explained it. That’s one of the nice things of pilgrimhood: people care! It’s not like in normal life that one doesn’t get involved in each other’s life and ignores other people on the street.

When reaching the cathedral, one can hear the music of bagpipes of one of the many street musicians. We entered from one of the sides and were stunned by the size and architecture! The best part of the trip was the feeling of accomplishment which overcomes you when standing in front of the main facade on Praza do Obradoiro. It’s just so beautiful!

We went to the pilgrim’s office soon after and were lucky that we only had to wait for half an hour. Apparently there is often a queue which is even till outside the office. Soon after we received our pilgrim’s certificate in Latin.

Finally done and dead tired, we went to our hotel, Hotel Compostela. It felt like heaven!

We went to one of the many pilgrim’s services at the cathedral in the evening. Was quite nice, even if it was catholic and in Spanish. Protestant who never goes to church as I am, it was quite interesting to see. And it was the first time that I ever visited a mass in a cathedral so it was even more impressive. It was until the second day though that we were fully astonished when we saw the huge censer in action for the first time. People start hugging and get tears in their eyes during the whole ceremony. More about that in a later post though!

The achievement was celebrated with a paella in one of the many small restaurants in the old city and of course also a Caldo Gallego – still not as expected though. The hunt for the perfect Caldo Gallego had to continue.