I left really early today since it was an 18 mile day. The sun was still sleeping but the moon lit the way for me. It was a gorgeous morning. The birds were singing and the chill in the air was the perfect temperature.
The sun came up and the fog settled in. I love this picture! You’ve got the Camino arrows telling you which way to go, the beautiful church and at the bottom right you can see the road with the columbarium on the side which is the wall that holds the ashes of dead people. You can just wave to Grandma when you are driving by! The path was beautiful today with a canopy of trees overhead most of the way. So many pilgrim statues.I am not sure what is supposed to be stored in here but it looked pretty impressive. The even have modern technology in Spain. This building felt like it was out of a futuristic film. The bee man! Mid day snack! Orange juice and churros with chocolate. Finally some decent bathroom signs. This was so special. We crossed over this bridge and there was a lady giving waters and snacks for a donation. She was lovely and it’s always nice to be surprised in the middle of nowhere with a kind gesture! The perfect picture…a fountain, the cross, the church and the old men chatting. I decided I needed a break and I put my feet in the freezing water of a stream on the side of the path It helped them so much! I was able to get 2 miles out of them without any pain afterwards. Views of the path. Once I got to Aruza, I stopped at a vending machine to get a snack and was shocked when I looked at the top shelf. Who would consider buying a vibrator from a vending machine? I wonder if they sell many. So many pilgrim statues…I stayed at A Casa do Lajueiro in a private room. It was clean and quiet and exactly what I needed for the night.
I met up with Savina to have dinner together, bought some ice cream from the store and then ended early!
Beautiful sunriseThis guy…I think his name was Andrew, has passed me very early the past 3 mornings and there is no one happier and friendlier then he is. I just felt he needed to be in the blog as a memory! Todays selfie in the daylight.When you are tired, your mind does funny things. Walking up on this stick with plastic on it, I thought it was a stuffed stormtrooper doll on top of a stick! I walked through a mist most of the morning. It was eerily peaceful. This was the cutest and most affectionate dog. It was so sweet! I really wanted to bring him home.
So many flowers today!
Sabina and I walked the first 3 days together and thought it made sense to finish together! We purposely booked the same hotel the last night so we could walk into Santiago together. So glad we have kept in touch through the Camino!
Toilet art in the backyardSo far away from home!
Because I have been having problems with my heel, I have been altering where I put the pressure on my foot when I walk. We took a break to get a drink and I checked on my foot and was shocked to see that it looked like I grew a 6th toe. I need to reach out to my podiatrist and get something scheduled when I get home. Pretty sure there is some damage but nothing is stopping me from walking to the cathedral!
So happy I was able to meet up with my friend in Amenal! Such a great surprise!!
We ended the night with a nice dinner with Savina, Lou, Misghana and Dadi! We stayed at the Kilometro 15, which is 15 km from the Cathedral.
I can’t even believe to comprehend that tomorrow is the last day!! Woohoo!
Morning Selfie with SavinaIt was dark and wet at 5:30am. I was really happy to have my headtorch. Because it was raining so much, there are several streams down the middle of the path that we would never have been able to maneuver through in the dark. Savina looking like the Hunchback of Notre Dame with her poncho and pack. It rained the entire walk into Santiago. There have been so many snails on the path. So many, that I have seen locals picking them up off the ground to cook! Daytime selfie on my last day! We made it to Santiago de Compostela! Only 2 miles to go to get to the Cathedral and H and Cat. One of our favorite breakfasts on the Camino is Napolitano’s (chocolate croissants) and fresh orange juice. There were no open bars in the morning and we settled for a place with horrible OJ and a horrible muffin at the 5th mile. Even though we were close to the finish, we decided we needed one last good breakfast and found a cute aesthetic bar with amazing Napolitano’s! In hindsight I am not sure if we were really hungry or we just didn’t wan the Camino to end. We finished breakfast and started walking our last few steps. It felt like forever until we could see the cathedral in the distance but I totally choked up when I saw it! I made it!Howard and Cat were there when I finished the walk. I cried when I saw them! It was so good to hug both of them. We’ve been apart for 40 days. At times it felt like an eternity and I ached for them. At other times it felt like time had stood still and we weren’t apart for that long. I am a lucky wife and mom and can never express how much I appreciated their blessing for this walk. We started this together and we ended it together!!! It was a perfect ending. Nikki and several of my friends were also there to greet us! The bagpiper plays as people walk in. He was on break when I walked thru but I could hear him while we were taking pictures. We went to the 12noon pilgrim mass and then we to check into our hotel and change into dry clothes. Unfortunately they didn’t swing the butofumero at that mass so plan on going tomorrow with hopes they swig it.
I went to the Pilgrim’s Office to get my final stamp and my Compostela. They wrote my name in Latin, “Nicolaidem Gill” on the certificate and handed it over. I had pre-registered last night.It was such an efficient and easy process and only took about 15 minutes. It was the official end to an amazing journey.
Since I had lived in Santiago de Compostela before, I definitely remembered some of our favorite bars. I got the word out for people to go to “Pub Momo” at 7pm on June 7th. (The day I arrived). Well….if you know me….you know I can be a bit extra. Word got out and whispers of the party circulated to everyone who was on the Camino. People started telling me that there was going to be a party at Pub Momo! It was hilarious! About 100 people showed up! I recognized/knew about 75 of them! It made me so happy to have everyone there, be able to introduce H and Cat to everyone and properly say goodbye to everyone and have closure on the walk.
Although I did warn them, the bar didn’t believe we would have 100 people show up so they were a bit short staffed but we made the best of it!
Roommates from the first night. Orlando my roommate and walking mate! Paul my roommate from the second night. My core gang! We finished the night walking past the cathedral to our hotel. It was stunning with its lighting!
It was an amazing day and the close to an amazing chapter. I couldn’t be prouder of myself for walking the entire Camino. No taxis, no buses. Just me. There were physical challenges and mental challenges and I did it!
I met people who will be life friends, I heard stories and talked to people I would never have had the chance to meet in any other circumstances. We had a cohesive and caring tribe by the end. Everyone came from different backgrounds and everyone had their reasons for walking. That said, we were all very similar. We was all there for a life experience, we all persevered through something very hard and we all supported each other during hard times and laughed through the good ones together.
As I close this chapter, I couldn’t be more excited to start the next chapter…. The “Gill 2023 Spanish Road-trip” with my 2 favorite travel partners! We will explore Santiago/Galicia for 2 days and show Caitlyn where we lived and then explore Spain for 2 weeks. Let the adventures carry on!
Over the last 37 days on the Camino I walked 614 miles and took 1,346,280 steps! I have met more people than I can count and have endless memories that I will hold near to my heart forever.
We had originally planned to do a week at the beach and a week in Morocco but neither of us ended up booking anything and it was hard to coordinate on such different schedules while I was walking. After trying to make it work for a couple of hours today, we actually decided to rent a car and road-trip thru Spain. We were really frustrated to find that most trains were sold out and airplanes were really expensive and it just made sense to be able to go where we wanted when we wanted to. We have 2 days in Santiago/Finesterra and then will start our Gill Family 2023 Spanish Road-trip! (Itinerary unknown!)
Morning views of the Cathedral.
Side of the CathedralOur favorite cafe in Santiago! It lived up to the memories! We stopped for a coffee and orange juice for old times sake. We saw some nuns after they sang at mass. We also went to mass and saw the botifumaro swing!
We did the rooftop tour of the cathedral. The views were beautiful. The attention to detail was impressive and the history was very informative. We laughed that there was no way that we would be allowed to do a tour like this in America.
Cat and I toured the inside of the church and the tomb of St James. Lots has changed in the cathedral since we lived here. They did a major renovation that finished in 2021 and decided to close a lot off from the public at that time. There used to be a statue of Saint James that could be hugged, there was a handprint that millions of Pulgrims had placed their hand in that was worn into a pillar that was only allowed to be viewed (not touched) if you purchased a ticket for the tour and the front doors were closed and you had to enter thru the front door.
We went out for dinner and Cat ordered octopus. One of the tentacles suctioned onto her tongue!!
Every night a Galician band played in front of the cathedral. They played upbeat traditional music and the locals all sang along and danced. We went every night! It was always a fun way to end the evening!
I said my goodbyes to Nikki as she was leaving the next morning. I am sure she is a life friend. She was my partner in crime in this adventure and I am so glad our paths crossed. I said goodbye to Véronique who was my roommate in Bercianos. I also said my goodbyes to Sabina and Cindy. I also think Sabina will be a life friend. We walked too many miles and ate too many Napalotinos to not still be friends! Our hotel, the Parador, was right next door to the Cathedral and was everything I had hoped it would be!Goodnight Santiago!
We got up early to catch a tour to Finesterra (End of the Earth) and Muxia. While waiting for the bus, we ran into Savina and Carolina who were both on their way to the bus station to leave Santiago.
Below is miscellaneous pictures from the day. I did have a laugh when we got to Finesterra because it was pouring rain and the fog was so bad at times that you couldn’t see very far. The statue of the boot represents the very end of the Camino although the official end is at the Cathedral. Some people walk there. I personally have done enough walking and thought the bus was sufficient.
We got back to Santiago and walked to the park. Last time we lived here, there was a similar Ferris wheel but the stabilizers didn’t look this orderly or safe!
We ended the night at one of our favorite restaurants, (A Gamela), churros, cocktails and a search for the “Pilgrim Shadow”.
