The Finish
Saturday, October 8th
Pedrouzo to Santiago
Weather: dark & misty to begin with but sunny and warm by the time I arrived.
So this was the final day. I had arranged to meet Mieke in the square in front of Santiago Cathedral at 10.30 and it’s a 4 hour walk, so I set off at 6am to be in good time.
My plans were slightly flawed! The pension where I stayed gave me a breakfast voucher for the café next door, and thinking I needed something to see me on my way I dove in for a quick coffee and orange juice.
The owner, seeing my voucher, asked in broken English, “Would you like bacon and egg and gluten-free bread ?” Having little resistance to something I’d been deprived of for 36 days I accepted. In the end my start was delayed by about 30 minutes, so the the pressure was on to make Santiago on time!
At 6.30am it’s still dark here and I had never dreamt of bringing my head torch, so last night I went looking around Pedrouzo to see if I could get my hands on one. Luckily one shop had a type of torch that would hang from the front of my rucksack, so with it blazing I started out on my last section of this amazing journey. I didn’t take many photos today, or have much to write about the scenery, given that the first two hours were in the dark!
Very quickly I caught up with a lady from Canada, Olivia, and we walked and talked until daylight. I then visited a little church and got the requisite stamp and she carried on. I’ll never see her again but for that couple of hours we were friends as if we had known each other for a long time.
And so I arrived at the outskirts of Santiago. I didn’t know how I was going to feel, but on my phone I had extracts of Handel’s Messiah, which Susan (aka Mum, Granny and Auntie Susan) knew and loved so well. As I walked into the old town I played the last two sections, Worthy Is The Lamb and The Amen. This wonderful music, which Susan had sung so many times, couldn’t have been a more appropriate accompaniment as I made my way through the ancient streets and up to the cathedral.
So in the end I did make the Cathedral Square by 10.30, and Mieke was there to give huge hugs. Of course we took some photos, then I collected my Compostela, and we went for coffee and lunch before she flew home to the Netherlands.
After that I found my hotel and had a luxurious long bath before attending the Pilgrims’ Mass in the Cathedral. Later on I met up with Patrick from Derbyshire for dinner, before finally heading back to the hotel and falling into bed, knowing there was nothing left to do other than catch the train home in the morning.
So that’s the end of this indescribable adventure. It started off as another long-distance hike and quickly became so, so much more. As this post is being uploaded I’ll be on a train somewhere in Europe, wending my way back to Oxfordshire. I’m sure there’ll be some reflections to share once I get there, but until then thank you for reading, and wherever you may be – buen camino!
