Camino de Santiago ... THE END !!!!!!!!!!!!!

ALL PICTURES FROM THE CAMINO CAN BE VIEWED AT:

http://picasaweb.google.com/joanna.cadman/CaminoDeSantiago?authkey=SgZZcOex7zQ

1st September - day 25 Melide to ?????? 45km, yes 45km ...........

will have to add details later when I have them to hand !

Will draw a line under last nights stay simply by saying that I got to the bathroom to brush teeth, wash face etc I didn´t actually go in ! Some people on this trip are obviously having a bad time with their bowels. Was disgusting - so we set off unwashed!!

Was a beautiful morning again - very crisp and with lots of little up´s and downs. We found a cafe open at about the 5km stage and had a Pan de Chocolate - still warm, with the chocolate a little runny ..... bliss !

The first 14km of the day was nice, uneventful, lots of forest areas, little villages but uneventful really. The second part of the walk was less hilly, but still very pretty - again lots of wooded areas.

 a beer on route

HOWEVER - getting a bit too confident as the end was so near we didn´t both reading the guide book properly - or the fact that the Albergue was actually off the route, so you had to detour. It was about 2km after the detour we thought we´d better check the book and discovered our mistake. No chance we were going back so we went on ...... for another 11km and so the day ended at 45km ! Tired is not the word! After last nights experience and being so tired we stopped at a Casa Rural - bit like a B&B. It was lovely, clean and again - we had a bathroom to ourselves! We also knew that with just 9km left to Santiago we could afford to get a place that would serve breakfast and we could set off a bit later.

We were supposed to catch up with Kristie at this point - will just have to catch her tomorrow. Garret should be there today.

We are now coming across lots of groups of people - obviously only walking the last 100km. We passed a couple of girls today - wearing beach flip flops, we passed a lady carrying all her travel stuff (sleeping bag etc) in a carrier bag, we passed another lady wearing a pair of normal walking boots - with little heels and we are also passing a lot of people with ironed clothing !

Tomorrow is the last day - just 9km to cover - and now I feel excited. It has past quickly in some ways, dragged in others.

 with just km to go and already onto the Santiago region.

2nd September
???? to SANTIAGO ........ just 9km and not a step more !

We set off at 8.30am, the breakfast at the Casa Rural was not easy to get - in fact the waitress served just one table - so we left ! We had breakfast on the outskirts of Santiago in the end.

The morning was a little cloudy so the views over the city weren't great. The count down signs have all gone - taken by other Pilgrims we guess, that is until you get to 2.574km mark ?? Now we are getting accurate !

 The official city sign.....

The walk into the city was easy - not to many people around, until you got to the Cathedral and then there were loads of people - were have they all come from, didn´t see them on the walk!

Walking into the square for the first time was amazing. The Cathedral is a massive structure, full of very happy Pilgrims ! The Alter area is beautiful. The only disappointment was that you can no longer touch the tree of life, the first of the Pilgrim rituals - however we did get to see the bones and hug the Santiago statue behind the high alter.

Then we got our Compestella, found a hotel, dropped the bags and went to the 12noon Pilgrim mass. Arriving 15 minutes before it started was far too late ! Standing room only and we had to watch most of the proceedings on a TV screen. We met up with Kristie and Garret at this point. The mass was great - very emotional to know that that really is it - 26 days of walking, averaging about 18 miles a day! The big incense burner wasn´t swung at this mass so we're going back tomorrow.

 Garrett sitting in the only free spot he could find !

We intend to stay here for 2 days then on Tuesday head down to the end of the world and see the sun drop into the sea .....

It's been a long walk, frustrating at times, wonderful at others - but completely worth it. Don´t think I´ll be doing the whole thing again though .......

 Santiago

 Santiago

 Santiago

 The end of the world "Finnistar"