Total ascent today = 394 feet
Cumulative distance = 490.5 miles.
We made it! We reached Santiago late this afternoon. Forty-six days after leaving St Jean de Pied de Port, France, we arrived in Santiago. That includes six rest/tour days where we stopped to visit museums, tours cities and cathedrals, etc, We didn't set a speed record, but we got here on our own feet and feel good about that.
Today started off much like the last few days, walking on tree lined sendas, by farm fields and through some villages.
Some of the more interesting things we saw this morning were:
Mounted Civil Guard,
A way post marker with a "Virginia is for Lovers" sticker, a reminder of home
Some pretty yellow wildflowers,
A monument to peregrinos.
A sign for an albergue that's just for the Poles? Naw, can't be.
A makeshift memorial for a pilgrim who died last month.
In the afternoon, the path went by the Santiago airport, right below the end of the runway,
and after climbing yet another mountain, we walked past Santiago's TV station.
Pope John Paul visited Santiago de Compostela in 1982. It's been commemorated with a monument atop Monte de Gozo (Mount Joy).
This is where the medieval pilgrims usually caught their first sight of the cathedral. Not so for us today.
It wasn't long after that we saw the beginning of the city, but the cathedral was still three miles away, with lots of buildings in between.
And a couple more monuments.
One to the Templar Knights,
and one to notable historical figures associated with the Camino.
That's not our bike - the rider took our picture.
The path through the city was marked by bronze shells.
As we kept walking, the buildings aged.
We finally arrived in the old city.
Now to find the Officina del Pelegrinos so we could get our Compostela and distance certificate.
On our way, we ran into a couple, just tying the knot. Our second wedding on this trip
After walking down multiple narrow streets we found the pilgrim office and got in line behind some gregarious Kiwis. The hour and a half we waited went by quickly as we listened to the exploits of the two young men.
Finally we reached the office. ..and here they are - Dave's distance certificate for 775 kilometers, and my Compostela piligrimage certificate (we each received both certificates):
Tomorrow we will go to the museum, walk around, attend the pilgrim's mass at noon, and start the first few miles of our next pilgrimage - the 90km hike to Finisterre on the Atlantic Ocean, also known as the end of the earth. The Camino de Santiago de Finisterre is the only pilgrimage that leads away from the cathedral in Santiago. It is only 60 miles and we expect it to take four days plus one rest day.
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