My arrival in Santiago de Compostela

     On the morning of Friday July 13, 2012 I walked the remaining 5km of the Camino de Santiago and stood awestruck beneath the cathedral that marks the end of an 800km journey. As I walked into Santiago de Compostela it began raining ever so slightly, but I wasn´t going to let the miserable weather ruin my day. I had arrived, I had actually arrived after over a month of walking. I was amazed at how beautiful the cathedral is. Sure, I had seen it in pictures and on TV, but there is nothing like seeing it towering over you in the middle of a crowded plaza. After admiring the cathedral for a while, I figured that it was time to get in line to receive my compostela which would mark the end of the camino. But, as I was walking towards the pilgrim office, I found Nancy and Kathrin waiting outside a restaurant. I was so happy to see them again! I knew that Kathrin was arriving the same day as me, but Nancy had walked to Santiago on Thurday (when I stayed on Monte del Gozo) and she was planning on taking a bus to Finisterre on Friday. I was really surpirsed to see that Nancy was still here. It turns out that she had decided against going to Finisterre and was planning on staying in Santiago until her flight back home which meant that we would get to spend the entire day together! So, after a little catching up, I stood in line at the pilgrims office and waited for my compostela. Then it was made official. On Friday July 13, 2012, Matthaeum Cugnet (they write our names in Latin which is really neat) has completed the Camino de Santiago. After recieving my compostela, the lady at the desk asked me how I felt now that I had arried in Santiago. Honestly, I hadn´t given it a lot of thought. I was excited to be in Santiago, I was proud of myself for having come this far, but at that very moment in the pilgrims office, I felt like I had arrived. The camino wasn´t over for me though, I still have another 100km of walking before I reach Finisterre, and all throughout the camino Finisterre has been running through my head as my final destination. Santiago was just another stop along the way. To celebrate my arrival, I decided to treat myself to a large breakfast, but seeing how breakfast in Spain is basically bread and jam, it was hard to find a place with real food! After peaking in and out of several cafes, I found a place that looked promising. For €10 I had a huge plate of rice, sausage links, and fried eggs all smothered in a delicious red sauce. When the plate was set in front of me, I was excited! But, over the past few weeks I have become accustomed to having a piece of bread and coffee for breakfast, so I was only able to half of my wonderful meal which was somewhat disappointing because I would have liked to eat the entire thing! After breakfast, me, Nancy, and Kathrin toured the city before going to the pilgrim mass at 12pm. Although it was incredibly long, the mass was quite nice. They even swung the large incense burner which is what I was really looking foreward to. After mass there are a few ¨rituals¨ each pilgrim is supposed to partake in, one of which is hugging the statue of Saint James. So, like every other pilgrim in the cathedral, I got in line and waited for my turn to hug the statue. Then, I went below the statue to visit the tomb where the body of Saint James is said to be kept. By the time we left the cathedral it was starting to rain really hard, so most of the afternoon was spent in the albergue, but, I am returning to Santiago on July 24 so that is when I will do all of my touristy things. In the meantime, it was nice to spend time with Nancy and Kathrin to celebrate the end of the camino.
     When I woke up on Saturday morning, I lay in bed thinking to myself, ¨Wow, I´m actually here. I am in Santiago de Compostela and I am done the camino¨. It wasn´t until I looked below my bed and saw my boots and backpack that I realized that MY camino wasn´t over yet. I was leaving for Finisterre and I had 22km of walking ahead of me today. When I worked up the strength to drag myself out of bed it was already 8am. Before leaving though, I said goodbye to Nancy and Kathrin (Even though I would be seeing Kathrin later in the day because she is walking to Finisterre as well. But this would be the last time I would see Nancy). We said our farewells, and then I was back on the road. At first it was hard to walk away from Santiago because this is really the end of the camino, but once the cathedral was out of sight and I was surrounded by forest again, the walk became much easier. The Camino de Finisterre is literally the road less travelled. For the entire six hours that I was on the road, I only saw five people! It was strange because I was just getting used to bwalking on crowded paths. Now, I am all alone and it felt like I was in the middle of no where. There were a few times where I had to double check my guidebook and retrace my steps just to make sure that I was going thr right way. But, it was a beautiful walk (one of my favorites so far this trip) and I loved the peace and quiet! After a full day of walking, I was glad to arrive at the albergue. Now, only three more days of walking before I arrive in Finisterre! And that WILL be the the end of the camino for me! The end of the world is the end of MY camino.