Today we arrived at Santiago de Compostella! We made a relatively early start, although not quite as early as we had hoped, and headed out into mist and a fine drizzle that stayed with us all day. The route on the map looked mainly suburban but for a large part we were on a path through woods, even as we skirted the fence of Compostela airport some ten kilometres from the city. Again we had the accompanying scent of eucalyptus and elderflower as water dripped on our heads and down our necks from the trees above. It wasn’t as bad as it might sound and we were buoyed up by the fact that it was a short day. The fact that it was also the last day (of this part of the walk at least) hadn’t really sunk in.
We passed through a couple of tiny villages, stopped for coffee and pressed on. It wasn’t until we descended through parkland and came to the Santiago ring road that we hit suburbia proper. After that it was an hour of walking through the city, firstly square and utilitarian and modern but eventually through historic, narrow and winding streets with the towers of the cathedral visible ahead. A short walk past an old and impressive monastery and down some old stone steps and we were in the main cathedral square after one month and 500 miles of walking.
Was it emotional having arrived? I think for me the emotion was somewhat dampened by the rain and the desire to find shelter rather than enjoy the moment. I also don’t yet feel that my walk is over; tomorrow I am heading off to Finisterre which is another three days walking after which I will return to spend time here in Santiago. But for now it is time to relax with a beer, collect our 'Compostelas' and enjoy a nice meal in our hotel and let the reality of this achievement sink in.
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