Camino Day 17: O Pedrouzo to Santiago de Compostela! (Part 1)

14.2 miles, 1,300′ gain, 1,400′ loss, 4:30

Mind/Body

Like most mornings, I woke up when I wake up. Today, I was one of the last ones out of the hostel at 7:30.

While I assume everyone was anxious to get to Santiago, I had time. It was my shortest day and I would meet my family a couple kilometers outside of the cathedral in Santiago. Only 20km today.

After a couple kilometers, I decided to stop for coffee. Of course I run into the Germans I walked with yesterday. Then they met a bunch of people from the Camino Privitio (north coast of Spain). It was like a big family reunion! We walked together until about 5km outside Santiago. I did enjoy the last two days and traveling with a group. This is such a typical experience of the Camino, i.e. traveling with the same group of people – sometimes walking together, sometimes just seeing each other at stops or at night. I definitely met people that were traveling together, but since I was either moving fast or doing long days, I hadn’t really experienced traveling with people. They were a fun group, and walked at my pace! (The only people I met on the Camino that have the same pace.). Mid-walk, the boyfriend of the Dutch woman we were traveling with completely surprised her by showing up to join her for the end of the Camino. It was very sweet and touching. Even the woman driving the van that couldn’t drive around them was smiling and seemed to understand what was going on.

I said goodbye to the Germans/Dutch at Monte del Gozo to have some time to reflect. Monte del Gozo is a small hill that for centuries have given pilgrims their first glimpse of the spires of the Cathedral in Santiago. It was also where they would have ritual baths (if you think we smell badly, imagine the smell … and disease of pilgrims 800 years ago).

I sat and looked at the spires in the distance. How did I feel? I smiled. It didn’t seem that far. (Traveling point-to-point 500 miles, you see where you’re going and how far you’ve come, it gave me a perspective on distance that I’ve never had. Cities or mountains off in the distance now seem manageable to walk to.) The Cathedral was only 5km, less than an hours walk. I felt the cold wind. The other pilgrims/tourists walked in front and behind me. I was present, not hurried, not anxious … peaceful. My continual prayer continued. I tried to develop the words to tell and write other people. I was at a loss at first. Is there something wrong with me that I can’t describe what I’m feeling? Am I feeling nothing? My continual prayer continued.

Then I finally realized how I can explain to someone how I’m feeling. Yes, I’m about to finish my pilgrimage. But this is just a stage. My pilgrimage will continue for the rest of my life until I meet God. God will continue to walk with me and I will need to stay present to him/her for the rest of my life as much as on the Camino. Yes, this has been a once-in-a-lifetime pilgrimage and soon it will come to an end. I get to see my family! But sitting there, I was peaceful, present, aware that the rest of my pilgrimage is ahead of me. Hopefully I have learned enough from the Camino to carry it forward to the rest of my life. I am ready to walk with God to the end of the Camino, to my family, to the rest of my life, all the way to the end of my pilgrimage on earth.