Santiago! (aka: the city of many reunions)

After two weeks and 202 miles, I arrived Wednesday in Santiago de Compostela--the grand finale of the Camino de Santiago. The atmosphere in this city is buzzing with tourism because this is a holy year; just as I arrived at the cathedral and began to take it all in, a group of three Spainish girls asked if they could take a picture with me. Confused, I asked why...to which they responded, "We wanted a picture with a real pilgrim." Hilarious.

After settling in and getting cleaned up, a bunch of us reunited to watch the Spain vs. Germany match at a bar in the city center. It was really neat, almost every person I befriended along the way showed up for a huge camino reunion love fest. The Germans I was with were quite disappointed in the final outcome, but my did the Spaniards go crazy! Drums and horns and parading around in the streets yelling...it was pretty wild.

Due to the celebratory atmosphere, my friends Ralph and Daragh (from Germany and Ireland, respectively) and myself decided to go out Spanish-style, bar hopping from one place til the next until the nightlife stops. Which ended up being around 7:00am. Let's just say I slept in pretty late the next day...

Thursday was a laid back, low key day to wander around the city and pick up my compostela, the certificate verifying completion of the Camino. While at the pilgrim office, I ran into a lovely young woman named Veronica from Texas whom I had met at a few different points along the way. She and I ended up grabbing lunch and trading stories on the camino and life. It's really strange--and a bit sad--to realize that I'll be meeting all of these people, sharing a unique experience with them, and then likely never seeing them again. Not quite sure how to feel about it all just yet.

In the middle of the day a bout of "tormenta de verano" (thunder of summer) shook the city and led to pouring rain. The busy city came to a standstill, people huddling under eves watching the city get soaked, waiting for the storm to pass. I loved the sudden downpour; the huge drops and abruptness of it all reminded me of home. I walked through the streets Washingtonian style--sans umbrella--and let myself feel like I was in Seattle or Bellingham or Olympia again for a moment. 

As for now, I'm off to start the next (and final) leg of my camino journey: Santiago to Finisterre. It's just under 90km and should take about 3-4 days to reach my final destination, the lighthouse on the edge of the coast that was believed to be the end of the world in mideval times. The symbolism of this endpoint is much more poignant for me than the cathedral at Santiago, which is why I opted to continue. Plus, if I'm going to commit to walking across much of Spain, I may as well walk until I hit the ocean!

Hope you are all enjoying the beautiful sunny weather in the states (or in WA a least)!

Lots of love from NW Spain,
Kels