For the final day with just 15 km until Santiago, I thought I would finally REALLY sleep in since there would be no rush to get a bed in the city. WRONG! Although the couple in our room left at 5am, it was so silently that I barely even noticed. The real end to my beauty sleep came somewhere between 6:30 and 7 when it felt like the entire albergue woke up and was stomping around in their hiking boots as they got ready for the final hike to Santiago. We were out the door by 7:15.
The morning passed by quickly, as it was just a few kilometers to Santiago in comparison to the previous seven days’ hikes. We met a Spanish hiker, Myriam, on the trail and chatted our way over the rolling hills.
This next confession is quite embarrassing. I had made it the 240 kilometers to Santiago without losing the way and then got lost once we entered the city. I don’t know how we managed to do that. We even asked one shop keeper, but she was thoroughly confused trying to read our map in the guide book and couldn’t direct us to the cathedral. After asking several tourists with maps which way to the cathedral, we eventually found our way there.
Finally having arrived at the square we took some proud photos, even though the cathedral was covered in scaffolding. We couldn’t go in without backpacks, so we decided to figure out how to get our Compostela’s (document certifying that we had completed the pilgrimage). Again, this feat proved almost as difficult as walking all the way there. But eventually we did find the right building, which had a surprisingly short line. (If you’re looking to get your Compostela, face away from the Cathedral in the main square and head down the hill close to the fancy hotel {on the right}. Turn right in the first street and the building is on the left).
Although my pack was only around 6 or 7 kilos, I couldn’t do much in the city with it, so I headed to my hostel (Albergue Seminario Menor) to check in. It’s about a 15 minute walk away in a monastery on a hill. It is HUGE! Each room has about 20 cots. The basement has a large common room/dining hall, mini market, kitchen, and laundry facilities. If you book in advance, you can most likely get accommodation just as economical closer to the cathedral, but you’ll have to know when you’re arriving.
The remainder of the day I spent wandering around the old town in Santiago. The steep, narrow streets are easy to get lost in. Aside from the supermarket, you won’t see any chain stores in this UNESCO preserved old town.
All week, Giovanni had been telling pilgrims he met along the way to meet at the cathedral Saturday at 7pm. Kathrin and I met a bit earlier in the square and one by one, pilgrims we recognized from the journey began to gather in front of the cathedral. Giovanni, Fabiana, Myriam, the couple from the Czech Republic, some Spanish pilgrims I had seen in Caldas de Reis, and many others. All in all, we were about 25 people. Giovanni and a couple of Portuguese guys took up a collection and went to get beer for everyone. We spent a couple hours sitting on the square in front of the church exchanging tales from our journeys and celebrating the accomplishment.
I expected to arrive in Santiago a changed and renewed person. Maybe I was used to spending so much time on my own thinking because of all of the kilometers I’d already collected on the 66-Lakes-Trail. But I wasn’t in deep contemplation on either trail. I didn’t spend hours thinking about the meaning of life. Or the meaning of my life. I didn’t even come close to figuring out what I want to do next with my life. But I don’t think you can walk 240 km without being a different person. Like Heraclitus said, “you can never step into the same river twice”, and we ourselves are constantly changing, whether we know it or not. Now that I think about it, I learned that I am capable of walking quite a distance and that my Spanish skills haven’t become lost. I was reminded of the kindness and friendliness of strangers. Perhaps I wasn’t completely different, but refreshed; and certainly wanting to take on a different route of this challenge again!