The final day of walking and definitely my last miles in these boots. I am starting to feels small stones underfoot which tells me I have worn through the soles. I suspect over-packing my rucksack doesn’t help matters much.
So the day started as always with a several km long climb uphill, out of the river valley. There then followed a long and quite difficult walk up to the outskirts of Santiago. There was a stop for a coffee in the little village with the great name of O Susanna which had me humming the tune as I walked in. The woman in the coffee shop was very taken with my Camino Invierno shirt and insisted on taking my photo.
Crossing the railway line, one comes across a very sad impromptu memorial to the 79 people who died here in 2013 when a train jumped the tracks on a curve. 5 years is not long for the grief to be healed.
This was the first time I had approached SdC on this route and it is quite strange as one is behind a hill most of the way in. About 2km out one gets one’s first glimpse of the cathedral.
But then when one gets into the square, exhausted and happy, it is to see the cathedral pretty well clear of the scaffolding that I first saw in 2014. So I got my Compostela, and headed into town for dinner and to see the wonderful street musicians.
So, another compostela for the wall but, far more importantly, another set of wonderful memories. I love this part of the world, for all its faults, and I will walk again.
Love,
Nick, a pilgrim
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