Day 109 – Melida to O Pedrouzo (35,3 km) – Thuesday 17.10.2023
I slept quite well in the large dormitory and got up again at 8:30. I had breakfast in the kitchen of the accommodation with a few other pilgrims. After a little cereal and a coffee, I set off.
Today I ran again through the hilly landscapes of Galicia. At the beginning the weather was quite good and I made good progress. When I passed a café after almost 14 km and a pilgrim told me that the coffee there was really good, I took a break here. While I ate a sandwich and drank my coffee, I chatted with other pilgrims who were also taking a break here.
I still had to get used to the many pilgrims on the way. I kept having to pass people and almost every minute I greeted the other people with “Buen Camino”. What was striking was the many groups of Koreans that I had only met since I was traveling on the Frances.
At lunchtime I looked for a bar to grab a bite to eat. Unfortunately, I only passed a few towns and the first three bars were all already closed, which surprised me at 1 p.m. I had better luck in the fourth bar and bought a burger there. After a little refreshment, I continue my hike again. Even though I was out for a long time today, not much actually happened. Since it had started to rain again, I couldn’t see much of the landscape and therefore hardly took any breaks.
After more than 35 km I reached today’s destination. In town I passed a waymark that made it clear to me that from here it was less than 20 km to Santiago. Since it was now raining very heavily, I went to a bar, ordered something to drink and looked for somewhere to stay for the evening. I started talking to an older couple from the USA. Both had apparently already traveled a lot around the world. The woman ran almost 2,600 km on the Appalachian Trail in the USA last year. When they found out that I had now covered over 2800 km, they were very surprised and congratulated me on my achievement.
Once I finished my drink and found somewhere to stay, I headed there. There I took a shower, washed my clothes and rested a bit. Then I went to a local pizzeria for dinner. Later in the evening I returned to the pilgrims’ accommodation.
Today I was staying in a room with 5 pilgrims from Brazil. They asked me directly if it was okay with me if they turned on the lights at 6am tomorrow morning. They wanted to leave early so they could be in Santiago in time for the 12 p.m. mass. Even though they didn’t speak English and I don’t speak Portuguese, we were able to communicate and I decided to just do the same. The lights were turned off at exactly 10 p.m. so that we would all be fit for the last stage tomorrow.
Day 110 – O Pedrouzo to Santiago de Compostela (20,3 km) – Wednesday 18.10.2023
The alarm clock went off at 6 a.m. today and everyone was immediately packing up their things. There was already a lot of activity in the kitchen of the house and everyone quickly ate a little something and then got going straight away. I quickly ate a cup of cereal and drank some coffee. My Brazilian roommates gave me a boiled egg to fortify me for the day and then I set off.
Due to the early hour, it was still pitch black and when the path turned into the forest, I also took out my headlamp. Like many other pilgrims, I walked around with the lamp on my head and somehow it seemed quite funny to see all the little lights in the forest. Again and again I overtook pilgrims who had real headlights with them that could have illuminated an entire street. In comparison, my little headlamp seemed a bit small, but it served its purpose quite well. Since I couldn’t see much other than the path, I unfortunately didn’t get to see much of the landscape.
After 10 kilometers I stopped at the first café on the way and bought myself a coffee. Since all the pilgrims seemed to be taking their first break here, I drank quickly and went straight on. By now it was still a bit dark, but at least light enough to be able to walk without a headlamp. Unfortunately, the rain started right now and I was quickly completely soaked again and with the outside temperature at 15 degrees, that wasn’t necessarily pleasant. But since I soon had less than 10 kilometers to run, that didn’t bother me much.
When I finally got to the outskirts of Santiago de Compostela, the rain gradually stopped. After almost exactly 20 km the time had finally come. After a total of over 2800 km I reached my long-awaited destination, the cathedral of Santiago de Compostela. I walked into the large square in front of the cathedral and looked at the beautiful building for a few minutes. Other pilgrims congratulated me and I congratulated them. You could tell how many pilgrims were really happy to have finally reached their destination. Although I was happy about it too, my joy apparently wasn’t quite as great as that of some other people.
I chatted for a few minutes with a pilgrim who was kind enough to take a picture of me. It was interesting to hear that he wasn’t really happy either. For him, the journey was the goal and that would perhaps describe it quite appropriately for me. I had experienced so many great encounters and moments in the last few weeks and months that I didn’t give this moment too much importance.
When it was just before 12 o’clock, I said goodbye to him and went to the cathedral to attend mass there. Since I was about to enter the church again, I couldn’t get a seat and had to stand in the back rows. Many other pilgrims felt the same way as me and the cathedral was soon completely full. Unfortunately, since the mass itself was in Spanish, I didn’t understand much. But the singing in the large halls was very impressive and when the famous censer was waved at the end of the mass, I also felt a little more happy about achieving my goal. Driven by five men, the huge censer rushed through the cathedral and literally covered the building with fog. The festive melody of the organ played and the whole thing became a real experience. With all the incense, I immediately thought back to my time as an altar boy, when I sometimes overdid it with the incense. You wouldn’t even want to imagine how things would have ended for me with these means.
After the celebration I took a look at the cathedral.
Then I went to pick up my “Compostela”. I was given a number like the one at the office and was allowed to stand in line. Surprisingly, the whole thing went really quickly and after just a few minutes I left the building with my “Compostela” and another certificate in my hand. So I had my official certificate of achieving my goal. Since I forgot to take the current stage into account, 20km are unfortunately missing from my certificate, which corresponds roughly to the distance I had to cover by boat and therefore fits the distance I covered on foot. Back in the alleys I kept seeing many pilgrims celebrating this moment extensively. I also sat down in the first bar I saw and treated myself to a beer while happy pilgrims kept walking past me.
Afterwards I looked for a room in a hotel and rested for a bit. Because as some of the readers can already imagine, my journey doesn’t end here. Like many other pilgrims, I will use the next few days to set sail. It’s another 120 kilometers further via Muxia to Cape Finisterre, before I’ll probably start my journey home. So laundry was on the agenda again today. To celebrate the day, I’ll go out to eat somewhere again this evening and probably treat myself to a beer or two or a little wine. Let’s see if I meet some pilgrims eating again today or if I can have a relaxing evening to myself again for a long time.
I will probably only write a larger review of my trip when I get home.
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