Friday 27 th November

How do I begin today’s blog? It is our last day walking – phew I hear some of you say, thank goodness! Mission accomplished, time to put your feet up! We get that, but hope you can understand that that is not how we feel. At times the walking has been challenging- steep mountain tracks that faced us early on when we were newbies, tricky stoney downhill paths and regular hills and dales – but the journey we have both taken, has been far more challenging. Remember our lovely Sister Mary Delores from yesterday? Well in that queue for the loo , with tears falling down her face , she explained to me what the journey meant to her – it touched her very soul, her core and her everything. We understand that because this Camino for us has been more than 115km of putting one foot in front of the other- it has touched the core of each of us in a way that is impossible to explain. I wish we could tell you exactly how it feels but I think I can safely say it has been a wonderful, moving , deep and very profound experience for both of us. So if we had to get up tomorrow and walk another 15 miles – bring it on! Oh, perhaps not – firstly we have to fly home and secondly we donated our trusty poles for some other pilgrims to use- but know they will serve them well!

Anyway as usual dear reader, I’ve digressed. Now where was I – oh yes, how do I begin? Well, thinking about lovely Maria Delores let’s start at the very beginning, a very good place to start! ( the astute amongst you will see where I’m coming from – for the rest of you think nun and hills that are alive with the sound of music…)

Today it is raining, possibly slightly more than on Tuesday, but we have 6 miles to go and are keen to get to Santiago in good time to sort our Credencial . So after a hearty breakfast ( you may see a doorstop, but I have to say , the Galician bread is something else) I remember the taxi driver telling us on the way to Sarria, that the bread if made on a Monday, tastes as good on the Friday! All I can say is I’ve not tasted any bad or stale bread here- but freshly baked it is heavenly!

Yes I know what you’re thinking – going out in the rain with no coats? This photo was to try and show you what we carried each day, along with our shells- the Frenchman who took the photo slightly failed in that respect, but I hope you get the gist. Immediately after we put on our rain gear and set off on the last leg.

This part of the Camino is much busier with “ day tripper” pilgrims but today would have been Alistair’s 66 th birthday and despite the sporadic crowds, we managed to find time for quiet contemplation and reflection – and enjoyed what will be our last eucalyptus lined walks.

As we neared the outskirts of the city, we passed a small garden with this rather amazing statue- I think you may have to decide what it is meant to be, we suspect an elephant but cannot be sure!

We collected our two required “sellos” for today to complete our Pilgrim passports and walked onward into the old town and the cathedral square. Unbelievably as we approached there was a pilgrim/student/traveller playing the bagpipes and piping us into the square ( as if in reverence to Alistair!) In order to collect your pilgrim certificate, you must attend the pilgrim office , sufficiently stamped passport in hand! However because of the sheer numbers of pilgrims, there is a ticket system ( like you have at the fish counter of the supermarket!) – we duly collected our numbers 840 and 841 and discovered they were currently dealing with number 235! Well dear reader you must be wondering how we were functioning – on previous days we’ve not only had a coffee stop by this time, but also a beer stop. So with time to spare …….

After ample sufficiency of both we headed back to the pilgrim office to check our progress in the queue , only to be distracted on our way by none other than ….a dog!

Eventually we made our way back to the office – still 400 pilgrims ahead of us – so after donating our walking poles, we headed off for lunch. Menu del día for 11€ -croquetas and chipirones ( little squid), beautiful roast chicken, salad and chips, two beers and coffee with a slice of tarta De Santiago ( almond and lemon cake) – so 22€ in total! …..Oh okay – washed down with …..

We then went back to collect our certificates – we have two, one with our names written in Latin can you believe it and the other in English! May I introduce Catharinam Rimmer and Joannam Elisabetham Harding …….at your service! Apparently at mass tomorrow at 12 the priest reads out the names of all the pilgrims who arrived the day before – we’re trying to get our heads round our new names so at least we know when they are called!

We have seen several of our fellow pilgrims whilst here but we finally met up with Ruth and Rachel who I told you about on Tuesday who were walking for their nephew/cousin recently diagnosed with terminal cancer. The water bottle was returned to its rightful owner and we had a lovely couple of hours with them – the courage of people we have met or heard of along the way has been amazing .

We have something to tell you all ….we are planning to walk next year from Santiago to Finister or Fisterra, such is the pull of the Camino! Addictive some say- whatever you chose to call it- we are hooked!

This is not the end ( always remember the off button is at your disposal!) – tomorrow is a new day and there will be plenty more to tell you about.