There was just 20 more kilometres to walk to Santiago Cathedral but we wanted to get there by noon for the Pilgrim mass. This meant a six o'clock start walking through woodland in the dark and rain guided by the light of Todd's head torch. We carried on and in true Camino style appropriate for the last day, we had to walk 10km on empty stomachs untill we reached a coffee stop. Once I'd been refreshed I started to get butterflies about walking the last 10k. The excitement of course led to some singing and I attempted to create a song in the style on Nat King Cole's L.O.V.E but with the letters S.A.N.T.I.A.G.O. Just before Santiago you reach the top of mount Gonzo and then begin the ascent into the city. I thought we would be able to see the Cathedral from here but no such luck with the weather still being so wet. Down the hill we went and just as we reached the Santiago sign on the outskirts of the city, the sun came out! We had been warned that there was still a bit a walk after this sign so we took a few photos but kept our heads. On we walked and I was surprised there was still no sign of the Cathedral. We continued through urban sprawl for ages and only when we were about 500m away did the Cathedrals turrets start to appear and then they dissappeared again. I grabbed Todd's hand, Damien took mine and Neringas and the Christian and Barbara joined the chain. We began to hear bagpipes, walked past the bagpiper, through tunnel and emerged on the Plaza in front of the Cathedral. The family strode across hand in hand with little fanfare and then we broke into hugs, high fives, pats on the back and lots of photos. I think we could have stayed much longer absorbing the moment but it was 11.45 and we had a Mass to get to!
When we went into the Cathedral we were told no bags allowed and they needed checking in to an office. Where exactly this was located was unclear. Panic ensued as we ran around into places that said Pilgrim. Sonny (Korean lad) in particular had gone into overdrive running round and simply repeating the words "mass" and "bag" over and over. We found this office in the end and got to the Mass in time. It was a bit boring because everything was in Spanish (I should have known as much) but there was some beautiful singing from a Nun and closing my eyes to listen this was very serene.
I bumped into a few other Pilgrims I had met along the way. Sakeena was at the Mass, another Korean girl and of
Course Sonny. There was one person missing though... Ludger my Camino dad. He had already emailed me saying he had caught an earlier flight home because of work. I guess you can't have it all!
We went to get our Certificates with our new Latin names on them, all checked into a Hotel and then hit a Tapas bar (the best in Santiago according to Henry) to start the celebrations. We got them to make celebratory cocktails which I don't think they were used to doing. I ended up with a giant glass of Cinzano and Gin, the nearest they could get to a Gin Martini. The rest of the evening was spent having Cañas (small beer and a tapas surprise) finally ending up at a bar dancing to Paul Simon.
But like all good journeys that you don't want to end the only thing to do is carry on. Because I arrived two days ahead of schedule into Santiago that is exactly what I am going to do... I am off to the end of the world...
No comments:
Post a Comment