O Amenal → Santiago de Compostela
Distance: 10.7 miles / 16.3km
Elevation: +1066ft, -1100ft
I woke up today at 6am - I was trying to decide whether I wanted to stay in bed a bit longer and sleep in some more, or if I should get up and try to get to Santiago as soon as I could. I ended up getting up at around 6:30am and started to pack my things up. I had slept with the window open, and my room was facing near the front of the building where the Camino route passes by. I could hear the clicks of people’s trekking poles starting at around 6am, so I figured I should get up and get going.
I left at around 7:15am, and there was a big hoard of people around the hostel (since it’s also a café) which was quite a start to the day. I got past all the people and walked in the dark for a while. I’m glad I have the headlamp, but it’s so dim when I try to use it now that I always have to use my phone to supplement it anyway. I’m glad it’s my last day walking in the dark!
There were WAY more people walking before dark today than I’ve seen on any other day on the whole Camino, and it kinda set in for me that I was actually arriving in Santiago today. There was some uphill to start the day, but it doesn’t feel as bad when you can’t actually see what you’re walking up, or what’s up ahead! I made a stop about 2.5 miles in at a café, and got breakfast. I was really wanting a tortilla, but neither of the 2 bars in the town I stopped at had them, so I just got a pain au chocolat. I felt kind of rushed because I wanted to just get to Santiago as soon as possible, and ended up scarfing down my pastry.
I walked in and out of hoards of people, it seems like lots of other people were also eager to get to Santiago as everyone was walking faster than usual. I made one more stop at another town with a café and some Camino gift shops where I just used the bathroom. The final stretch into Santiago felt like an eternity, because the landscape starts getting more and more urban, and you think you’re almost there, but then you still have 2 more miles to go. Eventually though, I made it!!
I walked into the plaza where the cathedral was located, and it felt so surreal that I had actually arrived. Many pilgrims were laying on the cobblestones in front of the cathedral with their packs as a pillow, so I did that for about 10 minutes and just took it all in.
I went to the pilgrims office, where they gave me the final stamp to close out my pilgrim credential, and then printed out my compostela and distance certificate! It was so exciting to get to hold it and finally really feel like “I did that”.
After I got my compostela, I went back to the main square, sat a bit longer, and took a few people’s photos for them - I also got some photos of my own. After I sat there for long enough, I decided to go and get something to eat/drink. My hostel doesn’t do check in until 4pm, and at that point it was only 12:30pm so I needed to figure out how to kill 3.5 hours.
I went to a café and got a glass of red wine that came with a small slice of tortilla and I sat outside and people watched for a while. After I sat there for a while, I went to a different bar and got another wine and they gave me a different tapa. It was nice to just sit outside and enjoy the ambiance. I then realized I still hadn’t actually eaten yet, so I went to a kebab shop that I had heard about and got a kebab for lunch. It was very yummy and hit the spot.
After that, I walked back to the cathedral area, and by then it was about 3:30pm, so I went to the hostel. They let me check in, even though I was a few minutes early, and I finally got to put my pack down. The key card didn’t work at first for whatever reason, so I had to go down and ask them about it, but I didn’t have any issues after that. There are only 5 people in my room, and I was lucky enough to get a single bed (non bunk bed)! I unpacked a bit and then met a German girl who’s also in the room.
I showered, washed my clothes, and hung them out the window to dry. This definitely wasn’t an albergue that had clotheslines! At around 5:30pm, I left to go back to the cathedral once again because I had booked a rooftop tour! It was highly recommended, and you get to walk on the roof of the cathedral and learn a bit about the history and there are some beautiful views.
The tour was from 6-7pm and was a lovely time. After it was over, I went straight to the other side of the cathedral since there was a pilgrims mass at 7:30pm. It’s widely known that the pilgrim masses in Santiago fill up QUICK, and if you want to get a seat, you need to be there around 45 minutes in advance. I didn’t get a proper seat though, so I ended up sitting on an open space of one of the pillars in the church.
The pilgrims mass was all in Spanish and lasted about 50 minutes. The best part was that at the end, they lit the lantern hanging in the cathedral with incense and then they swung the lantern back and forth! This is a tradition at the Santiago church, and it’s not done at every pilgrims mass so it’s pretty special if you get to see it. They’re also quite secretive about when it’s going to happen, they don’t tell people and there’s no rhyme or reason - unless you donate a hefty amount, (€500+) and then they’ll do it at your request. But it was really cool to see!
Once mass was over, I went to an udon place for dinner. I got a kimchi crispy chicken udon ramen bowl, which was very yummy! It was pretty late after I finished dinner, around 9:10pm, so I just went back to my hostel. It had been a long day and lots to process. I got back, got ready for bed, and then journaled for a bit. It still hasn’t really hit me that I’m in Santiago, and that I just walked over 750km! I think it will take some time before the magnitude of it hits me.
But until then, I am looking forward to the next few days of rest. Tomorrow, Tovin booked me a massage in the afternoon, and then I have plans to meet up with Mark, Santiago, and Liz once they arrive here too! I’m really looking forward to exploring Santiago, visiting Porto, and then coming back to Santiago to hike to Finisterre (“end of the world”) with Tovin!
So, this is goodbye for now - but I will pick back up in a few days with my journal once Tovin arrives and we begin our hike to the sea. Until then, thank you for following along, and buen camino!
Total distance traveled: 482.8 miles / 777km
Distance to Fisterra: 54.3 miles / 87.5km
