D(estination)-Day!

We got up in the dark on Friday morning, as per our usual schedule, got ready and left the albergue we'd stayed in overnight and headed off on what was our 'final day' on the Camino Francés. At first it was dry, so confidently I set off in just a t-shirt and fleece. It wasn't cold. However, it also wasn't long before the heavens opened and it started to rain and continued to do so pretty much all day. I am slowly learning that I just need to accept the things that I have no control over or that I'm unable to change, so this was one of those occasions where I had to make a choice to either be grumpy about the weather being a bit rubbish, or make the most of the day ahead. I chose the latter and strode on confidently down our route with a renewed sense of anticipation. After all, we'd left Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port in the rain on Day 1 so maybe it was fitting on Day 40 that we arrived in Santiago in the rain as well.

In some ways this final day was like all the others on the Camino. We still had to walk around 23km, still stopped for breakfast after a couple of hours and still chatted to others along the route. However, as we neared Santiago I did find myself walking more slowly than usual. There was a big part of me that wanted to stretch out today's walk for as long as I possibly could, to enjoy it, to savour every last moment of it as the end was in sight. We had a couple more drinks stops on the way, mainly to seek a bit of shelter from the rain. We also hoped that if we postponed our arrival just that little bit longer then the rain might stop and the sun may just put in an appearance.

About 5km outside of Santiago we climbed up Monte do Gozo (the Hill of Joy). At this stage my heart leapt a little as this is the spot where pilgrims get their first views of the three spires of their destination, the Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela. It was very distant (in the photo below on the far left), in the drizzling rain, but I could see it none-the-less. I started to feel quite emotional. On this site you can also visit the huge statues of two pilgrims pointing towards Santiago and the Cathedral. The statues were erected in the 1993 Holy Year and were designed by the Galician sculptor Acuña. A Holy Year is celebrated during years in which the Feast of St James or Santiago (25th July) falls on a Sunday. This happens every 5, 6 and 11 years. The next one will be in 2027. These Holy Years see a considerable increase in the number of pilgrims to Santiago and it's the only time that the Cathedral's main 'Holy Door' is open for pilgrims to enter on their arrival in the city.

Once we left Monte do Gozo it was literally downhill all the way into Santiago. Part of me was quite grateful to think that so many ascents were now behind me! Despite climbing some uphill on most of our Camino walking days I still hadn't managed to develop much of a love for hills, and still prefer to walk downhill (even if steep) or on the flat. The last few kilometres into Santiago were very built-up as we approached the city. It was busy with other pilgrims milling around and 'normal' people going about their business, loud traffic and the usual hustle and bustle of city life. I suddenly felt a desperate need to shut myself off from all of the outside 'noise' and to try to be a little more contemplative and reflective, so this is the one and only time along the whole of our Camino that I shut everything else out by putting in my AirPods.

When I had imagined this moment, I had always wanted to reach the Cathedral listening to the piece of music I love most from the film "The Way" (see my first blog post for further details). So that's exactly what I did. I'd downloaded the track the night before and now spent the last 20 minutes or so playing it on repeat. I felt the tears well up, found them difficult to control so just blubbed my way through the crowded streets of Santiago, down one final set of steps through an arch where a bagpipe player pipes pilgrims into the main Cathedral square.

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I turned the corner left, walked into the centre of The Plaza del Obradoiro and came face-to-face for the first time with a building I had seen so many times in photographs and in films and on television. This is where I find it hard to put into words how I felt. I was blown away by the sight of the Cathedral standing in all its glory and below it in the main square a constant stream of pilgrims were arriving: some laughing and whooping, some crying, some kneeling on the ground, some hugging and kissing each other and some quietly standing, just taking it all in. I was probably in the final category and (once I'd thrown my arms around my husband in disbelief that we'd actually made it!) just stood and looked and watched and soaked up the atmosphere (literally, as it was still pouring with rain!) Lots of selfies and group photographs were being taken and video calls being made. That said, people weren't hanging around for too long and soon sought shelter in the surrounding arches to get out of the rain. I felt an urge to call someone from 'home' to share the news of our arrival, so phoned my sister. She picked up the call and when I shouted loudly "guess where we are, we've made it!" she asked me to be quiet because she was at work!

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Although a lot of pilgrims arrive in Santiago via the Camino Francés route (around 50%) the other half are arriving from Caminos starting in different locations across Spain, France and even further afield. We had met pilgrims on our journey who had started in Northern France and as far up Europe as the Netherlands, already having walked over 2,000km before even reaching Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port. A few days earlier I had heard of one pilgrim who had started her Camino in Jerusalem and had walked a few thousand kilometres to reach Santiago. I felt completely humbled by the whole experience.

The next 'job' we needed to do was register our arrival with the Pilgrim's Office, so we headed straight there. You can register online in advance, but if not, you are met by a very surly and large security guard on the door who won't let you in, and points you to a notice where you can download a QR code to register there and then on your phone. It takes a matter of minutes. You're then ushered through the main entrance, issued with a number and wait in line until your number is called. There were around 10/12 counters open to deal with the number of pilgrims coming through the doors that afternoon and we waited for less than 5 minutes to be called forward. If you've seen the film "The Way" you'll maybe remember the scene towards the end following the pilgrims' arrival where each is asked their reason for walking the Camino and then a carefully hand-written certificate is handed to them, the ink still wet on the parchment. Much dialogue seems to take place between the pilgrims and the registrars and each are congratulated on reaching Santiago and their journeys completed. My experience was a little different. Everything is now electronic so apart from checking a few basic facts, I was handed two pieces of paper: my 'Compostela' to confirm that I had completed the Camino Francés, and my 'certificate of distance' to confirm how far I'd come. The very pleasant lady dealing with me did congratulate me on my achievement as she handed me my two pieces of paper. My husband then tried to take a photograph of me receiving my 'awards' but was quickly shouted at (very loudly) by another security guard and told to wait until we got outside to take any photos! As we queued up at a separate desk to pay the 2€ for our certificates I suddenly noticed that my name had been spelt incorrectly on one of the certificates, which I couldn't understand as I'd registered for both using the same data and the other certificate was correct. I was just about to return to ask for it to be re-printed when my husband informed me very politely that although one certificate is in Spanish, the other is in Latin, so indeed my name should be written as 'Stephaniam' and not 'Stephanie'!

As well as registering online, I had to hand over my pilgrim passports in order to be issued with recognition that I had completed my Camino. I had loved collecting the passport stamps along the way. You're only required to collect 1 each day (2 per day from Sarria onwards to Santiago) but I had taken almost every opportunity to stamp my passport when I could. I had completed the first (double-sided) passport in full and collected a second once we arrived in León. The final stamp placed in your passport (which just happened by chance to be my 100th!) is the stamp of the Cathedral in Santiago.

Looking at the Pilgrim Office statistics the following day, we learnt that we were 2 of 2,492 pilgrims who had arrived in Santiago on 9th June. A total of 136,382 so far in 2023, coming from all over the world. So far this year, the Camino Francés is the most popular route (49.9% of pilgrims), followed by the Portuguese Way (22.8%) and the Coastal Route of the Portuguese Camino (11%).

We quickly returned to The Plaza del Obradoiro where we met up with a friend we'd made all the way back on Day 1. She'd arrived in Santiago the day before us but was keen to meet up and congratulate us on our arrival. After a few more photos and a little more soaking up the atmosphere we went and had a celebratory drink together where we continued to share stories of our experiences over the past 40 days and how we felt about finishing our journeys and returning home to 'normal' life.

Later that day we entered the magnificent Cathedral for the Pilgrim's Mass service, which occurs at noon and 19:30 every day. As a symbol of welcome, the Mass always begins with a reading of the list of pilgrims (by nationality) who have arrived in Santiago and that have claimed their 'Compostela' within the last 24 hours. Although all in Spanish I listened carefully to the reference to the number of British and Irish pilgrims arriving as this number included my husband and I. I was delighted towards the end of the service when it was obvious that the 'botafumeiro' was going to be used. The famous botafumeiro of Santiago de Compostela Cathedral is an enormous incense burner used for liturgical purposes. It weighs in at 100kg once filled with coal and incense. Its swaying across the length of the naves of the church has become known throughout the world. The Galician word, used to name it since the 19th century, literally means smoke expeller and it expels clouds of incense as it swings. Apparently it can reach speeds of up to 70 km/h and was historically used to cover up the smell of pilgrims looking for shelter inside the cathedral at night. The botafumeiro isn't used at every service and in fact I was disappointed to hear during our Camino from others than knew more than me, that there are only a few religious days each year now that it's used and the regular Friday 'swinging of the botafumeiro' was no longer in place. It is also used on other certain occasions, but this is never advertised in advance. I therefore hadn't held onto any expectations about seeing it, so this was a wonderful surprise to finish off what had been an extraordinary day.

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I couldn't help but giggle when, following 4 announcements before the Mass started advising everyone that there were strict conditions in the Cathedral which did NOT permit anyone to use their mobile phones during the service, that this happened when the botafumeiro appeared!

Planning our Camino, we had decided to continue after Santiago for another few days walking to reach the Atlantic Ocean. Heading to bed that night I was pleased we'd made this decision. I was a little sad that our main journey had come to an end, but was looking forward to a couple of days rest in Santiago and then to start walking again. I think for me it would have been too much of an anti-climax to have left Santiago and travelled straight home afterwards.

For those of you keen to follow, I will be writing another couple of blog posts before wrapping up what has been an amazing adventure.