… And just like that – it’s the last day.

I swear these past thirty-something days just flew by… okay, not always, because there were some hard days when I felt like I would never make it to the Albergue that afternoon – or sometimes just to the top of the uphill route in front of me… but the last 100 km definitely felt like a blink of an eye. I couldn’t imagine this moment when I saw the Santiago sign saying, 790 km to go.

I’m pretty sure I was more like ” what the actual f— am I doing? ”

I was thinking that for quite a while at the beginning, not gonna lie – starting from day 1, in the Pyrenees where I was thinking about how could I go back to Paris from here, and how I’m gonna face everyone after I failed this in half a day… I was like, oh please, it’s walking… I walk a lot at work, check my step counter… See, 23.000 steps during a shift. I will smash this Camino – little did I know then … cuz the Camino smashed me right in my big loud mouth. It was a nice little humbling moment there in the middle of nowhere, in the rain, cold, and with no one I knew around.
And then you all know by now – if not you can read my whole Camino Series HERE – Cindy stopped and asked if I was okay… And I said I’m not. And she was like “come on!!! Let’s go!!! Come, and we gonna sing Happy Birthday to you on the top of the Pyrenees.” – … and we did that.

… and now we are here, outside of O Pedrouzo 6:38 in the morning (seriously…) and we are reaching Santiago de Compostela in 18.2 km.

I know, I said it many times in this diary – but honestly… if she hadn’t stopped there in that dark moment of mine – because I was literally planning on how to quit elegantly – very high chances are that I wouldn’t have continued this journey. But she made me stand up and made me continue. And for this, I’m very grateful… To me, she is a Hero – I want her to know this.

Today started out to be a chilly but clear day, and then we saw the real face of Galicia, which I heard about a lot, but luckily we haven’t experienced it, up until now… All day today – I don’t know if we truly, really deserved it on our last day tho’ – … it was pouring rain. Let’s not forget the fact that someone – I hope accidentally – packed up my raincoat in La Laguna… So, by 10am I reached the Santiago sign like this…

…not a dry piece of clothes – even tho’ it’s the middle of June in Spain – but hey!!! Looks like we made it.

… the km counter is missing here, but according to my time stamps, it was still a good 3 hours to go.

I was soaking wet all day without a raincoat, and what I could do was to change my clothes at a bar but it was too late by this time, honestly, I felt the cold in my bones – but yet somehow outside it was so humid that I couldn’t breathe in my long, wet pants… so, at the next bar I changed back to shorts, and I was like whatever, we made it, what could go wrong – pneumonia, perhaps? – never mind, it has to be close now.

Better if you don’t zoom in on this picture, but there you go, Camino magic reality…
but, is it official now, right? We made it? Not yet…
JuuUuUUst a bit more…

Now, we made it.

Still pouring rain, emotions, phone calls to family, and a quick photo in front of the Cathedral, which thank god wasn’t covered on the outside. I saw many Instagram posts and I thought it was going to be under construction – later I realized it was, indeed… But inside this time.
So, this is it. This is why pilgrims walk those hundreds of kilometers for. The resting place of St James – discovered in the 9th century – the capital of Galicia, an iconic symbol of the city and one of Spain’s most famous buildings.

We decided to check out the Pilgrim office – rumor has it the queue can be quite long. When we got there around 2 pm it wasn’t too bad – just yet. Sometimes during summer days over 2-3000 pilgrims arrive at Santiago.
Sooo, we decided to get in line and wait before more and more people arrived – I guess in today’s horrible weather everyone is a bit behind.
It took us a good 2 and a half hours waiting to get the Compostela. As I mentioned earlier, no one checked and/or counted my stamps, nor asked about my religion, or motive. They just asked for simple personal data, passport, and I don’t want to lie but if I remember correctly 3€ for the distance certificate and 7€ for the holder or box or whatever you wish to call it. – but again this was in 2019… Last time I heard during and after COVID they were giving out digital credentials, so I don’t know the current situation.

You can find the Pilgrim Office open every day from 10:30am to 18:30 at Rúa das Carretas, 33, 15705 Santiago de Compostela – open on maps

DAILYPILGRIMCOUNT – This is a really cool account, with daily data of arrivals – give it a follow, and check how many people shared the Camino Magic with you on the day that you arrived.

After getting the papers, we finally got our beds for the night. I was in desperate need of a hot shower and oh gosh, clothes… Dry clothes! 🙏

I almost got a tattoo this afternoon. I was thinking about it a lot during the Camino, and I made the decision to get a shell tattooed on me in Santiago de Compostela – how poetic! I chose the perfect one, and made the appointment at a tattoo shop called Sagrado Corazón for 4 pm… but sadly as the day turned out with being late because of the rain, taking time at the Pilgrim office, etc… I couldn’t make it. It made me really sad, they told me to come tomorrow, but unfortunately – or not – tomorrow I’m on my way to Fisterra… So again, I made a promise to myself that indeed, I will be back to the Camino, not just to climb Cruz de Fero, but to also get my new tattoo.

…After a bit of rest, it was time for a well-deserved feast.

… And to explore a bit this evening before moving forward tomorrow – with its UNESCO World Heritage old town center and thousand years of history Santiago de Compostela is a vibrant city 💃 offers a lot for travelers – pilgrim or not. A couple of hours are not enough here – I’ll need a lot of time even just to see the old town – I gotta be back, seriously.

I’m not really a church person, I’ve been telling you this a few times before… but here – after all I’ve been through in the past one and a half months, or I don’t know why, but I got emotional… And these candles are burning forever in Santiago de Compostela for my Dad, Grandmother, and Grandfather.

…on the way back to the Albergue I found the famous corner, where a Pilgrim appears in the shadows

So, I guess this is it… I guess so…

Buen Camino,

Noémi

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