Monte do Gozo –> Santiago de Compostela (5km)
That’s it. It’s over. Ok, well it happened four days ago now, but still, it’s over.
If I’m honest, arriving in Santiago was a bit anticlimactic.
That’s not saying I didn’t like it. To use the cliché, it’s about the journey, not the destination.
At first it seemed a bit silly, only walking 5 kilometers on that last day. In all honesty, it was one of the best decisions we made. Not only did it begin to downpour as soon as we got to the albergue, we were able to sleep in and arrive fresh.
Normally when we walked, being the competitive people we are, we would try to pass as many people as possible. On that day though, we had a leisurely stroll into the city, stopping in a café for breakfast and just enjoying the day.
Like I said before, the arrival was just ok. You can see the cathedral in the distance, so it doesn’t just pop up on you. There weren’t any tears shed. No, that would come later. I’m pretty sure we sweated more trying to take the perfect jumping picture than we did walking.
We went to get our Compostela certificate, too. They’ve introduced a new system, so all you have to do is take a number and look at the approximate wait time. We went for a coffee while we waited for our numbers to be called. Then we came back and got two certificates: one in Latin and one certifying the distance we covered.
After that, we just kind of rested. We treated ourselves to Goiko Grill (which has some of the best hamburgers I’ve ever tasted, no lie). In the evening, we had a dual celebration: finishing the Camino … and my birthday.
The hardest part about finishing was leaving my friends. For about a month, I spent 24/7 with them. Before the Camino, I would have felt exhausted by that. But these people have become like family. I’ve been in Lisbon solo the past few days, but it’s not the same without them.
Of course I’m sad that my friends and I are split up now, and soon we’ll be in all corners of the world. Still, that just means I have more places to travel. I look forward to reuniting with my Camino family in the future. Who knows? Maybe we’ll walk the Camino del Norte in a few years …