Day 22 - Camino 11 : Pedrouzo - Santiago de Compostela and Italy - Day 1 Venice

Sunrise at Lavacolla

Started very early - up at 5:45.  Breakfast across the road at 6. On the road at 6:20. Louis and I had ambitions of making it to Santiago cathedral at 11 to give us time to get settled before 12 o'clock mass. This meant 20km in 4 and a half hours without much of a break.

Along the way, walking in the dark, we were joined by a guy who walked the same pace as us. He walked along side of us for half an hour or so ... without saying a word. It was a strange sensation.

Aforementioned , half way mark

At the half way mark, we bumped into Tabea1 and Kathy from St Loius in the US. They had left one hour earlier than us so that we could enter Santiago together. One of the Camino beatitudes says this is important. I'll have to look it up. It did make it special, I must admit and an experience Andy later said he regretted missing out on.

Getting there

About 5kms out I met Penelope Cummings and her partner John. I had heard people meeting people they knew from home on the trip but I hadn't met any Tasmanians thus far, let alone people who lived next to my work place... Whose boys I had taught... They had travelled the whole Camino and were on the middle of a similar European trip to me, only precisely three times as long.

with Penelope and John
Launceston pilgrims

Typing on the very fast train to Florenze at the moment. 220kms an hour and first class to boot ... if you don't mind.

The arrival into Santiago was made more significant by the company who had travelled a lot further than me, however I was proud of my achievement and proudly had photos taken in the square where many people sat looking at the Cathedral (that looked a bit like a construction site)  reflecting on what they had done.

Monte del Gozo (Mount of Joy)
Pilgrim's Monument

I must admit, I felt sad it was all over and just as sad I hadn't allowed myself time to enjoy the end. I only had 4 hours in Santiago before catching a bus to the airport.

The Construction site - i mean - the Cathedral

I was told the cathedral no longer allowed bags but the post office had a place to store them for a while. Well after queuing for 20 min and being next in line I had to abandon that plan as another American, Kathy, who was sharing the line with me, said they barred the church doors 5 min before the start of mass. And she always seemed to know an awful lot. So I soon followed her lead and tried desperately to get in late ...  with my backpack. I lost Kathy, as she was hugging a long-lost pilgrim and I sneaked into the side of the church, in amongst a whole group of guards in uniform. I made it .... And no one else had their bags. So I found a nook to lean my bag up against and innocently stood in front of it.

Mass was in Spanish again of course and I must admit I was getting used to it. The climactic swinging of the incense caused quite a stir amongst the camera-laden pilgrims ... which of course was all of them. It was hard to resist the opportunity to hide behind a camera but rather live in the moment. Which of course I didn't do ... Resist that is. The video is not good though as I didn't lower myself to get in a good position. It did give me the opportunity to wander a little a way from my bag.

With Andy at the end

After mass, I was told the queue yesterday for getting the document to prove you had walked the Camino - known as your compostela - took two and a half hours. I had 2 before the bus. So I left my friends to get their lunch, I went with rumbling tummy to find the place. It was here that I ran into Andy again. He was about twenty people in front of me... So I jumped the queue a little and spent the next hour with Andy catching up on the last few days. It was great to see him.

Lunch at the side of the Cathedral
It looked more appealing from here too -
Too bad I didn't get the time to enjoy it

I didn't get the personalised certificate with the starting place and number of kms walked written on it because I felt I'd sold myself short a bit by not doing the whole thing. Next time, I will hopefully walk with my wife Jane - who sounds keen from talking to her over the last 10 days - and we will do the whole thing.

Lunch was a beer and an undelivered sandwich ... Sad and brief goodbyes and rushing off for stage 3 of this adventure ... Feeling torn and raw and probably a bit smelly.

The bus, two planes and a shuttle bus to Venice all went by pretty smoothly. Perhaps I was a bit self conscious of the fact I had walked 20+ kms and been up since before 6 without a shower, but on one of the planes, I forget which one, a tattooed lady and her teenage son moved from next to me up to spare seats a few seats up as the plane was leaving the terminal. Her husband was up there of course but all of a sudden I had three seats to myself. I could look at Spain as the sun set from a window seat.

A canal I presume
At this time of night - hard to say

I arrived at Venice after 11 and had a 3km walk to my flat with just this map below and a phone running out of power. Miraculously I made it but had no instructions on how to get in. Lucky for me an Irish bloke was still up and answered the door when I knocked. A bed at last. I fell into it blissfully.