Camino Diaries- Santiago de Compostela

We were up bright and early as we wanted to arrive in Santiago early afternoon. Mumma Bear and I have one quite bad blister, (weirdly on the same toe) which did make the last few miles into Santiago quite a painful experience but it’s all part of the Camino.

Once we arrived there was certainly a feeling of great accomplishment mixed with gratitude that the Camino went very smoothly for us. The atmosphere in Santiago is amazing right now, as there are preparations for St James’ festival going on so there certainly is a buzz around the city. I didn’t have high hopes about collecting our Compostelas (pilgrim certificates) today as I’ve heard the queues can be lengthy but to my surprise we received them instantly. This was such a proud moment for Mumma bear and I and a huge privilege to be able to compete our Camino. While photographing our Compostelas, some of the Mexican pilgrims, whom we have walked with from the start came in so we were able to cheer them in too, which was lovely to see.

We then had some lunch before heading to the Cathedral for the pilgrim’s welcome mass this evening. We decided with a combination of tired feet and not wanting to risk missing out on the mass, to just spend some time seeing around the Cathedral. It was also quite exciting to slip into the crypt to see the silver casket containing the bones of St James. Before long, the mass finished and we found ourselves back out into the cathedral square enjoying some supper with the other pilgrims still filing into the city. We’re both looking forward to a few days rest but the journey isn’t over, soon we will be continuing our pilgrimage to Finisterre (the end of the world).