Ultreia

Our hard won miles are melting away behind us, as we sit in luxurious bus seats and speed back towards Porto. And I can feel resistance tugging at me. I'm not ready to go back to concrete jungles and traffic, and the headlong racing that is so much of our daily lives.

There's still so much to process, there is absolutely no feeling like I experienced walking into the huge expanse of the Plaza do Obradoiro and turning to face the stunning, legendary facade of our journeys goal, the Santiago de Compostela cathedral.

Relief and rejoicing in equal parts, a feeling of achievement and satisfaction. Elated. The air is electric as excited shouts and cheers greet the constant stream of new arrivals. Spontaneous, congratulatory hugs abound. I feel it, this need to connect, to share, to acknowledge the end of a mutual journey.

The magnificent cathedral quietly oversees all. For centuries, it has been the goal of untold numbers of pilgrims. Initially arriving to pay homage to the remains of the Apostle, but today pilgrims reasons for undertaking this journey are as varied as pilgrims themselves.

We have had extraordinary interactions on this odyssey. Over the last 2 nights we've had 2 farewell and Bon voyage dinners with kindred spirits that crossed our paths. Each of them has played a role in the success of our journey, either in companionship, aid, support, humour, travel tips,and sometimes just in gelato recommendations.😊

I've just seen pilgrims through the bus window, and silently wish them bon Camino. I know they are on a difficult journey. My intent to bring home with me is better recognition that everyone is.

We had the once in a lifetime experience of seeing the fragrantly smoking enormous botafumeiro swing dizzyingly fast and high at the end of a pilgrims mass. I had a story told to me by a pilgrim of bolting awake one night with a verse from Corinthians flashing into her mind. That verse became her mantra on the way. And when she attended the pilgrims mass the day she arrived? Imagine her amazement when that exact verse was cited. There is a higher sort of magic and mysticism happening here, I have no doubt.

There is a spot near the Cathedral, where I finally found a home for the rock I brought home from Port Alice, then carried all the Way. It holds a lot of love and memory for a tiny little stone, and I left it where it felt right.

I'll miss the standard friendly bon Camino greeting as you progress throughput your day. I never heard on this trail the other common greeting, Ultreia. To which the response is "et suseia"

Onwards. And upwards.Lue lisää