Day 20 Mirradoira to Santiago

We had about 5 miles this morning to walk before arriving in Santiago. We left about 8:30 in the misty drizzle, but it cleared up later. We walked through suburbs to get into the city, so the walk was not so beautiful. The Camino ends at the Cathedral of Santiago, so we had to go through the old city to get there. The cathedral is beautiful.

So do we feel different? We've been processing that. It's been such a long journey, especially when you consider all the prep and planning. I think some of it is that it's about the journey not the destination (beautiful as it is). The physical and mental duration...the people and relationships created...hearing what God has in store for us individually. That's the Camino...the Way.

The large plaza in front of the cathedral was packed with people arriving from the many different Camino walks through France, Spain, and Portugal. There were many different languages being spoken and lots of exuberance for completing the journey. There was another bagpipe player playing and he was all decked out in Spanish costume and playing quite well. The Celts were in this area many years ago, which is why there are bagpipe players here. After taking pictures, we went to get in line for the Pilgrim’s mass in the cathedral. The priest announced all the counties that pilgrims had come from today. There was music, a sermon in Spanish, communion, and the swinging of the botafumiero, the giant incense burner that symbolizes the rising of the prayers of the people to heaven. There were so many people it was difficult to see, but the singer was very good. His voice and the organ in the old stone building was fantastic.
After we left the cathedral we came across a small memorial space where people were honoring a loved one. I had brought a piece of sea glass I received at my first Blue Christmas in memory of Chris’ passing, and I left that on the memorial. It was my way of bringing him along.

After mass, we had lunch, checked into our airbnb, and went grocery shopping. Tomorrow we have shopping, a night tour of the cathedral, and meeting up with Ingrid, so tonight we rest a bit.

Our total mileage was 168.62 miles!Leia mais