Camino Day 39: Last night in Santiago

My 3 hour bus ride to Santiago turned out to be a 1 hour bus so I arrived earlier and was in desperate need for a coffee. ☕️

I checked to see who was available and a cup of coffee with 2 peeps was quickly followed by a few tintos de verano with half of the last 100km crew who’d we’d bumped into walking about town: a blessing in disguise!

I told the crew that soon I’d have to go pick up my suitcase and check in at my hostel but when I told them where I was staying, they let me know that poor Bence had stayed there the night before and that there had been bed bugs. He got bit a lot and ended up in the hospital.

Luckily I was able to cancel my booking but I still had to pick up my bag and find somewhere else to stay, enter the Dutch crew who pointed me in the direction of their Albergue which fortunately had beds (with no bugs) available!

Mid afternoon, I went to meet up with David who had walked into Santiago that morning. We’d met 39 days prior in Saint Jean before we started walking and it was lovely to hug and celebrate at the end. 🤗

After a long chat in the square sharing reflections about our journeys, we went to meet up with my lil bro and a few others for dinner to celebrate reaching Santiago and Judy’s birthday! We didn’t have to say goodbye yet as we’d all meet for coffee in the morning.

It was around 10pm and a few of us weren’t quite ready to call it a night so we went to the bar where we thought we’d find the Dutch crew for one last drink and to say goodbye as they would leave Santiago early in the morning. 👋🏼

When we couldn’t find them, we thought it was a sign to go to sleep but as we walked towards our Albergue, we spotted them at a random bar! 🍻

It was so nice to be able to say goodbye to so many people who I’d met along the way! And surprisingly I didn’t get as emotional as I thought I would. That is until I found myself alone at the station waiting for my train to Madrid to depart and tears just came from nowhere: so many feelings and so much gratitude for the journey.

I’d walked over 1,000km and my body was intact, as if I hadn’t walked a single day! More importantly, I’d met beautiful people, made new and hopefully long lasting friendships, opened my heart to love again, was showered in generosity and kindness from strangers and had seen and enjoyed Spain in such a unique way!

It was a very bittersweet moment realising that my Camino hadn’t ended but I wasn’t walking on it anymore. ✨Read more