Portugués Camino Day 18

Day18 – Santiago de Compostela, 10.65 mi, 26836 steps.

The Last Day

We left before 7a because we didn’t want to repeat arriving cooked. Yesterday afternoon, it was in the upper 90s when we reached the Albergue, and after a long road walk in that heat, we arrived feeling “well done”.

Walking before sunrise was cool and refreshing, seeing the world wake up as we walked. There was a tangible excitement that our fellow pilgrims felt, knowing they only had 10 miles before they saw the Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela.

There were country lanes, busy road walks, and an old Roman road through a eucalyptus forest. Apparently, a monk who had served down under introduced the tree to Iberia in the 1900s. It seems well suited to the area, and it’s unusual to walk through a forest that isn’t dominated by this blue gum tree.

Roman Road and a path next to it

We were expecting more cafes along the walk, but the only ones we saw, we saw too early (it had not been an hour since we began walking), so we ended up walking two hours before we stopped for coffee and tortilla.

Today’s Hórreo

Santigo Speaks: A Prompting

Today, cresting one last hill before crossing under the highway to officially enter Santiago,  I felt a prompting. Our conversation with Jennafer about comparing the two different Ways was still rattling around my head.  “There is no way to compare them,” she told me last night, “I’m a different person, in a different place in my life.”

The prompting was Stop trying to recreate what was. Be here now. I ruminated on my unmet expectations and heard, “Behold, I am doing a new thing” (Isa 43:19). Don’t try to recreate your previous experience. I am doing something different. You’re a different person, this will be a different Way. I think back to something I learned on my last Camino, The Camino, she’s a midwife. She’s not having this baby, you are Steve, she’s just here to help. For me, I guess the baby is to stop trying to recreate what happened before, a lesson that will extend far beyond Santiago.  In fact, I heard that a big new thing was coming, and if I tried to do what I did before, I might miss what Santiago was doing this time.

The Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela was built on a high spot in the Galician plains. We began to see glimpses of its spires a few hours before reaching them. Those hours were spent walking on heat-radiating city sidewalks, with tall buildings crowding us in. We didn’t see the Cathedral until we reached its plaza.

The Official “You Made It” photo!

Welcome to Santiago

“Welcome, welcome,” something was tapping my arm. It was Alainia, the German 20-something we had met two weeks ago, and seen once since. She saw us enter the plaza and ran to greet us. Her boyfriend (Jasper) had flown in from Hamburg to welcome her to Santiago, and now she was excited to see us (and take our official picture).

It was so good to see her and be so enthusiastically welcomed. I remember arriving alone seven years ago when no one I knew was there to welcome me. An hour later, we ran into Canadian Jennafer from last night’s Albergue and then Marina from Day 1, and each time, it was a joyous “CONGRATULATIONS, YOU MADE IT!”

with Alainia

The Feast of St. James

Today is the eve of the Feast of St. James, patron saint of Spain and whose bones are the basis for the Camino. In his honor there were concerts, parades, and tonight, we’ll eat dinner and then stay up to watch the fireworks (past 1am-yikes).   

Fireworks at 11:30p illuminate the Cathedral

But before the fireworks, there was a special mass at the Cathedral, a mass we thought was the Pilgrim’s Mass, but was a beautiful concert.  I sat there with Suzanne enjoying the music, and the liturgy, and I kept having to pinch myself…you’re sitting here with Suzanne.  Suzanne is in Santiago, with you. This is what I had hoped for seven years ago, and here this hope had been realized, and I wasn’t appreciating it for the miracle it was.  

with Jennafer

Debriefing the Debriefers

The next morning, after the 10am English Pilgrim’s Mass, we were invited upstairs for coffee and cookies. While initially appearing as a casual social gathering, its true purpose was to provide us with an opportunity to reflect on/debrief our Camino experiences. So after Suzanne shared about the resilience she had learned about herself, I shared the prompting I had heard: Don’t try to recreate your previous experience. I am doing something different. You’re a different person, this is a different Way. Embrace the journey.

Abandoned walking sticks next to the trash bin, having served their purpose abandoned.

You Can Do Hard Things

I was reminded of Scripture and how each time one reads it, it reads differently. It’s not that scripture has changed; it’s just us reading it, which is now rich with new insights. The Word remains constant, but our perspective shifts over time.

If The Camino is a midwife, then for Suzanne, the baby was, “You can still do hard things.” She adds that since leaving Ghana (which was a hard place, especially for her), she hasn’t done that much that was hard, until now. She still has resilience.

In talking to Mura, an Irish volunteer who is there to listen to pilgrims and help them begin to process their time on Camino, what she hears pilgrims say generally fits into four categories:

• Gratitude – for the experience of walking the Camino and coming closer to God.
• The Kindness of People – either ones they walked with, or the locals that helped them find their Way (when they were lost, or needed help).
• Resilience – that they are a lot stronger than they thought they were. “That’s me,” Suzanne pipes in.
• How little they need (that could be Suzanne too) – for 3 weeks, everything we needed was on our backs, or food and places to stay that we bought along the way. 

Tonight, as I fall asleep, I am filled with a deep sense of gratitude for the kindness of my friends Alenia, Jennafer, Marina, and Jasper. It was good to be congratulated and celebrated as we walked into Santiago. I am personally so impressed with Suzanne, who walked The Way and walked it well.

The Crypt of St. James (where his bones are)

Buen Camino

When we arrived, I had only two requests: to have grilled Razor Clams, as I had enjoyed last time, and to eat Paella to see how it compares with mine. The clams were even more amazing, and Suzanne told me my paella was better.

So, this Camino ends well with friends, fireworks, and good food. The traditional blessing before leaving Santiago is, “And now begins your real Camino, Buen Camino.”

Buen Camino

Thanks for following our Camino 2024. I’ll probably write a final reflection on Camino Lessons in a month or so after we return home and begin our next Camino.