Rua/O Pino to Santiago
13 miles
5/25/2019

No messing around today...vitamins, juice, 2 cappuccinos and toast for breakfast. Advil for the poor little toes. On the trail by 7:30 AM with my diet trifecta - tangerines, power bars and water. I knew the line for the Compostela (certificate) would involve almost 2 hours of waiting, so I wanted to try to line up before the masses showed up around 3 PM.

The trail, thankfully, was almost all woodland and forests. I knew I was humming at a pretty good pace when I reached this marker past my halfway mark. No horses came by the entire route and only 2 crazy cyclists. So it was as peaceful as the first few days I spent on the Primitivo.

I had plenty of time to photograph some beautiful stone churches and buildings as well.

This stone church had cemetery plots lining both sides as far as the eye could see.

Up one more climb, down about 25 steps and we arrived on the outskirts of Santiago and a park with the monument of the 2 pilgrims dedicated to the Camino.

I don't know how many miles we walked after entering the outskirts of the city, but I knew we weren't absolutely near the end until we saw the Cathedral spires. And just as I was beginning to give up hope, there they were - as beautiful as I remembered from October 2015 - even with the scaffolding.

Before we entered the main square, we enjoyed the 2 young women providing a festive feeling with their Galicia Celtic music.

https://youtu.be/Jwhqwa023qo

I joined 2 Canadian couples who were also using Camino Ways for their trip as we reached the old town and the Cathedral square. Now came the challenging part - where were we supposed to go to get our Compostela?  I had been told by Eric and others that this could prove to be very difficult, but the 5 of us finally found it after not too long. We timed our waiting in line to be 1 hour 45 minutes, but didn't care because we worked hard for that certificate, and if we tried later more people would be in line and it would take even longer.

When we joined the end of the line I ran into Suzana, gave her a hug and asked how her ankle was doing. She told me pretty much the same and once again thanked me for being there for her. I told her the greatest gift she could give me was to keep in touch to let me know where her life was going.

I was helped by a young, really nice Italian guy, who, after noting my surname in my passport, asked me if I was Italian and I said my paternal grandfather and grandmother were both from Italy. We had a wonderful conversation as he examined my stamps to make sure I had 2 for every day I was in Galicia (a rule put into place because of the rampant cheating done by the pilgrims who did not really complete the Camino). All was well. And he was kind enough to put my total distance in miles instead of kilometers after I told him none of my friends would understand how far I actually walked unless the certificate stated miles. I did pay the extra 3 Euros for the original Compostela in Latin - which will be framed after I return home. 

When we were leaving with our fresh Compostelas, I ran into Bev, who was just getting in line to get hers.

Once that challenge was dealt with the 5 of us had a short walk to our hotel right next to the Cathedral. The 2 couples decided to get cleaned up and crash, but I wanted to get some more photos of the old town because it was such a gorgeous day; try to find some Camino peeps and grab a bite and a beer.

While we were waiting to check in the hotel, a woman who looked very familiar to me walked up and said, "Barb?" I said, "yes" and realized I did know this woman, and I knew her from one of my OAT adventures, but my mind was pretty worn out so I had to ask her name and which trip. Once she said Alix and our Croatia trip in 2017, I recognized her immediately. She was traveling to Santiago to meet up with some American friends who finished the Camino. I could not believe that she not only recognized me but also asked me about my knees - commenting that they must be great since I just completed the Primitivo. It was great seeing her again and reconnecting!

So, off to see if I could find the Arcadia crew to see if they were able to get on the Finisterre day tour tomorrow in the hopes that I could meet their professors and see them one more time for drinks before we all returned to the states. I was pretty sure I'd find them waiting in the Compostela line and sure enough there were 3 hardy souls who waiting in line almost 2 hours for their Compostela. Turns out they are going to Finisterre, but we're not sure until tomorrow if we're in the same group.