The excitement of the last day is always something that you can feel deep within but it is always accompanied by the sense of not wanting the walk to end - you can take more of the albergues and the walking perhaps to just keep going for one more day.
We actually sat down and ate breakfast this morning - every other day it had been a breakfast bar from home, eaten quickly as we walked but today even though we had still risen at 6:30 so that we could walk before the heat of midday we were not in too much of a rush to go, the albergue had been comfortable and welcoming and the toast with jam was delicious. But leave we must and so did, leaving at the same time as Sara from Holland.
We had walked the route out of the city after tea last night so that we could know where to start heading towards and today was the busiest day as far as traffic was concerned - other days we hadn't really seen a car before ten but the road through Siguiero had a steady stream of traffic all heading towards Santiago the same as us (but faster of course!).
Sara walked with us for the rest of the day and our conversation wandered through topics like the Second World War (and the food the RAF had dropped into Holland as well as how many fleeing German soldiers had taken bikes as they had gone - apparently some people from Holland will still ask Germans where their bikes are) to family to what to see and do in Santiago.
After only about 4 kilometers we came to a sign for a bar and went to it - it was at the side of a main road but for the first time we got a tapas with pour drinks - a small croissant and cake each which we devoured fairly quickly.
On the outskirts of Santiago we found another bar in an industrial area and, I suppose even now trying to drag the last few kilometers out, we went in for another drink and saw Al there as well and had a quick chat before continuing along.
Out of the industrial area we went through housing - quite a lot of it and at one point we saw a lot of tractors in the distances, all of our time in Santiago we kept seeing them around so there must have been a protest going on.
The signage through this housing area was good but failed us when we came to a park and we had to ask the way and after this it remained spotty but the locals waved us the right way cheerfully.
Our eyes kept scanning the horizon though, looking for the spires of our Cathedral and we spotted then less than a five minute walk away. The Ingles comes out just behind the Franciscan Church and then we were along the road to just by where the steps for the Frances entry are.
The sight of the Cathedral always gets to me - the end of the journey and a beautiful sight, a time to recall the steps that took you there and the people you have walked with. We of course took pictures and then went to the Pilgrims office where we were almost glad to be in the shortish line seeing as we were shaded from the 22 degree Celsius heat!
I received my Compostela fairly quickly (and bought three Credentials ready for the Camino we will undoubtedly undertake next year) but Dad took a lot longer as the man in the office was interested in what weather we had had, where we had stayed and what the path was like.
Sara had left us to find some accommodation so we headed to the Seminary to find beds and only got a little lost on the way! Our beds found and bags safely locked away we headed into Santiago to make the transition from Pilgrim to tourist.
Image from http://caminodesantiago.consumer.es/llevatela-al-camino/completa/?camino=camino-ingles
We actually sat down and ate breakfast this morning - every other day it had been a breakfast bar from home, eaten quickly as we walked but today even though we had still risen at 6:30 so that we could walk before the heat of midday we were not in too much of a rush to go, the albergue had been comfortable and welcoming and the toast with jam was delicious. But leave we must and so did, leaving at the same time as Sara from Holland.
We had walked the route out of the city after tea last night so that we could know where to start heading towards and today was the busiest day as far as traffic was concerned - other days we hadn't really seen a car before ten but the road through Siguiero had a steady stream of traffic all heading towards Santiago the same as us (but faster of course!).
Sara walked with us for the rest of the day and our conversation wandered through topics like the Second World War (and the food the RAF had dropped into Holland as well as how many fleeing German soldiers had taken bikes as they had gone - apparently some people from Holland will still ask Germans where their bikes are) to family to what to see and do in Santiago.
After only about 4 kilometers we came to a sign for a bar and went to it - it was at the side of a main road but for the first time we got a tapas with pour drinks - a small croissant and cake each which we devoured fairly quickly.
On the outskirts of Santiago we found another bar in an industrial area and, I suppose even now trying to drag the last few kilometers out, we went in for another drink and saw Al there as well and had a quick chat before continuing along.
Out of the industrial area we went through housing - quite a lot of it and at one point we saw a lot of tractors in the distances, all of our time in Santiago we kept seeing them around so there must have been a protest going on.
The signage through this housing area was good but failed us when we came to a park and we had to ask the way and after this it remained spotty but the locals waved us the right way cheerfully.
Our eyes kept scanning the horizon though, looking for the spires of our Cathedral and we spotted then less than a five minute walk away. The Ingles comes out just behind the Franciscan Church and then we were along the road to just by where the steps for the Frances entry are.
The sight of the Cathedral always gets to me - the end of the journey and a beautiful sight, a time to recall the steps that took you there and the people you have walked with. We of course took pictures and then went to the Pilgrims office where we were almost glad to be in the shortish line seeing as we were shaded from the 22 degree Celsius heat!
I received my Compostela fairly quickly (and bought three Credentials ready for the Camino we will undoubtedly undertake next year) but Dad took a lot longer as the man in the office was interested in what weather we had had, where we had stayed and what the path was like.
Sara had left us to find some accommodation so we headed to the Seminary to find beds and only got a little lost on the way! Our beds found and bags safely locked away we headed into Santiago to make the transition from Pilgrim to tourist.
Image from http://caminodesantiago.consumer.es/llevatela-al-camino/completa/?camino=camino-ingles
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