In the shadow of pilgrims...

Having arrived at Santiago I have attained the destination I set out to reach, the end of the Camino in its physical sense: the tomb of St James the Apostle. At the Cathedral one steps away from the Camino, walked (in my case)for some 1550 km from Le Puy-en-Velay; this is but one place in the Way of Life which continues after I leave Santiago.

The first recorded pilgrim, Godescalc, walked from Le Puy in 951 and there have been many thousands since. I have walked in their shadow, met many pilgrims and walkers along the Way and very much lived the experience. Santiago de Compostella is special in that it marks the goal of the pilgrim, but there are many special places along the Camino, be they Conques, Burgos, Puente de la Reina, St Jean Pied de Port, and others, and they all combine to make up the whole Camino and its life. It has all been very worthwhile and much enjoyed.

I have likened the Camino to a river flowing along inexorably bearing its pilgrims - and so it has proved to be. Because I stopped to rest and sometimes walked shorter stages I have met new faces coming along behind. Although the albergues are less full than in summer there are still walkers even as winter gathers pace and so it will continue with the route becoming even more popular and walked by more and more people of different nationalities. I have met men and women from 21 different nations, at least, during my peregrination. A woman running a bar in La Calle about 20 km east of Santiago said that some 40 - 50 pilgrims were stopping at her place each day at the moment - and that, of course, does not include those who pass by outside.

The final walk into Santiago was from Lavacolla, some 10 km away, and where tradition has it that the pilgrim stops for his final night so he can smarten himself up before entering the city and cathedral the next morning. It was a more pleasant walk than I anticipated being through a eucalyptus wood (we have walked amongst eucalyptus forests for 3 days), and yet more hills before arriving in the city (and a few days ago I was complaining that it was too flat when on the Meseta!)

Arrival in the square in front of the enormous cathedral at 1115 on Monday, 14 November, was a moving moment; attendance at Mass was also a moving moment in particular with the most beautiful singing by a nun who took part in the service. I remembered the paper I had "drawn" from the basket in the Cathedral of Le Puy about the family who had lost their son aged 6 1/2, and which I was to bring to the Cathedral in Santiago, and pray for the family and lost son.

The sun is shining: it is time to explore Santiago, the city whose raison d´être is the pilgrim coming to visit the tomb of St James.....and tomorrow I walk on to Finisterra.