It’s the final day of the Camino coming into Santiago, just 14 kilometres today from Lestado into Santiago de Compostela. I wanted to get there nice and early because I had some people that I was meeting once I reach Santiago. And the lady in the hotel where I was staying was very kind to give me breakfast at 7:00; so, I was on the road by about 7:20. I aimed to get there by midday and in fact, I got there by 11:00.
It was a really nice walk and so surprising because it felt like a country walk to almost within 1 1/2 kilometres of the cathedral. It’s a very different entry into Santiago when compared to the Frances. And during the walk, I think about four kilometres out, I stopped for a coffee and and met some other pilgrims that I’d met along the way. Then the final couple of kilometres into Santiago was delightful. There were hardly any other pilgrims in sight until I got near the main square. And then, of course, the square was packed with pilgrims.
I was wondering how I would feel coming into Santiago for the fourth time. The first time is always a very emotional time, I think, and exciting. I just felt a lot calmer this time because, certainly, my understanding of the Camino and the way I enjoy Camino is that I enjoy the journey. I try to enjoy every day of the journey. And coming in to Santiago is really not the goal, it’s just the kind of end point of that particular Camino before you start onto something else. And so, it was a very calm sort of content feeling as I came into the square and met up with a few people that I knew that I had met along the way.
My feet were very glad of the fact that they will now get a rest, and I look forward to having a day off and meeting up with some other pilgrims for lunch. We have been keeping in touch on WhatsApp, and so we’re going to have a nice lunch together and a farewell drink in the evening. And it’s an opportunity to try and find all the things that I sent forward to Santiago. So, I dropped in to the the post office and they had a tube for me there. And then tomorrow, l drop in to Ivar’s storage facility and pick up a couple more things there. These are things that I mailed forward from Seville that I didn’t need during the Camino and also one tube with some things that I decided I didn’t need part way through and nailed that forward. So it’s a little bit like Christmas opening up all these mailing tubes to see what’s left. And tomorrow morning, of course, I’ll go along to the Pilgrim’s office and get my Compostela, which is always a nice feeling.
Hello Rob,
Like you I live in Australian and of similar age. I’ve watched many of your videos over the last 5 years and followed your blogs etc. I am also thinking of walking the Invierno as the last part of my Camino Francés to miss the crowds. I plan on walking in April next year, just after easter from SJPdP. The videos and your comments here are all great. Planning information and accommodation options on the invierno is less available than the others, where did your source your planning info?
All my planning for the Invierno, as well as the VdlP was done from the Gronze website. To be honest, I find the various ‘apps’ just have too much in them and are cluttered. My planning process was done on a spreadsheet, and I basically decided how far I wanted to walk each day, and then looked on Gronze for a place to stop at roughly that distance. Then I’d look at the accommodation listings and see what was available. Make notes on that, then look at the next day and so one. Gronze has route profiles which help. If a lot of ascent / descent I might shorten the day a bit. There is also a basic route commentary. And lastly there are usually reviews of the accommodation. All you need really. I did have the Brierley guide. I didn’t really use it. I got so used to using just Gronze I didn’t need it. If you register for Gronze (free) you can download the GPS tracks. I use Maps.me to open the tracks. A great app! I always had the track on maps.me open each day as a backup. And I use mapmywalk during the day to monitor time and distance. Accommodation I booked 2-3 days in advance. Generally sending a whatsapp message. A few times I had to call. My VERY basic Spanish was sufficient. I just had some standard phrases / questions ready. As far as my initial ‘plan’ was concerned, it didn’t change much….
Youtube censors the link, but I find the mapy.cz app to be essential.
Good to know, I’ll check it out.