SANTIAGO

We made it!!

Finally! 500 miles later for most of the group and 300 some miles for me, we made it to Santiago. What a great morning :) Not even the chilly wind and light rain could dampen our spirits! Finegan set out early this morning so he could greet us as we entered Santiago and so that we could all walk to the cathedral as a group. The rest of us set our alarms for around 5 a.m and we were on the road walking around 5:30. It was pitch dark when we started out from our albergue in Arca but thankfully, Rob had a flashlight with him so we could make our way through the forest without getting lost. About two hours into our 20 kilometer hike Shauna, Morgan and I happened upon a little restaurant where we got some cafe con leche and pan tostada (coffee and toast). With a fresh stamp on our credenciales and full bellies, we set off toward Santiago. Despite the aches and pains we have all been suffering from, we knew that this was our last hike together and the adrenaline was kicking in.

The hour flew by and we soon found ourselves climbing the Mountain of Joy! At the top of this mountain was a beautiful statue that we posed in front of-thanks to a nice gentlemen who offered to take our picture! After stamping our credenciales once more, Shauna and I bought these sweet little paper clip pilgrims that a man was making for donations and we were on our way. We wound our way down into the city of Santiago and into the waiting arms of our fellow pilgrims! Everyone was so happy to have made it, only a few pilgrims were missing and we all had a refreshment in a small restaurant as we waited. While waiting, we all compared our impressive calf muscles and Finegan regaled us with a tale from his morning hike when he defeated a small dog attack.

The last of the pilgrims arrived and we all donned our packs and ponchos and climbed our way up into the center of the city toward the cathedral. The final hike together took about 20 minutes and we were all speechless when we arrived at the cathedral. It was magnificent. Honestly, it´s difficult to explain the feeling of having finally arrived after weeks and weeks of walking and there was a fair share of pilgrim tears among the group. Finegan explained various rituals that pilgrims are to do upon entering the cathedral and since the statues that we were supposed to perform the rituals on were blocked off, he designated himself as the statue. In a single file line we all took turns interlacing our fingers (and having some kind of revelation? haha) with Finegan to symbolize the placing of our hand on the statue. We got back in line then to perform the next ritual. This time however, we had to tap foreheads with Finegan three times to symbolize the sharing of "his" genius with us.

After the silly rituals that we all secretly enjoyed participating in despite the stares from other pilgrims, we went into the cathedral and found a spot to listen to the church service. It was super crowded and we had to pick a spot on the floor but the inside of the cathedral was amazing! The service was mostly in Spanish and it was SO meaningful-comparing the pilgrimage we just completed to the pilgrimage of our lives. Even those who didn´t understand it were touched. The best part of the service was at the end when the priest swung an enormous ..hmm.. ornate container-like thing (sorry folks, can`t think of what it is called) over all of the people in the church as it released a holy incense.

We are all relaxing at the hotel now before we have a final dinner together to share our personal experiences. So, thats it, we made it! I will definitely be posting more of my experiences and pictures on here as I think of them though, as well as more comics so stay tuned! Love to all!

OH, I am heading to the end of the world tomorrow and then to Madrid for a bullfight the day after so I will be blogging about that too!
Buen Camino! Nays