Good Morning Santiago!

Believe it or not, we strolled into Santiago at about 10:00 this morning! This last week has been just crazy. For starters, when we came out of the mountains we transitioned from Castillo y Leon´s sweeping wheat fields to Galicia, which has a rich Gallic tradition and actually does look a lot like Ireland. It seems like over night we moved from endless flat plains to grassy fields full of livestock and beautiful country lanes shaded by chestnut and apple trees. The farmers in Galicia make liberal use of the Camino to move their cows from the pasture to the barn for milking. We have had so many close encounters with cows that I´ve actually learned that if you and a cow are on a collision course and you stare the cow straight in the eye, the cow will move over to make room for you. I´m not sure how I´m going to use this information, but it will undoubtedly come in handy at some point. I am also really glad that this methodology worked because there were cows on both my left and right and I had no where to go . . . and those are really big animals!
The other major change in Galicia has been the number of people on the Camino. To get a Compostella (the certificate from the church that you walked the Camino), you only need to walk the last 100 km (60 miles). The 100 km marker is right after you come down the mountain. So we emerged from this etheral experience of tranquil mountain mist and quiet hiking into busloads (and I mean busloads) of tourists doing the shorter walk. They ranged from Swiss school children to a herd of British geriatrics. And unlike the cows, they will not move out of your way no matter how hard you stare them down! The restaurants and albergues were overrun! Not too worry - it didn´t take long to figure out that their sheer numbers limited their stays to the larger cities so we just adjusted our itinerary to stay in the smaller places. And we had such a great time. When you read about Galicia, the adjectives most often used are things like "stormy" and "rain sodden." But we hit a high pressure front and walked to Santiago under beautiful blue skies and moderate temperatures. What a fantastic finish!
And I can´t tell you it felt to walk into Santiago and end up at the Cathedral. It´s a national holiday in Spain and the city is full of people. The square was alive with pilgrims, tourists, and families out enjoying the beautiful weather. There were street musicians and performers everywhere. As we walked through the square, we ran into so many of our Camino friends, everyone excited to have reached Santiago and to see each other one last time. It was just one big, tremendous party. Both Mark and I got teary as we walked through that square.
I got a little wistful watching as the pilgrims began to mainstream into the crowd. A couple of people had sent traveling clothes to Santiago, and to see them in blue jeans and street shoes looking just like any other traveller was a little sad, as we all shared this special identity over the past month.
As we got down to the last few days of the trip, we noticed two different types of behavior. Some people were pushing hard to get to Santiago because they just wanted to be done. Others were slowing down to savor their last few days. Mark and I were torn - we were feeling strong and liked putting in the 20 mile days but we didn´t really want it to end. So we´ve decided not to stop! There´s another 54 mile route that takes you from Santiago to the ocean. It´s called the Camino Finisterra (translation: End of the Earth) because back in the 14th Century, this really was the end of the known land. Since we´re in a week early, we decided to take the three days to walk it. Between you and me, this was really more of Mark´s idea. I had envisioned spending the free time sitting in a cafe wearing comfortable shoes with a good book and an unending flow of cafe con leche. But he has his heart set on it and the weather is so beautiful . . . so I´m game. I did, however, negotiate an early termination option. I promised to walk the first day, but if anytime after that I exhibit any signs of potential physical and/or mental breakdown (or it starts raining), I have the option to hop on a bus and meet him there. Hopefully this won´t be necessary, but it´s always good to have options!
Mark thinks he has the photos figured out so look for some pictures. We´ll post one more time when we get back.