Final Day- Santiago de Compostela


Early start, early breakfast with hundreds of other walkers, cyclists…Rain was pouring down.









The walk was through woods and hamlets, no major hills or challenges. A brief coffee stop, when we finally found a cafe that was open.  The last 24kilometres disappeared. We took a tiny detour off the Camino for further sustenance (in my case coffee and the biggest pain au chocolat I’ve ever seen - more of a loaf).





It was still raining when we got our 

first glimpse of the cathedral, at about 8km away. You perhaps won’t be able to identify it on the photo, but it’s there.




As we reached the outskirts of Santiago de Compostela the rain stopped, as did the signs and arrows guiding us on our way.  More by luck than judgement we found the cathedral and after obtaining our certificates - all computerised, no monks in a scriptorum any more, we finally stopped walking and relaxed. 










I will probably write more about my experiences on the Camino but for now, I will just rest and celebrate the fact that I have no blisters and my feet are in no worse state than the day I set out.

Comments

  1. AnonymousMay 19, 2024 at 9:43 AM

    This is absolutely amazing, well done Jacqui again! Don't think we could have done the same. Thank you for sharing your journey and the wonderful photographs. Hope there is a soothing massage and a spa in the next day or two. Relax, you have earned it. Usha and Garry xxx

    ReplyDelete
  2. Jacqueline JamesMay 19, 2024 at 1:39 PM

    Thank you for your lovely comments. Its sunny here, no spa required 😊

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

My apologies.

Image
 My apologies for leaving it so long since the last post.  I have been working hard to complete the manuscript for my new novel and there didn't seem to be enough words left in my head for the blog. The garden had been busy while I've been neglecting it and at some point I'm going to have to work out when to harvest kumquats (and what to do with them). The lemon tree has a few fruits but not as many as the one next door. I'm hoping someone will give me some advice on its care. Have you ever seen a frog this green? I decided to walk from Menton to Monaco one day, to clear my head. I had woken to the sound of the sea which is unusual, I can see the sea from all the windows of the apartment but it is normally so calm, that you don't hear it. The waves were indeed big enough for surfing, as two brave souls were proving. As I walked along the front, workmen were busy moving the beach from where it had been abandoned, following a previous storm. A fairground had arrived t
Read more

Hairdressers and Happy Christmas

Image
On Wednesday, I travelled to Nice by train.  No strikes this week. Ridiculously, the beginning of the journey made me think of the Dawlish sea wall. Different sea, different landscape, different colour scheme, but still a train travelling along the edge of the sea. With mountains bordering the water, there are tunnels pretty much all the way to Nice.  Monaco, as if embarrassed that it has to have a railway at all, has hidden its train station way down below the town.   Tunnels are tedious, but it's great to emerge from the mountain and glimpse terracotta tiles, purple bougainvillea and the sea, blue—even when the skies are grey with cloud …  I arrived in Nice and paused for a coffee, as the shops opened their doors.   It seems sad that, after all this time, police and army are very much in evidence, mingling with the shoppers, carrying their guns as casually as shopping bags. Opposite the café, a Salvation Army band played Christmas carols. I didn’t recognise many of the tunes but
Read more

Seasons Greetings

Image
On the last Saturday in November a walk was planned, starting at the ruins of the 15th century chapel of Castillon and following the mule track to Saint Agnes.  The town of Castillon was destroyed in 1887 by earthquake, rebuilt, only to be bombed and destroyed in 1944.  The current incarnation was built in 1951.  Hopefully it will be third time lucky.   We stopped for lunch in sight of our goal but with another hour's walk ahead and limited daylight, it was decided to retrace our steps.  A visit to Saint Agnes saved for another day.   St Agnes perched on the mountain Another Sunday and another beautiful day for a wonderful walk, this time from Perinaldo to Baiardo.  Again we failed to reach the point we aimed for, again daylight was threatening to disappear.  We reached Baiardo but didn't climb to the ruins of old church at the top of the village. When the 1887 earthquake struck, more than a hundred people were in the church for the Ash Wednesday service, the roof fell in with
Read more