Stage 34: O Rúa to Santiago de Compostela

September 27, 2018

We made it!! It's hard to believe we've finished our Camino journey. There were certainly times along the way when the thought of walking into Santiago was a half-realized dream.

We started our day early, having the taxi pick us up at our country inn outside O Rúa at 7:00 am and dropping us off in Lavacolla. This cut @ 7 miles off our Camino walk, but it ensured that we would reach Santiago in time for the noon pilgrim Mass. We made good time in the pre-dawn light and reached Monte del Gozo outside Santiago by sunrise. From there, we walked down the mountain and into and through the city. By the time we reached Praza Obradoiro and the Cathedral it was 10:30 am. We left our backpacks at our hotel (which is also in the plaza) and headed to the Cathedral for Mass.

In hopes that they would bring out the Botafumeiro (a giant swinging incense burner) we found seats on the left side of the altar (the Botafumeiro swings in front of the altar from left to right, so the best vantage points are those seats on the side of the altar, rather than directly facing the altar). By noon, the church was standing room only and we were glad we had come early. At the end of Mass, the tiraboleiros in their red velvet robes emerged from behind the altar and started untying the ropes that held the Botafumeiro in place. What luck!

The one other thing we needed to accomplish today was getting our Compostelas (pilgrim certificates) from the pilgrim office. We had seen Gerhardt before Mass and he said the line was at least 2 hours long and he was going to go back after Mass to wait in line for his certificate. After lunch, as we were heading over to the pilgrim office to wait our requisite 2+ hours in line, we ran into a gentleman from the Dominican Republic whom we had met a number of days before. He informed us that if we had a group of 4 or more people, we could fill out a group form, drop it off at the pilgrim office and they would give us a time to come back and collect our certificates. No waiting in line!! We did just that and were able to pick up our Compostelas at 8:00 pm.

We all agreed we had Camino angels looking out for us again today, both with the swinging Botafumeiro and the information about the Compostelas. It was a fitting end to our Camino journey.

Tomorrow we begin our journey home.

Buen Camino

Walking by the light of the moon

Monte del Gozo - First glimpse of Santiago

One of the more colorful city signs we've encountered

Cathedral of Santiago

The Botofumeira in action

Requisite pilgrim picture at the central shell in Praza Obradoiro

Happy pilgrims (none the worse for wear)

 at the end of our journey