Oct 1: Done

We fly back to London today. Our flight is a late one – almost 9pm, if it’s on time, so we have ended up with 2 days in Santiago. We took an extra day after getting in on Thursday.

Our final walk in was much less awful than both of us remembered. 25km largely uphill, but we both felt we had plenty in reserve. We stopped about 12km in for a coffee and ended up in a wonderful, hour-long conversation with the Reverend Greer from Australia. She was walking with her father and his partner, who went on ahead. Rev. Greer leads an affirming congregation and practices improvisation as a spiritual practice – a way of holding space for true expression and offering unguarded opportunities for insight and connection. I took her details and will put her in touch with Rev. Keith at Knox. I feel like they will have a lot to share, across continents.

Our hotel was a lovely, older building abutting the park, about 1km from the Cathedral. We strolled comfortably past it (it’s on the Camino) and made our way through the old town to the Cathedral Square, to properly complete our walk at the Cathedral gates. The Square is never empty, but it was quiet. Still, full of joy though – pilgrims congratulating each other; friends waiting for loved ones to walk in; groups singing together, clapping, cheering each member who came into view until all were accounted for. It was dry, warm enough, so we sat awhile, acknowledging arrival, completion, departure, all of which are held in the single act of putting down your pack under the colonnade.

We both agree this was a too short experience. We walked for 13 days. We need a longer experience to really release everything else; to fully become ourselves as pilgrims. We have the next walk booked already, which is deep comfort. We will walk the Norté in April 2027, one of the least walked, least developed trails. As compared to the Embankments, ice cream shops and boardwalks of the short Portuguese (a domestic tourist location, expanded to absorb the legions of foreign walkers), we are both drawn to the promise of the Norté. This is not to wish away or denigrate our experience of the Portuguese. Only to acknowledge that as we count the months we have spent on the Way, over the years, we want something deeper than this path can offer, beautiful and luxurious though it is.

We successfully met Barb yesterday, after Mass, in Café Casino – a former Gentleman’s Club, now open to the public, still dressed in its dark wooden paneling and upholstered chairs. They do a flamboyant Irish coffee, which has become a celebration ritual for us. We spent today in the Cathedral museum, which includes the former Diocesan Seminary, where you can walk behind the Rood Screen of the former Cathedral-sized church and climb to the minstrel gallery, where the second choir sang. It was a second meaningful treat.

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Inspired by our 2024 Camino Francais, Karen has a periodic podcast called "I sent you a bloody boat", personal thoughts on faith by a person who believes in thinking. Also, known as "The Reluctant Christian". You can listen to it on Spotify and on Apple Podcasts at: