October 10: Made it!

We made it. My stats: 1.30m steps; 790.5km, 185 hours. Carey’s stats: 1.15m steps; 792.7km, 185 hours. We walked at a reasonable average pace of 4.3km per hour. Considering my “out and about” walking, outside the actual trail, I’m at 924km since we left St-Jean-de-Pied-de-Port, 37 days ago.

The final stages aren’t all that, rather industrial with a lot of road, but the absolute joy of pilgrims on the home stretch is uplifting. The day was sunny and the going firm. We arrived feeling strong and fresh. All of this is new for both of us. Previous “Santiago days” have been tired, sore; cold and wet, or baking hot and exhausting. This was a Goldilocks day, just right.

We were also prepared for the 4km walk from the “Santiago” sign (a famous insta-moment) and the Cathedral square. The knowledge kept dismay at bay and also stopped us from begrudging those last climbs. We passed half a dozen people with whom we have had multiple interactions along the way. We all greeted and congratulated each other as we passed by. It was surprisingly emotional.

We didn’t stay long in the square. The midday sun made for lousy photos and we have been here before. But, we both felt we needed to go and recognize the destination. I sang “ Lord of all faithfulness”, not that anyone was listening, or surprised - pilgrims worship in all kinds of ways on arrival at the plaza. That particular hymn came up in class discussion last night as a favourite of one of my classmates, so, it felt appropriate. We snapped a couple of selfies and headed on to our hotel (a proper hotel here!).

Having paid our respects, today was a big day for “robot laundry”, (launderette). Visit one was washing most of our dirty stuff. We then came back to our room, showered, put on clean clothes, and returned to the launderette to wash the rest, including the clothes we were previously standing up in. It feels really good to be scrubbed clean, physically at least (mass tomorrow will take care of the other stuff!). It’s an event to put on clothes that have been fully dried and tumbled, rather than mangled and squashed dry. We pre-planned this hygienic campaign, so we have forgone washing our clothes in the sink since Wednesday. Even shared evenly between us, it is one part of the Camino we are both glad to leave behind.

We have also changed our dining tradition this time. Instead of heading for our “usual” Indian restaurant (where, honestly, they actually remembered us last time, among all those pilgrims, after a year), we felt like doner, or in my case, a “durum vegetale”. We found a fabulously camp Turkish place, decorated with fezes and a mural of the Blue Mosque, with a bearded gentleman in a kaftan on the menu. It was an utter delight, from the pop videos to the tasty baklava. We ate very well and had a blast!