Santiago de Compostela!!!!!!

We did it! All 779 kilometers. Nearly 1,000,000 steps over mountains, across rivers, and through valleys. Past lonely villages, ancient ruins, and one-of-a-kind architectural wonders. Enduring scorching heat, violent thunder storms, and oppressive humidity. Meeting strangers from all over the world, sleeping in questionable accommodations, and eating more bocadillos than I care to count. It wasn’t easy. It wasn’t always fun. But, we did it!

Here’s how this last day went down.

Despite having a bit of a bad reputation, Efe Bomba has really taken the lead on early starts here in Spain and today is no different. We’re off before breakfast is being served, anxious to reach our destination (me the cathedral where the trail ends, her the Sweet Sleeper mattress at the Marriott). The marker shows just over 27km to go, so still some meat left on that bone.

Once again though, the crowds aren’t really anywhere to be seen. I’ll ponder this a bit more when we arrive to find the square in front of the cathedral packed with pilgrims (where did they all come from if we didn’t see them on the trail?) but I wouldn’t wish it any other way. How could I not miss this?

Before we know it, we pass this market – just 10km left to go.

We’re into the outskirts of Santiago now, although the hills keep us from getting our eyes on the prize. The boys take a detour to find this monument, and way off in the distance you can see the towers, but they quickly fade from view again, taking some much-needed visual encouragement away with them.

We enter the city, and still no cathedral. The distance markers long ago disappeared so we can only guess how far we have left to go. Maybe just over the next hill.

Nick has done this entire journey and is excited to finish, rushing ahead and then catching himself, turning back to wait for the rest of us to catch up.

And then we see it.

It is a grand finale but, after all of this way, there is something a little underwhelming about it. At any small town 10k run there is a big banner you pass under and a crowd cheering you on but, here, after 780k, there isn’t really anything. Nobody welcomes you. There aren’t any flags waving or fireworks going off. There’s not even a post with 0.000 on it like there is in Finisterre. Other than the cathedral, the only indicator that your journey is complete is this small brass plate on the ground surrounded by pilgrims taking pictures.

We take a few photos ourselves (OK, more than a few) and head off towards the Pilgrim’s Office where they check your credencial and issue the compostela. We’ve heard the line for this can be brutal and we are probably too late in the day to get through it before closing time, but we figure we can at least check out the process and try and estimate how early we need to be here in the morning.

There is a bit of a crowd and it isn’t exactly obvious what is happening but, after filling in a short online form, we’re quickly ushered into the office and, just like that, back out on the street with our compostelas, fancy Latin names and all, and a second certificate showing the distance we have travelled.

They also add the final stamps to complete our passports.

Some would say the greatest reward was saved for last though. Check in at a real hotel. It really hasn’t been long since we last stayed here and it is all very much the way we remembered it. We indulge in hot showers, high speed internet, and a bit of nap time before rallying up for one last task.

In the cathedral, they hold a Pilgrim’s Mass every evening at 7:30 (in Holy Years like this one they add 3 additional masses in the morning). Last year, we never actually made it into the cathedral as it filled up while we were still in line so it is a “must do” this time around. We’re not Catholic so the mass itself is just a curiosity, but, they have 180 pound incense burner here that eight people in robes yarding on ropes can get whipping 40 miles an hour. through the air. That I need to see.

The cathedral itself is impressive, like many others we have seen now, maybe a little larger. Of course, this one has the remains of St. James (so they say) it a tiny metal box under the altar.

The place is already packed when we arrive, but we manage to find a few square feet of floor space with a reasonably good view of the action. Once it gets going, the burner should fly right over top of us.

If you’re Catholic I’m not telling you anything you don’t already know but, mass is long. I suspect it feels even longer when 100% of it is in a foreign language but, this being my first Catholic mass, I can’t attest to that. A lot of singing (in latin, I think), plenty of standing up and sitting down, and waiting for hordes of people to get through the line for communion. My squad is getting a bit fidgety, but surely we’re getting close to incense time.

It is right about this time a man walks to the center of the altar with what looks like a large pepper shaker on a chain. It’s smoking, and he waves it a couple of times at us before repeating the motion towards the other sections of the cathedral. He then calmly walks back to where he came from. We’ve been bait and switched. By the church.

We use our final few steps of the day to return to the hotel where, tomorrow, we’ll wake up as just regular tourists.

One final shout out to this most excellent group of adventurers – truly the stars of the camino.