Camino de Santiago Portuguese Day 12 (September 2024)

At last, it was the final day of our Camino. I started with a thanksgiving prayer for His grace and guidance to date. Also, I prayed that He will continue to guide us to be able to finish the walk.

The final day was to walk approximately 20 km to Santiago de Compostela. It was several km more than the indicated distance on Google Maps.

 

We showed 12 fingers combined to indicate the 12th day. We were excited.

Soon after we started walking for the day, we heard the familiar music of accordion and bagpipe. I was wondering why the bagpipe was being played. Later I learned that the people of Galicia are the Cels like the Scottish people. That is why they were playing bagpipe. 

The sky was all foggy and gloomy making the sun look like a sunrise. Later I learned that there was a fire in the Porto region and the smoke made the sky all gloomy.

The terrain was not so difficult, but our bodies were quite tired, thus making the walk difficult. Nonetheless, we would have crawled to the finish if we could not walk. I started having pain in my feet and I had to use sports tapes to prevent any blisters. Fortunately, Mr. Yoon's blisters were almost healed. 

We made a stop at a restaurant that claimed to be the last stop before the Compostela. It turned out to be false, but we had a good rest with a meal. Mr. Yoon took my funny gesture in the photo.

After slow but steady ascending on the city streets, we finally reached the Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela. It was St Jacob's Cathedral. We were overjoyed. Yes, we made it! Thank God for His grace!

We used the credential purchased for 2 euros for collecting stamps on the way. 

The Pilgrim's Office added the last one to indicate the completion.

And, they issued the Certificate of Compostela. They asked me if I wanted to pay for the Distance Certificate which I declined. I did not have to prove to anyone about the distance I walked.

While we were walking back to the hotel from the Pilgrims's Office, Claudia from Poland was shouting from the second floor of a guesthouse. She ran down towards us and we shared the joy of completing the Camino.

We also bumped into the two Taiwanese ladies. It was the fifth time. What a coincidence!

Most of the pilgrims were hanging out on the plaza as long as they could. I am sure there were many pilgrims who walked for 40 days. Their joy would have been even greater than ours. We decided to go to the hotel after 10 minutes or so. 

This photo is evidence that we completed the Camino together and we stood in front of the Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela. - Jeffrey