Day 63 Outeiro - Santiago de Compostela

POSTED 2 DAYS LATE

Today was an emotional day for many as it marked the end of their pilgrimage to Santiago.  Such was the case for Karl, our German friend who walked with us all the way.














We had purposely planned it so that we would have a short day – only about 12 miles, enabling us to reach Santiago exactly at noon, after walking for only four and a half hours.

The weather was kind to us and after a cloudy start we had brilliant sunshine all the way.  Once again we could sense we were nearing a major city and the houses along the path were definitely more modern than those we had seen previously up in the mountains.

As we approached the city via the old "Camino Real" we saw the spires of the Cathedral in the far\distance, our cue to stop for some photos!

As soon as we arrived in Santiago we went to queue up with dozens of other pilgrims to obtain our “Compostela”, the official record of our journey.  After that we entered the Cathedral by the "Puerta Santa" which is only opened during the Holy Years, to pay the traditional greeting to St James.

Later we went to find our hotel.  Fortunately the hotel had double booked and offered to put us up in a nearby house, also belonging to the hotel.  It has been recently refurbished to a high standard and offered us a sitting room to boot where we watched some of the football.

In the evening we went to dinner with Karl to celebrate reaching Santiago. My foot which has been troubling me all week, flared up yesterday and it was a struggle getting here. 

I have finally had to face up to the fact that I need to have my foot looked at and we agreed that I would attend the local hospital in the morning.