Completed 500 miles all in all! 33 days.....

Certificate of Completion of the full Camino de Santiago

Day 32 started with rain for an hour. It cleared up and walking was pleasant. At 10:30 I was walking by this old Café when A Spanish man, an Argentina man and a Columbian woman came out of the café laughing. They brought me inside, pointed to the menu and said it was the best breakfast they had on the Camino. As I was hungry I said, order me one. It turned out humongous and delicious. It was a pile of French fries, covered by three scrambled eggs, then at least 1/2 pound of homemade Galician sausage, cut up and spiced wonderfully. An artery clogger. I gobbled it down! It fueled me the rest of the day.

                                         Fuel Joel needed for his very long day.

                                                                Breakfast Chef

At 1:00 the day went downhill. I missed my turn into my village. By the time I realized it I was a couple kilometers down the road, so I thought I will find an Albergue in the next village. Whoa, I went through three villages without an Albergue and it started raining. By the time I found an Albergue I had walked 15 extra Kilometers, totaling 37 for the day, 22 miles. I was four miles to Santiago. When I got to the Albergue I heard familiar laughter from the laundry room. Lisa and Johannes were putting a load of laundry in and said they had room for mine. Off went my sodden clothing, plus dirty clothes from my backpack. It was a bonus that I would have clean clothes for Santiago. Lisa is the woman that she was my much younger sister.

                              House on the hill that I knew Janice would like.

They get the right of way I think.

On Day 33, my final day on the Camino I got on the trail early and decided to mosey down the trail as I was close to Santiago. About 1/2 hour into my walk I saw Santiago from a hilltop.

 

I felt like Dorothy when she spotted Emerald City. I found myself singing "we are off to see the wizard".  About an hour into my walk I stopped at a café and had a coffee and sweet roll. Five minutes later Johannes and Lisa came in and we enjoyed coffee together. It was fortunate as Lisa had received word from a friend that there was this converted monastery where it was close to the Cathedral and inexpensive. She had good information.

Santiago Hotel

Fountain by Hotel

We each got single rooms with it's own bathroom for 23 Euros. Johannes and I took our rooms for three days. Lisa for one as she was continuing the Finisteria the next day.

Lisa, Lucas and Johannes

After settling in we met along with Lucas from Belgium and went to the Pilgrims office for our credential of completion of the Camino. For celebration we all had paella and split a bottle of wine.

Lobster, Shrimp and other delicacies in Paella.  

 

We then went our separate ways and met at the Cathedral at 5:00pm for a Completion of Camino party.

Jam from Trinidad

                                                 
                             Ashley on left from Bellingham

Jam from Trinidad met us there and took to his very nice apartment he secured through Air B&B. There were about a dozen of us there. All had completed the full Camino and had seen each other many times since St. Jean,  France, but three of them I met for the first time, including Ashley from Bellingham, WA. Jam provided pizza, someone else made pasta, and there a spread of goat cheese, bread and chocolate, as well as wine and beer.  As was usual for Pilgrims, we partied hearty, but left before 9:00 and was in bed by 9:30! The Camino is now complete!

Oct. 28
Today was a day I just walked around, doing some local sightseeing.  At noon I attended the Pilgrims Mass at the Cathedral.  It is attended by those that complete the Camino and asking blessings on each of the Pilgrims in their lives from here on out.

In the afternoon I met a very special young lady for a glass of wine that I had gotten to know along the Camino.  She is a wonderful young lady that has a bright future ahead of her.  She became one of my Grandpa "kids" along the Camino.

Alisa

I've met many people from all over the globe from many different countries.  My appreciation for the young "kids" along the way gives renewed hope in our future. Friday morning early, 10/30 I take a taxi to the airport and begin my long flight home. Home sweet home!