“The Camino ends here” says the lady across the counter and I stop my Garmin on the last stage’s day. They are powerful words to hear after 12 days on the way. The Camino ends here.
I’m not certain there ever was anything I would be busy with for 12 days straight, so it’s certainly a very distinctive sense of achievement that washes over us today. It feels incredible to be done.
Tough last day, too. 36km at cruising speed of a gazillion sweat drops per hill. We started early (was it dark? at least earlier than you’d get served breakfast anywhere for another 3 hours). The stage was hard, but adrenaline is a fantastic chemical, so the last half went by like a blur.
At one point we are greeted by 2 volunteers who have a whole desk and the nearby church’s seglio (stamp). They ask where we’re from and the Norwegian anthem starts playing from a speaker almost at once, which is touching (but Ja, vi elsker… is touching under almost any circumstances). They tell us to fill in an online form with our data which will later simplify issuing our Compostelas. It works, too, the whole thing took us 10 minutes and we now have some official papers in Latin.
The Pilgrims’ mass at the Cathedral is a very Catholic affair, up to and including Holy Communion. Two small disappointments: Norway isn’t mentioned when they greet the pilgrims and no Botafumeiro (when they swing the giant incence burner). Otherwise, very satisfying, indeed.
It’s a crowded tourist place and getting a table anywhere decent is not easy. But we’re hungry and charming, so they fix us up at a very nice place, and the party is on!
How does one sleep after a day like this? We’ll find out very soon.