Camino de Santiago Day 34: O Pedrouso to Santiago de Compostela
Crossing the threshold into the plaza in Santiago is a mere formality now, but it must still be done. How do I sum up the feeling today? It's not that it's difficult - more unnecessary
I’m coming to the end of my Camino de Santiago odyssey (it’s not quite over yet). It’s ended up being not just a physical but a creative journey. Sign up to keep in touch with weekly stories, essays and blog posts about travel, the outdoors and all kinds of journeys
Ultreia (part 5)
I have nothing left to say
That’s what I write at the top of my notebook, some savour the end by walking slowly but I find that I cannot, I choose not to,
When I want to slow down I stop
And I write
I take one last stop about a kilometre or two out from the plaza
And sit and write
I’m in no rush
Along the way
Whatever was needed to be said or done on the Camino has been done along the way – the walk across the finish line is merely a formality
Bagpipes soundtrack the final walk into the plaza, like emerging out onto the pitch at Croke Park on All-Ireland Final day – though this phenomenon – the pilgrim’s crossing of the finish line and making it to the plaza at Santiago – has been happening every day of the year for hundreds and hundreds of years – over a thousand
Incredible – impossible to imagine or describe
There are no words
I don’t mean in that as a metaphor for how ridiculously amazing it was – it was neither positive nor negative – it is what it is
Everyone’s already waiting for me cos I was taking my sweet time – walking to my own pace, one last time
It’s like the ending of Lost
There are hugs and photos and people I knew for a time but though I’d never see again, those ghosts who I’d already internalised as dead to the trail, living on only in memory, resurrected again
And of course the people who matter most – the people I walked with to the end
Whether we met and hit it off straight it away, or seemed to be grouped together randomly or by fate.
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The cathedral is enormous, jaw-dropping, sublime – the greatest example yet of a divine entity reaching back up home to heaven
I try to enjoy a moment with friends, in turn, and then a couple for myself, in turn
I sit and look up, briefly tempted to put it into words;
One last snappy sentence – after trying my best to put the whole Camino into words, written and spoken, I gave it a good shot
But I just sit up and look at it
And not being dramatically enthusiastic – it’s neither good nor bad – but
There are no words to describe it now
This trip has pushed me Beyond words
I have nothing left to say
If you’ve done the Camino, are thinking of doing it, or are just interested in discussing the Camino or travel in general - then please leave a comment. I’d love to hear from you.