Day #278

A journey of a thousand miles starts with a single step and ours ended with a painful march up a crowded, dusty road with cars beeping as we finish our walk. 

The morning air greeted us with anticipation. We knew what would happen today. We were to finish. For my dad and brother, this was very special because they had been doing it in sections for 6 years, rather than me who tags on at the end. With every footstep, the Cathedral of St James felt closer and closer. 

I won't bore you with the details of how many times we stopped for water but the humidity ensured it was plenty. We had just stopped for an ice cream (living rough, right?) about 6 Km from Santiago and were coming down the road with the city in sight and suddenly music almost identical to that of 'The Lord of the Rings' came on. It's the very peaceful music whereby Sam says to Frodo something like "Think of home Frodo, think of the flowers and the shire, Mr Frodo." It was at this moment that I knew I had to destroy the ring...I mean I had to complete the walk. 

The journey from the outskirts (where photo number 2 was taken at - Monto Gozo) to the old town in which the cathedral stood was a very hard one. The pilgrims seemed to dwindle and industrial noises could echo through my badly packed rucksack. 

When we arrived in the square, so many of the people that we had been travelling with or at similar times were there. Acquaintances that had become friends made the arrival rather emotional. It lead to me setting my small tripod up and taking the photo which is the first. We look like giants! After sitting down, I took a picture of the shells on the back of my brother and I's bags. My shell is the peace sign on the right and his is the Camino arrow on the left. It has been a long journey and I have enjoyed nearly all of it: the food, the walking and especially the people. 

We have now checked into a four star-hotel to enjoy the last two nights in comfort before flying back.

I hope you have enjoyed reading the progress and I hope to see you on The Way one day soon.

(If I have missed anything out I will have to re-edit another day. Off to watch the football in the square!)

Until tomorrow

Will :)