I woke with mixed feelings, our last day of walking. I’d achieve my goal but I had yet to experience the spiritual element or so I thought.

Turning left out of the hotel we were immediately on the Camino, the last leg of the Frances Way into Santiago. Immediately we began to climb through dense woodland. It was not to be the last climb of the day.

Many walkers were upbeat with the prospect of a mere 14 kms walk into Santiago, however I was bitterly disappointed to learn at the outskirts of the city that we had a further 4.5 kms further to walk to reach our goal.

The bonhomie continued particularly as the weather favoured us, as did the terrain as we quickly came upon the suburbs and a final stop at  an old church which was considered an opportunity for pilgrims of old to wash and refresh themselves before t  he final walk into Santiago. We availed of refreshments at one of the cafes and bars at this stopping point. Unfortunately, the church was closed so it was possible to have our pilgrims passport stamped at this location though there were impromptu opportunities to have the passport stamped at other stops most of them involved buying a souvenir or two. (More on the passports and stamps later).

As we left Lavacolla, we continued through the suburbs, bypassing local and national TV and radio stations as we went. Then there was a long slow climb up Mont Gozo, which I later learned was the Hill of Joy, I understood, how one might feel joyous but nothing could have been further from the truth as it was a very steep climb up that hill. Many of our fellow walkers groaned in unison, however, one lively male walker jumped into action and ran up the hill.  We congratulated him on his energy while the rest of us were conserving our remaining energy to be able to complete the walk.

As we reached the edge of the city many of our walking companions seemed to disappear and we met few fellow walkers as we walked through the rain drenched city streets. The onset of rain did not improve our mood, it felt as though it was an inauspicious end to our journey.

Earlier in the week we met 5 fellow Irish walkers, staying in the same hotels most evenings and meeting morning and evenings to recount our daily experiences.  We had arranged to  meet at the entry point into the old town of Santiago (St. Peter’s St.) to accompany each other into the city  and may be celebrate together.

We met as arranged walking through the atmospheric streets and out into thronged squares. Where had everyone come from it was so busy. We thought this was to be the end of the season? There was a wonderful atmosphere and  a wonderful sense of achievement as we recognised many faces and there was much congratulations as we met fellow walkers in and around the Cathedral.