Woke up around 7 AM and started blogging again. Paying a little homage to my shoes that kept my feet in relatively good shape minus a lost toe nail and a few blisters. They weren't most perfect shoes but they got the job done after I had truly broken them in the first week. Unfortunately, I lost a toe nail in the process.
Luis and I met up at 9 AM and walked to the Municipal Albergue to catch the bus back to Santiago. We met up with Janet (Canada), Jessica (Australia) and Anu (Finland) and others and said our goodbyes.
I basically slept the entire trip until we arrived in Santiago. I wanted to stay up and see the small towns along the coast but it was quite difficult to do so.
When I got back into Santiago I walked around the cathedral and then everything called me to attend the pilgrims mass. This would be the only Church service that I would attend during the entire Camino.
It was in Spanish and it was quite boring - even though I knew exactly what stage of the mass we were in - until they busted out the Botafumeiro.
That was a spectacle. I was soo happy. I thought that I would miss it since they perform it only once a week but apparently they have been doing in for the last three days.
The whole reason for me going back to Santiago was to run into the people I had begun my journey with and most of them were two or three days behind and I wanted to celebrate our finish together at the end. During the Camino my legs got stronger and I was busting out 1.5 to 2 stages a day instead of just the regular singular stages.
I ran into a few of them near the Cathedral and around the pilgrim office where people were getting their final stamp and their Compostela certificate.
Ran into of my favorite people Natalia (Germany)
I ran into the Canadians (Terry and Gary)
Jordi from Barcelona, Spain.
Roberto from Italy.
I walked into Church at took a picture of St James's marker and the part where you put your hand on the stone (just as in the movie). Unfortunately that part was blocked off so I had to take a pretend picture. I didn't do the kneeling portion.
Natalie, I and Sascha walked around to many hotels and hostels trying to find 3 private room that we could stay at but unfortunately none were available. It was the weekend and a special weekend in Galicia and so there were more tourists than pilgrims in the area. After walking around and getting turned down we settled for two rooms at a hotel. Sascha and I shared one and Natalia took the other.
I met up with a couple of the peregrinos at a local bar nearby, and that group grew really really quickly.
Then a couple of us football fans watched the Barcelona and Athletico game. Jordi (Barcelona, Spain) and Marcos (Italy) are big Barcelona fans and so watching them cuss at the TV is about as exciting as the game.
After a while Natalia, I, and a few others went out to eat and I was so full and sleeply I decided to call it an night early.
Expenses: 63.00 Euro
Bus: 13.10 Euro
Room: 19.00 Euro
Drinks: 22.50 Euro
Dinner: 10.00 Euro
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