Day 26, Picarana - Santiago de Compostela

22,59 kilometers, 30 330 steps

There.

Yesterday I arrived to Santiago. It was raining for the most parts of the day.

In the morning I took the bus back to Picarana and started walking. I stopped for breakfast and five minutes later the Dutch woman I had been seeing for weeks walks in. Her first reaction to seeing me was wishing me happy birthday! She remembered that I mentioned it a few days ago!

We shared a moment there before I continued my walking. I ran into her on every occasion and eventually we were walking together. Somewhere on the outskirts of Santiago we went different ways and unfortunately didn't run to each other again.

I continued those last kilometers alone. It was raining. There wasn't that much to see anymore, just the suburbs of the city. When I reached the cathedral I was soaking wet. My raincoat #2 had tears in it and I was worried my pilgrim passports would get wet so the most important thing was to protect the backpack from the rain.

When I got to the Cathedral I took a few pictures before heading to the Pilgrims reception office. There was a long queue and I decided to get something to eat before getting my place at the end of the queue.

After I found something to eat I went back, after standing in the queue for half an hour I finally got my Compostela. I headed back to the church with hopes of catching a glimpse of a familiar face, but I didn't. I went to get me some wine and a salad to celebrate my birthday. It was nice.

After I got back to the hostel I ended talking with the kiwi girl who slept in the bed next to mine. For hours. It was almost midnight when we finally tucked in for the night.

So there I was, in Santiago, my shoes and my clothes wet, my feet filled with calluses where the blisters were before.

So yes, I finished the Camino on birthday. That's the date on my Compostela. I'm quite proud of myself.

After 468 kilometers I was finally done.

Now the next thing is to get back to Portugal, relax and rest for a few days. After that it's time to do something else. And if it gets too boring otherwise, there's always the pilgrimage route to Fatima I can still take. ;)

#CaminoPortuguese #Coastalroute #CaminoPortugueseCosta #Camino #CaminodeSantiago