A Walk and a Float 2025: Day 32 - O Pedrouza to Santigao (Part 2)

Today was our final leg. We left early (6:15AM), at the 19km marker. I don't know why it is - but our milage is always much longer than what the mileposts say.

Today had sections through forests, along low-traffic roads between small towns, and then the dense city of Santiago.

We were not quick. It was warm. There were hills. We did stop for breakfast (once) and for liquid refreshment (twice) - Aquarius for Jana and CocaCola for me.

And we were fully consumed by crowds of folks. Some of whom we had met in our first days and many that we had crossed once or multiple times in the past couple of weeks. But most of the folks were relative newcomers on the trail. And the composition entirely changed. The first weeks on the Camino, perhaps 20-30% of the folks were Spanish (from Spain) - now it was 90%. Lots of kids in their teens and twenties. For them it is part of their cultural heritage.

At 12:15, we reached the Cathedral, the end of the Camino. Our journey complete. And our Camino Brothers from San Diego who finished the day before us were there to greet us.

Some bittersweet feeling of being done and not having to walk every day and having a chance to physically heal, but losing contact with some very good friends does hurt - some of these friendships will continue, but many will end with the Camino. We have made friends from Portland, San Diego, Houston, Australia, Netherlands, Spain, Germany, Canada, and more.

After celebratory beer/wine and tapas, we retired to our hotel, got the laundry done, and got our official Compostela stamp, to certify our completion, and to get our 'diplomas'.
During just this short walk, we ran into half a dozen different folks/groups that we had shared time with during various parts of our journey.

Of course, this was followed by a dinner with friends.

We will be staying in Santiago tonight and tomorrow night. Our plans after that are a bit more fluid - we just need to be in Rotterdam by 6/26 to stage for the "Float" portion of our trip. Maybe Porto... or Paris... or Belgium... or all three. We will keep you posted.

Pictures!

We left this morning early, because it was going to get hot (and the forecast did not disappoint). 6:15:

Not a lot of early morning photos as we walked through the woods in near darkness (there was enough light to see the path, but maybe not every piece of evidence that a horse had been there the day before). The camera can compensate for a lot, and gives some illusion of light.

Roads were busy almost immediately:

As the sun came over the horizon, found one of the patches of wildflowers.

An early morning European Robin in the shade of the woods:

And a European Serin, showing off its bright yellows:

Started at 19K, now at 10K!!

Fields and trees framing the half moon:

Still not a great picture of a Turtle-Dove, but the best one I have been able to take. It was pretty far out there.

Another patch of wildflowers dancing in the sun:

At about the 8K mark, we stopped for a drink recharge. A taxi arrived, and looked like he had immediate fares. And Jana with her Aquarius:

The next sections were on roads like the one below. Crowds would coalesce and diffuse as groups with different speeds would cross. Here is a clot:

Butterflies were limited, and it was hot so they rarely sat still. I did get one more Meadow Brown Butterfly:

After what felt like 10 miles after the 10K marker, we still had 5K remaining.

As we came into Santiago, I had to appreciate the honesty of this tattoo parlor:

The next section of the walk was along city streets as we approached the historic district:

A lot of the stone fences are old, but it is hard to gauge the age by looking at moss. For this park boundary, a good core sample would give a minimum age of the wall.