Arrival

Hey Everyone!!


I am writing from an internet cafe a couple of blocks from the end of our journey, the Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela.  We arrived at about 11am after a good 4.5 hours or so of walking from Arco doPino, and made it just in time for the 12pm Pilgrim Mass.


The walk in was pretty pleasant.  We started at about 6:45 with our flashlights leading the way.  We weren´t missing much in regards to scenery since the nearby hills and mountains were covered in a morning mist which turned out to be an all day mist/rain.  We made it to the Alto de Gozo which sits about 5km just outside of the city and overlooks the town of Santiago.  Unfortunately, because of the incoming clouds there was not a lot to see at the time.


We then started the hike down the mountain and into Santiago proper and were met with our first real rain since the Hurrican on Sunday.  This did not keep us from walking.  We pushed forward and began to see bigger groups of pilgrims crosswalks and knew that we were getting close.  Less than around 45 minutes after starting down the mountain, navigating our way through crowds of locals and pilgrims, we finally arrived at the Cathedral. 


We have not, however, completed the pilgrim portion of the journey.  What we have to do--once the lines and craziness die down--is the go to the pilgrims office, show them our credentials that are now full of stamps, state our purpose for going on the Camino, and receive our Compostela--our certificate of completion.  Hopefully we don´t run into trouble there.  Apparently, people have been driving the Camino by car, getting stamps in their credentials, and then getting their Compostela in Santiago.  What´s the point?! Anywho, because of those people we had to make sure to get enough stamps so that we don´t get extra questions from the "port authority of Santiago" :-)


Alrighty,  I am at a computer that allows me to upload pics, so I will post some at the end of the entry.


Much love,


Paul

Getting into Galicia

Portomarin

MORE TO COME LATER!! THANKS FOR ALL YOUR PRAYERS!! CAN´T BELIEVE WE ARE HERE!