Sunday, June 27, 2010

Spain, Day 11

June 2: Pedrouzo/ Arca do Pino to Santiago

With only 18 km left, we thought today's walk would be a piece of cake and we had fanciful thoughts of arriving in Santiago before noon. But after Lois had taken only a few steps it was obvious that that wasn't going to happen. The harmless little blister that had appeared yesterday had mushroomed into something huge and angry: a genuine impediment to walking. She limped painfully for a kilometer or so and then, with great reluctance, decided that she had better get a cab for the last leg.

She was, however, game to try one last Plan B; after all, it would be such a disappointment to break up our wonderful threesome ON THE LAST DAY. We rebandaged the foot with as much padding as we could stick to it and she swallowed a heavy-duty painkiller as well. We reminded ourselves that with less than 17 km remaining, we could mince along as slowly as necessary and take breaks every hour. If it was still too painful, we would revert to Plan A.

And after the painkiller took effect it really wasn't so bad. We stopped often, and even limping along we were at the outskirts of Santiago well before noon. Although a lot of our walking was still along forest paths and through tiny villages, the highway noise was becoming louder and harder to ignore. It was surreal to walk right under the gigantic approach matrix for metropolitan Santiago's airport. And then a final bit of climb up to Monte o Gozo where the pilgrims' monument announces victory.

Not so long ago, pilgrims stopped here because the elevation offered a first glimpse of the destination cathedral. There's been so much construction in Santiago that you can't see the cathedral from here any more so they have constructed the monument and the little park to compensate. The pilgrims' park is one endless celebration. All around perigrinos were hugging, high-5-ing, taking pictures with the monument as backdrop. A little group of Germans was singing a round in 2-part harmony. People crowded around the sello desk to get a special red stamp in the credencial. We dipped into the little chapel to enjoy the silence and light a candle.

We headed downhill for the last time. At some point, our environs stopped being rural and became urban: we entered the metropolis of Santiago. City streets and stop lights seemed a bit foreign. Lois was in pain so we found her a shady place to wait while Lj and I scouted out a hotel for the night. It took us a few false starts but eventually we found (relatively) luxurious accommodations just outside the walls of the old city.

After settling in, the usual shower + beer + laundry routine, we decided to finish the last leg of the pilgrimage. It is not hard to find the cathedral: all you need to do is follow the beautiful bronze scallop shells embedded in the streets. We followed the shells for maybe a kilometer through the old city, along laneways, past tiny shops, then down a long staircase. Suddenly the scallop shells stopped and I had a momentary sense of panic: how would I know which way to go from here...?

We found ourselves in front of the cathedral. End of pilgrimage.

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