5/24 On Our Way to the End of the World

What a great day.  We left around 6:30 but only had a 15 minute walk to the Cathedral.  Annie, Polly, and I wondered if we would get emotional...the culmination of months of planning and over 30 straight days of walking...none of us had taken a rest day...and I think the two of them were more emotional than I was.  Annie was getting texts and emails from friends and family and both of them were very proud of what they had accomplished.

It's a little different for me.  I have done these "kinds" of things.  My walking the Camino doesn't surprise those who really know me...least of all, my family.  And yes, I love the physical challenge of it...I LIKE doing things I know I may fail at.  "A man's reach should exceed his grasp; else what's a heaven for."  ~Robert Browning~  But the gift to me on this trip was a sense of God and how I can share His goodness with others.

The Cathedral opened around 7 and we went in to be there without all of the people.  When I go to mass on Sunday, for Pentecost, it will be packed.  We took some celebratory pictures, had a quick breakfast, then stood in line at the Pilgrim's Office to get our compostelas.  I admit I got a little emotional at that point.  7 years ago, when the boys and I did 112 kilometers from Sarria and got our compostela, the beautiful certificate was hand written.  If your name could be translated into Latin...it was, and the penmanship was amazing.  Because of the number of pilgrims, they have streamlined the compostela process and now the certificates are printed by machine.  Not as nice, methinks.  Poor Polly...whose legal name is Mary, but it's not what she goes by...ended up with "Miriam" Carpenter.  Don't hate me, but I'm going to edit this blog post and add the picture of the compostela after I get home.  Right now it is safely rolled up in a cardboard tube and I don't want to mess it up.

We got new credentials for Finisterre and a map. and headed west out of Santiago.  It was 9:30 or so...and almost 2:30 by the time we reached our destination of Nereira.  It was only 22 kilometers from Santiago, but there is a steep climb up Alto do Mar de Ovellas.  Very few people.  I read that only 1% of the pilgrims that finish the Camino Frances go on to finish the Camino Finisterre.

We are staying at a brand new albergue in Negreira...very nice.  There are new faces...Jacob from the Czech Republic and Julia and Francesco from Italy.  Tomorrow we hope to get an early start (it hit 80 degrees today) and walk 27 kilometers to Lago.