Day 24: Armenal to Santiago de Compostela. We Arrive Oct. 3, 2019

The host of the gatehouse drove us back to the place at which we had ended our walk the day before. It sports the best name of an alberque/bar for its location: Kilometer 15. (See the sign above Donna’s head.)

We left early, in low clouds and mist, just as the sun was peaking over the trees. Dew and moisture clung to the fields and foliage, as if each drop represented a Pilgrim’s excitement and anticipation of the day’s destination 15K away: Santiago de Compostela.

Note the other Pilgrims on the trail taking pictures of nature’s lacey webs and veils.

Monte do Goza (Hill of Joy). From the top of this hill, we got our first glimpse of the three spires on the Cathedral in Santiago.

You can see spring in the step of the hiker on the left!

We knew we still had more than an hour to go, and there were some bittersweet moments of “at last, we’re almost there!” combined with, “oh, I will miss the villages and forests.”

Bagpipes announced our (and everyone else’s) entrance to Cathedral Square.
Tears of joy.
We end the way we started, with boots on the trail marker. (See Day 1 post!)

More to come on the insights and inspiration. As you can see from the posting date, this one went up loooong after Donna and I arrived in Santiago. In early December I had the pleasure of doing a presentation about our Camino walk to a group of friends from dog park, tennis, golf, the neighborhood, LIFT (Ladies in Fellowship Together) and my Mom.

Having this day-by-day collection of photos and memories was handy. Yet in preparing the talk, I knew that my audience would want more than a re-hash of what was already here on the blog. They wanted me to share some of the lessons, insights and take-aways from my Camino, as well.

So I did. And I will write that post soon.

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