Santiago de Compostela

Praise God, yesterday at about 3pm, we arrived in Santiago de Compostela. On the way into the city, we kept running into people we knew – people who had shared some portion of the walk with us – probably a dozen reunions before we even reached the Cathedral.

Entering the plaza in front of the Cathedral was an experience like no other. The emotions were overwhelming: gratitude, relief, wonder, the childlike excitement of Christmas morning all rolled into one.

I have a feeling that heaven is a lot like that: constantly meeting old friends in an overwhelming place of wonder and delight.

We visited the Cathedral, of course. The traditional entry of the pilgrim is through something called the Gate of Glory. Unfortunately, it was covered in scaffolds due to reconstruction work.

The central image of Christ, however, was visible.

We prayed. We clambered behind the high altar to hug the statue of the saint. Then we descended to the tomb and prayed before his remains.

I’m still overwhelmed by the whole thing.

Today will be a busy day. We need to taxi to the bus station to secure our tickets for Madrid.

Then a little shopping, I think.

Confession, and then noon pilgrim’s Mass at the Cathedral.

Lunch with many old friends.

Post office to ship home our walking sticks.

The bus to Madrid leaves at 9pm.

A whirlwind.

Thank you so much for reading our adventures so far, and for your support on our way!