Well. Today is the day. The finale. What I’ve been walking all this sodding way for. Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela awaits and with it a flood of answers to questions I still haven’t figured out. Maybe I’m asking a bit much of poor Saint James. The bloke has been dead for a couple of thousand years so, knowing how I feel after a too long sleep, I’m guessing he might just tell me to clear off. 

Ah well, I’m only 4.5km away so might as well give it a whirl. 

We left the army barracks at 7:30. I may have imagined it but I’m sure I heard a bugel blasting out somewhere. 

I’m really glad they translated where the reception was here. I might have walked straight past if it wasn’t in English as well.

We had about 500m before we entered the outskirts of the city. Down a gentle slope then straight into civilisation. 

We had heard horror stories of packs of wild pilgrims blocking up all the paths and putting rocks on places they probably shouldn’t but for some reason we were basically alone. We may have seen one or two that we shooed off with our walking poles but it was lovely and quiet for us. 

We got to the Santiago sign and did the tourist thing of taking photos and selfies while HGV’s tore round the roundabout directly behind us. You never see that part on Instagram. 

There was also a pretty cool archway just afterwards.

Then there was a weird, angry bald head spitting water out at everyone. 

As we were walking I couldn’t believe I was actually here finally. Then I saw Trinity from the matrix walk past and genuinely started questioning if I was actually here at all.

As we were getting closer we realised that once we were standing in front of the cathedral it would signify the end of our walk. We bottled it and went for a coffee to put it off for slightly longer. 

After we had our nice coffee it was time. We got up, put our rain gear on, bid the waitress avoir, realised that wasn’t Spanish and then walked off making a note to never ever come back to the cafe while she is there. 

We were only about 200m away walking through the cobbled streets towards the church. The signposts had stopped but we saw another pilgrim walking so we followed him. About 5 minutes later he walked into a cake shop and after checking the map realised we were actually walking away from the cathedral. 

Turning round and heading back to where we started following him I realised that this little scenario was the perfect ending to my trip. I loved it. 

We carried on and walked down the steps past a man playing bagpipes as the final turn approached. We rounded the corner and were confronted with a huge square. As we walked towards the middle of it the cathedral made its way into our view. It grew bigger and bigger until finally we were standing directly in front of it. An enormous, magnificent piece of architecture. One of the most impressive buildings I have seen. 

Jenny had tears in her eyes. I looked at her, gave her a big cuddle and said the comforting words “WE FUCKING MADE IT!!!” 

It felt strange standing there in front of it after such a long journey. 

I’d say it’s been an emotional journey and it’s had its ups and downs but honestly, I’ve really enjoyed the whole thing. There hasn’t been one single day where I would have rather been anywhere else. 

It’s rained, it’s been hard, it’s been incredibly windy and occasionally it’s been a bit chilly but I’ve had an absolute blast every waking moment since I’ve been here. 

It’s a double edged sword because now I have to go and do something that isn’t this and this Camino has really set a high bar for future Jack. 

I’ve met some incredible people along the way. Forged friendships within about 10 minutes and had some of the deepest conversations I have ever had with people I’ve been talking to for 30 minutes. 

I’ve seen some beautiful buildings, rivers, bridges, trees and all of them at once in some cases. 

If any of you are fed up or just need something different temporarily then I recommend jumping on a plane and having a wander for a week or two. There are arrows to guide you, places to stay, people to meet and some lovely food to be eaten. 

If you are not in a position where you are able to do it for a week or maybe even 5 days then I don’t know the answer. Netflix and alcohol I guess. 

Once all the excitement was over we made our way to a bar and sat down for a couple of well deserved drinks. One final little nod from the Camino presented us with an Irish dude called Dave who we had met for about 5 minutes but, again, had a weird, immediate connection before he disappeared off into the sunset. 

He had walked to Finisterre and got back within the time it took us to walk to Santiago. He was just standing there on the phone having a chat so we gave him a wave and within about 10 minutes he had come over and sat down and was having a drink with us. He had a few hours to kill before his bus so we really got into a conversation that was so enjoyable I was annoyed at him for having to leave. 

Such a genuine bloke and his stories that he was telling us showed that the Camino had done some serious good for him and that was an absolute pleasure to hear. 

I didnt want him to leave but I figured that hanging on to the leg of a man about your age as he walks off towards the bus station probably wasn’t the adult way to deal with things. 

We had a big hug and off he went.

Myself an Jenny finished up our drinks and head back to the albergue to get changed. We had both decided a few weeks ago that sushi would be our reward when we got here so off we went to a sushi restaurant. 

Now I’m not being melodramatic when I say this was the best sushi I have ever had. It was such a fitting reward for such a long time grafting towards this place. Sushi, a couple of beers then back to the albergue for a proper night’s kip with no pissing alarms to wake me up. 

So I guess this is it guys. Until my next adventure you will have to reread the blog until you wear a dent in your phone screen. 

I could keep this up when I get home but it would be a pretty dull read. 

Tell you what, I’ll write a little sentence now and you can reread it once a day and pretend I’ve just uploaded it.

“Jesus it’s cold today, raining as well. This weather hey!! What a load of bullshit. Anyway, nothing happened and stay tuned for tomorrow!!”

There ya go. That will most probably be appropriate for the next couple of months. 

For those of you keeping up with Jenny news then you will just have to assume she is fine from now on. Or you can imagine that she got a bionic knee and is off on her own adventures doing something that involves super strong knees. 

I dunno, you decide, but know that she has been an absolute pleasure to walk with. I don’t think many people find someone within the first week that they end up walking the entire route with. I’m very glad I met her though because she provided me with some great content for you guys and she is also a genuinely fantastic person. She is off to New Zealand next year for a year so wish her luck. We will stay in touch so if you have any questions about her knee then let me know. 

Here she is with her stamps.

Right, I’m bored of writing now and I have a beer in front of me that I’m going to enjoy. 

So, for the last time this year at least.

BUEN CAMINO

xxx