As quickly as Susan arrived, she left just as quickly for France this morning. It’s a shame because Santiago is a beautiful city.
We did have a very nice evening out, Susan and Leah got to meet several of my Camino family, that made me very happy. We were out late, apparently they’re going to burn witches tomorrow night, I don’t know why.
For me, it was a bit disorienting because there was no schedule to follow, no Camino to walk. You become so accoustomed to basically doing the same thing day after day that it’s very difficult when you just stop.
My morning consisted of breakfast and going to the Pilgrims Office to get my Compostella. I’m not a religious person and unlike some, I would not lie to get my Compostella.
Waiting in line, I met Maria from Slovakia who began her journey in Sarria. When she started, she thought she would be done and on. She now feels that she may need to do more. I told her that ‘you’ve finished, now you need to begin’.
As my turn approaches, I see Thomas from NC, had not seen him since Cruz de Ferro. We exchanged smiles across the courtyard.
Im called to position 10 and to my surprise, it’s Katherine from Monte del Gozo, she was surprised that I remembered her, she recalled meeting the Texans. She was very nice and tried to find a Latin equivalent for Keith, no luck. She asked me about my experience on the Camino and asked what my motivation was and I told her I wanted to reflect on my first 60 years and plan for the next 60. Apparently, that’s good enough. Total distance logged by the office, 799 km.
Whiled away the day, had lunch at the market where you pick the seafood or meat in the market and they’ll cook it for 5€, a good meal.
The party is just getting started as we head to dinner, Italian tonight and it was very good, the hot fresh bread and herb butter was a hit. Gelato after and we headed to bed.
Couldn’t stay in, I wanted to see the witches but never found them. The city is full and vibrant from the energy of the locals celebrating and the Pilgrims hoping to join in. I couldn’t make it past 12:30 and I strolled back to the Monumental San Francisco Hotel which is part of a Convent, a beautiful place.
Still trying to understand all of this.