Day 17 – Santiago de Compostela, Spain

Wednesday July 12, 2017

it was a cool morning with a temperature of 18 C ( 64 F ) With a light breeze when we left Padron at 8:40 am for the final 24 km ( 15 mile ) hike to Santiago.  Our measurements indicated that it was more than 27 km, but at this point, it doesn’t matter.

We were about 20 meters ( 65 ft ) above sea level and the terrain was flat in Padron, but that would change significantly as the day progressed.  We were one of the last groups to leave but we still met other hikers along the way.

We met Judith along the way and she joined us for a coffee at our first stop.   She went on ahead of us and a little later that morning we passed by a cafe where she was having a beer and resting her sore feet.

We stopped at a few churches and cafes for stamps along the way.  Most of the churches were very large and the camera wasn’t able to get the entire church into one picture unless it was taken from far away.

At one of the churches, I saw a large grandfather clock and  I know someone that would like to have it more than I would.

Most of the hike was along trails through small towns wooded areas or they wound around or under major roadways.

As we approached Santiago the elevation and the temperature both increased.  The elevation increased to 140 m at 11 km from Santiago, 205 m at 8 km, 260 m at 6.5 km, 160 m at 2.5 km and finally back up to 270 m at the cathedral.

The cathedral is so large that we could easily see the spires from miles away.

When we reached Santiago, we first went to the hotel to take showers before heading to the cathedral.   Pictures don’t do the the cathedral justice.  The building is immense and all the associated buildings make it appear even larger.  I took pictures

but it is best by viewing internet sites like Wikipedia- https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Santiago_de_Compostela_Cathedral.

We entered the church, walked around for a while, had a meal and then picked up our Camino certificates.  We were tired and the significance and the appreciation of this experience hasn’t fully registered yet.