Day 18 - Teo to Santiago
With about an eight mile walk ahead of us we started out early from Casa Aurora under a pink and orange morning sky and soon rejoined the Camino route.
Morning sky just outside Teo, Spain
First stone route marker of the day.
Our walk began with a steady climb up a wide gravel path through a forest. The climb up continued for nearly an hour - not a fun way to start the day. The photo below pretty much summarizes Olga and Sunita’s individual feelings about the constant uphill path to start. LOL
different attitudes….
Soon we were weaving our way through small villages separated by tree lined paths, though still with a good amount of up and down hills. The foot traffic was lighter than it had been the past few days, which I think was a result of us stopping for the night in a village at a mid-stage point rather than at one of the towns on the traditional stage endpoints. it was nice to have much of the walk to ourselves, or with just a few other pilgrims.
With just under 5k to go, we decided to take a short break to have a few snacks and enjoy the morning before the final push into Santiago.
I will never turn down a chance to eat……
We set out after a few minutes and after turning a corner, got our first glimpse of what we thought were the Santiago de Compostela cathedral spires in the distance. That sight spurred us on with renewed energy - this walk is nearly finished!
“almost there!!!”
After a couple hours, including a stop for breakfast once we reached Santiago, we arrived at the square and cathedral. We found a spot where we could stretch out, and reflect on the past 18 days. Though a very different experience from our walk last year, it was still an amazing and beautiful journey. We are all glad we did it, but at the same time are happy it was finished.
some images are indeed worth a 1000 words……
Next, we headed off to the Pilgrim Office to register our finished Camino and pickup our Compostela certificate. Officially done!!!
Thanks to all of you who followed us during this journey. We appreciate the time you each took out of your busy lives to read our blog, comment and encourage us. It meant the world to us.
Bom and Buen Camino! Bye for now, until Sunita decides she wants to do another one of these down the road……