flecha amarillo nada mas

for those of you that haven´t been brushing up on your Spanish the title means 'yellow arrows no more'.

I did it, I reached Santiago in one piece, no falls, no blisters (well a tiny one and a couple of callouses), a few tears, a lot of laughter, rain, mud, beer, wine, friends, touragrinos, snorers, bunk beds, cold showers, hot showers, grumpy hospitalerios, friendly locals and, lets not forget, wise cows.

I reached Santiago yesterday morning at 9am, an easy stroll down the hill and through the city - 5km...pfft. It was raining but pretty damn good to walk anyway. My knees and feet were a bit creaky due to the day from hell the day before. I managed to miss a turn off to the town that I wanted to stay in and ended up walking 35km before I found a bed at Monte del Gozo - and I have to say that after 9 hours of (almost) solid walking I it was indeed a 'mount of joy' for me to find a bed there. The phrase most feared by a pilgrim is 'completo' when you are looking for a bed, and that´s a phrase I heard at about 4pm with feet so sore the pain became my walking rhythm. But find a bed I did and the showers were hot, the beer was cold and the food was...well it was food.

Yesterday morning I cried tears of happiness in front of the cathederal before heading up to the pilgrim office for my compostela, seeing a few familiar faces, hugs of congratulations then off to find a bed. I attended the pilgrim mass at midday - you gotta do it then the afternoon was spent buying clothes, picking up my packages from the post office, talking to my girlfriend, having (another) hot shower then off to get drunk with a bunch of tired but happy pilgrims.

I am in Finisterre today and tonight - the old pilgrims thought this was the end of the world - its a beautiful fishing town, scenic and special. I´m staying in a fantastic hotel overlooking the water, I´ve had a bath - what luxury.

So the question is would I do this again? and the answer is most definitely yes, but another, less crowded path. I had come to walk the camino to 'find myself' but on reflection I don´t really think I was lost. What I did find, though, was happiness...it was down the back of the couch the whole time!!!

Buen camino and adios