Camino Goal: Santiago’s Cathedral, Santiago de Compostela, Spain

The whole Santiago Day was a bit funny for me – I’d just spent five weeks walking over 800km to this place, the last day speed walking about 20km to ensure I got to the Cathedral before noon. I had even walked the first half hour in the rain, in the dark, and through a forest! And once I did reach the city outskirts, it was still quite a ways to reach the “old” city. Every time I thought I found the Cathedral, I hadn’t. I kept passing old buildings and churches, but none of them were The Destination. Then suddenly, about 11am, I found myself in this big square. I turned to my left and saw this large church-like structure. I squinted at it in befuddlement. I think I may have even turned in a circle to take in all sides of the square as I wondered, “Is this it?” I asked someone who had the air of a freshly bathed pilgrim.

I was either incredulous or skeptical. I have no idea why I felt that way. I think she congratulated me and offered to take my photo. To this day I don’t know why I said no. I stared blankly at the Cathedral but just couldn’t get excited about it. I shrugged, deciding to let it go for now and go get my Compostela. ...... (follow the instructions below for accessing the rest of this article).