Santiago de Compostela

 Santiago de Compostela  

I was so excited after walking officially 782 kilometres of El Camino del Norte, that I was up early for my last day on El Camino del Norte. I had actually much more due to errors of navigation and doubling back, walking to a hotel set away from El Camino and walks around churches and museums in the afternoon and around towns and cities in the evening looking for an evening meal when it wasn't included in the room booking. 

I set off half an hour before dawn, and there were still pilgrims on the route ahead of me. There was never a quiet moment as the last 100 kilometres into Santiago de Compostela is choked with pilgrims. I passed several entrepreneurs who were selling jewellery, pastries, or cold drinks. There were also some musicians who had set up a stall to collect coins, or sell CDs of their music. It is surprising how far music can carry in the cool of the morning through the forest, including one who was playing Galician bag pipes. 

A view of some farmland, a rare sight along the last section as there is a lot of forest. The route climbs a hill and skirts the perimeter of the airport before dipping towards the city of Santiago de Compostela. It is a large city and there are glimpses of it through the trees. 

There is a large welcome to Santiago de Compostela sign at the city perimeter. I would have taken a photo of it or a selfie but there was a queue of pilgrims all wanting to do the same thing. I didn't wait but continued. 

Although the sign welcomes visitor to the city, there is still a lot of uninteresting urban sprawl before passing into the old city where the pilgrim reaches their ultimate goal of standing in the Praza do Obradoiro in front of the west facade of the cathedral.

It was approaching midday so the sun was behind one side of the building.