Today was another early start for us, leaving the hotel at around 8am. This was the day that we had all been waiting for, although we had enjoyed the journey, walking into our final day was a great feeling! We had a 23km walk ahead of us (which turned out to be 27) so there was no messing around. We started our day with the pilgrims prayer, as we do everyday, outside of a church not far from where we stayed. We then continued on our journey until we came across a fruit store where the majority of people stocked up on the fresh produce. Not long after this Mrs Amatulli realised she had left behind a walking stick at the market and the group split into two, one that waited for her, and the other continued on. I myself stayed back to wait for her and in no time at all we were off and walking again. We played a few silly little games like celebrity heads etc which kept us occupied and gave us a bit of a laugh until we came across our first cafe for the day where we got ourselves a stamp and a drink. A few metres on down the road we came across another beautiful church which we entered and admired. This visit gave us yet another stamp in our books, which by this point, we were eager to fill, we then continued walking along the last part of our Camino journey. After taking notes of the signs that showed how many kilometres there were left, the realisation kicked in that we were nearly there, and that we had actually just walked our part of the Camino.
The Cathedral was now in sight and the spirits were high! After what felt like a million years we were finally there, within the vicinity of the Cathedral! Now we saw the other group lining up for their pilgrims certificate and we joined the end of the queue. We were back together for the last part of the journey! The process of lining up for the certificates is the final part of the ritual and some say it is the most important part. Traditionally, pilgrims now touch the Jesse tree in the main Cathedral, however this year, is it is under construction and covered in scaffolding! So, we walked through the Cathedral and touched the walls signifying the end of our journey and then walked on through to our hotel called San Martins, which is the original Benedictine Monastery which has been extensively renovated into a hotel! It was really cool to think that we, a group with a strong connection to Salvado and his journey, were staying in the place that he trained as a young man. The first thing I noticed about the hotel was the beautiful Benedictine garden in the central part of the hotel. It is stunning and just what we have come to expect from the Benedictines after the stunning places of their making, that we have seen on this trip. Overall today was a huge accomplishment for everyone and I myself am very proud to be a part of this group who have grown closer and formed a tight knit bond whilst sharing some once in a lifetime experiences together. I will miss walking the Camino and taking in the amazing sights but I am eager to see what Easter mass will be like here and I am super excited for the experiences that Barcelona will bring.
For the last time, Buen Camino.
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