SANTIAGO - Negreira (EN)

As usual, we got up at 5:30 and were on our way at 6: Jacopo the Italian guy, Dan the Irishman, Benoit the crazy French cat killer and myself were walking into Santiago while of course it rained. We were proud of ourselves because the city was quiet that early and because we couldn't see any more pilgrims around :P The Camino goes to the Cathedral and we went in through a side exit (not sure if you are supposed to go in there but we did and nobody threw us out) and walked around in the totally empty and quiet cathedral - i couldn't believe how smart we were for being there so early :) We saw the tomb of Saint James and the richly decorated altar, sat around for a while then decided that a coffee would be a bit more vital now so off we went.

After the coffe we went to the Oficina de Peregrinacion for our nice Compostela written in Latin (oh yes). Now that was a brilliant moment! We congratulated every pilgrim we met and skipped out of the building, waved into a TV camera (there are some festivities going on in Santiago now and the or a Spanish prince visited Santiago yesterday and shook hands with whoever he could, including one of the Italian friends of ours, who had his birthday yesterday so he went straight off to drinking without changing his clothes or washing, hehe, he said the first time he met a royalty was also his dirtiest day in his life) and went to another cafe to celebrate with a Tarta de Santiago (almond cake, nice), hot chocolate and Mr Jack Daniels (or in Dan's case: Irish whiskey, in Benoit's case: liquore de merda, haha, it tasted better than its name).
Jacopo stayed in Santiago despite the ridiculously expensive albergue and the 3 of us kept walking to Finisterra, partially because of the ridiculously expensive albergue, partially because Santiago has just too many people and souvenir shops and too much noise to our exquisite taste.

The walk to Finisterra started really well - one of my favourite parts of walking is when you get out of the city and all of a sudden there are no houses and people any more, just nature, trees, the path, silence and the lovely smell of trees and flowers and in our case, of course, rain. We walked in a eucalyptus forest (couldn't smell them) on a nice earth path, it was really good. Later on we mostly walked on roads, so one bad thing is asphalt, the other is the Spanish drivers who would not slow down even if they see that you are a pilgrim so there quite a bit of a chance that you will be staggering because you're tired or you have blisters or carry a heavy bag so can't jump if another car comes on the opposite side of the road... Nuisance. It hasn't killed us so far.

So we arrived in Negreira, 8 euro for a place that has no kitchen (we have carried pasta and tins of sardines and wine...) and no heating (it's around 6-8 degrees outside) :-/ So much for my idea that Finisterre is cheaper...

And how i feel that i have arrived in Santiago? It is the result of 1 month's walking, completed a route of ca 800 km so the accomplishment makes me very happy. I'm very grateful to Santiago (even if i wasn't too keen on the cathedral or the city) and the millions of pilgrims and locals who keep the tradition alive. It's an immensly good experience - says the girl who had more negative experiences than anybody she met - and i can't stop feeling grateful for it.
I am happy that i'm getting near to the end and will accomplish what i had in mind but at the same time, can't imagine that next Friday morning i'm not getting my bag and boots and walk the next 30 km... I'm very happy that in a week i can wake up next to Dave and at the same time, i will have to struggle to find something every day that keeps me going and makes me want to get up every morning. I had been so unmotivated in the past year that now i know and fear that i'm capable of it.
In that sense, the Camino is easier than real life because i know what i want and i know how to get there. I have a couple of days left to "charge" myself for life :)

Important (and shocking) info if you are going to the Camino:
Monte do Gozo: 5 euro
Parroquial in Santiago (so the cheapest place to stay at): 10 euro!!!
Pilgrim office opens at 9 am
Compostela is free of charge (they appreciate donation of course)
Tourist office opens at 10 am (buses to and from Finisterra and airport, map of Santiago etc)