Post by Charlie and Wynette:
We had originally planned to stop three miles from Santiago and make a short walk in the next day. When we got there the hotel seemed drab and in a rather boring residential area so, we decided to go on all the way to Santiago. This meant a 12 mile day which is short for typical pilgrims but long for us. Before walking the last miles we called and reserved a hotel near the train station where we had stayed before and liked.
We completed the Camino and got to the Cathedral and the big square in front where pilgrims gather when they finish. Everyone is in a great mood. Maybe we’ll meet someone from the trail, Wynette suggested optimistically. Only 7% of pilgrims reaching Santiago have taken the Camino Inglés so her ever-practical husband poo-pooed that crazy idea.
Well you already know what happened or we wouldn’t be telling the story. We ran into a couple we had met several times and talked to at a pilgrim rest stop (and blogged about — the couple from Madrid). Meeting people you saw on the trail, especially in Santiago is a satisfying pilgrim experience so we felt a sense of completion. Wynette and the woman in the couple gave each other a big hug.
So we headed down the last mile to our hotel in the south of town. Finally we got there, hot, tired, hungry, and ready to kick back. The desk clerk checked our reservation and told us it was for the next day, some communication failure. But the clerk was very nice and said we could get a room in another of their hotels around Santiago. She called and reserved it and called us a taxi, which came in two minutes. It was only a mile back but we were tired. The area in the old town is a maze of streets and it took 10 minutes or more to get to the hotel. We were weaving through little streets and scattering pilgrims in our path. Only €7.20 but these crazy Americans gave her €10.
The hotel was just a few blocks from the Santiago Cathedral. It was quite nice and even had cross ventilation, a north and south window, very unusual for a hotel room. And very welcome after a long, hot day. Did we mention we went 12 miles? It was only 76 (24 C) but with the humidity here and in the sun, it was very hot.
Wait, there’s more! No, not steak knives, better. Check out another post about “The Portuguese Restaurant.”
Congratulations on a big finish!
Thanks Ella for the congrats. I’m more cynical about Santiago and completions that Wynette but it was inspiring to finish and see all the other pilgrims celebrating.
Two things: I think I would have preferred the hotel in the old town, just for the ambience (or “vibe”), but it might be noisier. And, it would appear that your hotel by the train station was full, or he would have given you a room, which is to me a little surprising, since early May is not yet the heart of the tourist season (or is it popular because it is near the train station?)
Yes it was nice staying in the Old Town. Turned out it was a quieter hotel than the one by the train station since the one by the train station was on a busier street. Both in nice neighborhoods. I think May is a very busy time in Santiago. Pilgrims are learning to go in May to beat the heat. The streets were more crowded than we’ve seen before. Of course, a lot of the busyness in Santiago is also other kinds of tourists. Maybe there was something else going on? The hotel that didn’t have a room for us did have a couple rooms left but they were singles.
Thinking more about the crowded streets, it was lunch hour so that might have been part of it and we were right in the busiest part when we were walking through there. The square in front of the cathedral was not as busy as usual, but it’s all about timing when pilgrims arrive. I think we arrived later there than most pilgrims arrive.