Santiago (4)

Today could have been very difficult. It would have been - should have been - our 44th wedding anniversary.

I hadn't much to fill the day. But it sufficed, and in wandering round Santiago, taking some of the backstreets to see where they went, and in a few bits of shopping for souvenirs (all the souvenir shops have nearly the same stuff, but not quite!), time passed.  

And I still had a stone destined for Santiago - not the one that's coming home. There's a surprisingly quiet garden opposite the exit from the Cathedral. Everyone passing is either coming into the square at the end of their Camino, or hurrying out of it, and the garden is overlooked - I'd overlooked it until today. There's a statue of Pope St John Paul II there, the Pope in whose time we married, and all our children were born. So he can look after that stone for me.

Time for a coffee or two, and for lunch. And then for trying to pack; fitting the walking stuff and the civilised clothing in one bag. It goes in.

Then back into the centre for a final beer in the square behind the cathedral; a final pass through the square in front of it. I say final, but I think I'll be back. 

And into a bar close to the hotel, where it turned out they didn't do Patxeran, but did do something very similar. So Salud to Santiago.

I'm a little sad that it's coming to an end. I'm starting to reflect on what I've learned and gained from it. Why does walking 500 miles make such an impact? It's not just the walking, of course, it's the people and the places; the mountains and the plans. But there's a good deal of thinking yet to be done.

I'll probably not do a post tomorrow - except possibly just to say I'm home safely. It's a case of a plane and a train home, and that's not very exciting! Do look again on Sunday or Monday, though. I may have done some of the thinking by then.