Portugal to Spain 2022 - Santiago de Compostela

Years ago I watched a movie named The Way. It was a story about a dad who went to France to get the remains of his son who was killed during a snowstorm as he attempted to walk the El Camino Santiago trail. The dad ended up walking the trail with his son's ashes. The Camino de Santiago known in English as the Way of St James, is a network of pilgrimages leading to the shrine of the apostle Saint James the Great in the cathedral of Santiago de Compostela. Tradition holds that the remains of the apostle are buried here.

The trail is 491 miles long. Some do portions at a time, some do the entire walk. It starts in France and goes all through Spain. Ever since I watched the movie, I have wanted to see the trail. Or the ending of the trail. This cathedral in Santiago de Compostela is the ending of the trail.

We arrived in town and had no idea where it was or what to expect. We found a nice place to stay overnight and headed out to go exploring.

We got a map and realized it wasn't very far to walk to the cathedral. We walked through the narrow streets and suddenly we were there. It was massive. And emotional. Seeing people that had just finished their journey hit me deep in my soul. Some showed exhaustion, some showed delight. We watched families greet their loved ones as they walked into the center.

The cathedral itself was beyond words. Magnificent, stunning, gorgeous. We did not take one of the tours to go inside. It just seemed too touristy. Almost disrespectful to its beauty. We just walked around outside and enjoyed the mood of the moment. I was in tears. In fact, as I write this I am in tears.

We grabbed dinner and walked around for the evening. The next day we went back to the Cathedral. Again, emotions. We noticed a lot of fireman gathering. Then even more. Jim finally asked one of them what was going on. They were all gathering to show respect for one of their fellow firefighters who had passed away. The ceremony was beautiful and so very respectful. It was an honor to experience it.

I am so glad we made it. Seeing it was definitely on my bucket list. check