I so do not want to get up this morning. I am sleep deprived, but Sasha and I decided to go to Santiago with the first bus.
We checked out the bracelet stand at the auberge. One of them popped out for me, but these aren't that cheap so I decided that I'll save this money to buy myself a new sweater. Sasha got herself one. Soon she'll have bracelets covering her hand up until her elbow. But they'll remind her about all the good times.
This was my last night in an auberge. At least for now for sure. I took my sneakers from shelf and I smiled - no more shelves!
It's raining. It felt like the sky was crying. Crying for us. I got on the bus and it felt really weird. I haven't traveled with anything else than my legs for the last month. I listened to Sashas amazing life stories and she had many. Every story inspires you to live, do and experience. We fell asleep.
It was raining in Santiago as well. First thing we did was go to the store. All of my clothes are dirty, because during the last days I had no extra energy or time to go wash them. I got new clothes and it felt amazing to put them on.
I wanted to have something at my home to remember this trip. They'll inspire me to get my shit together, to do and to feel. Yesterday, when I got my Compostela, I told them to put 'peregrino' as my occupation. I've gotten to love this 'occupation'. That's why I got a magnet that says - a pilgrim lives here.
We met up with G and we went to my hotel, so Sasha could leave her bag at my place until she has to leave. We had lunch at the hotels cafe. Finally, I'm eating normal food - spaghetti and bologna. I've missed normal food so much.
As I mentioned before, the girls sent about 3 kg's of stuff to Santiago, because they realized their bags are too heavy. We went to the address to pick the stuff up. The employee asked Sasha to show her passport. In that moment, the earth shook. The passport had been left in Finisterre. Yesterday, when we found an auberge for Sasha, the woman asked for Sashas passport and never gave it back. The sunset totally blocked out all of our thoughts about that. She has 2 hours before she has to go to the airport. There's no point in getting a cab to go get it because she would not make it. Luckily, there's a company that retrieves lost documents, so it all worked out great and she got her passport an hour and a half later. It cost her 80 euros. Sasha always sees the bright side of every situation and said that the money will help the driver feed his family.
Sasha and I took her last little lap by the Cathedral, we enjoyed it and left.
We grabbed Sasha's stuff to go to the bus stop. A couple of minutes are left and Sasha gave me a little bag and said thank you for the friendship and that she hopes that it will remind of her when I am wearing this thing. I have no time to look into the bag, so I left it as a surprise for later.
One of Sasha's amazing stories was about her mother and how she always runs after the train and waves to her daughter. Impersonating your relatives always looks funny. I told G we have to run after the bus just like that, so Sasha gets a feeling of home when she leaves. Oh, that was funny when we did it.
G and I went to hug the apostle. Now the line is a lot shorter and we got it done in 30 minutes. I hugged the apostle with all my heart. I whispered my wishes into his ear. He's cold, but I got warm. It felt amazing leaving. Now, every thing I wanted to do has been done.
I returned at the hotel to rest a little before the dinner. I looked into the bag that Sasha gave me and I saw the bracelet that I loved at the auberge this morning but decided not to buy. That was so sweet.
Sasha is an absolutely amazing and caring human being. I am happy that Camino gave me an opportunity to meet them, so I could learn from them. And they gave me a flag too.
They also told me that they are in their local newspaper! And a photo with the sign that I left them had made it in too. The stories are traveling.
We met up with other pilgrims in the evening to have dinner together. It was a sad feeling when everyone was going back to their homes. Hugs, goodbyes, gratefulness about the meeting, sadness about the leaving.
We chose a popular place in Santiago for dinner - the best place in Santiago. But it was really small and when we got there there already was a queue outside of the restaurant. They serve the best seafood, but they only have 4 tables. We got one. There's people standing by the bar and eating there standing up. It was really delicious.
After multiple bars and meeting lots of pilgrims, and hundreds of stories later I said goodbye and went back to my hotel.
But before that I wanted to take a little detour to the Cathedral to be alone. Santiago is a city that is alive. I have no idea what day it is, but there are a lot of people on the streets. And every block has a group of people singing and playing and spectators dancing and singing along. People are enjoying the moment and life.
With an awesome feeling and peace I go back to the hotel. Goodbye, Santiago!
Today I realized that Camino for me was a perfect timing. It wasn't too much and not too little. Going to Santiago I felt really good, but doing the last 3 days felt like I was torchering myself a little, and when I reached the finish line, I was ready to go home. It's time. I am not following any signs anymore. My road is taking me home.
See you soon!