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BUEN CAMINO

THE LAST STEP IS THE HARDEST

Marching the last four kilometres to Santiago, should be easy. I suggest we do it in silent contemplation all the way.

We try it for half a kilometre but suddenly a spontaneous and lively conversation breaks out. Everybody wants to finish the trip his or her own way.

I try to steer everyone back to silence but suddenly realise I’m fighting against nature by demanding such uniformity. These people are individuals - each one wildly different from the next and that’s why I like them. There’s no way we can make a holy moment out of this - like they would in a bad Hollywood movie.

The people of Santiago de Compostela must feel invaded at this time of year. Huge masses on the streets, most of them regular tourists, visiting the World Heritage, but pilgrims are also present in great numbers. And here is the moment we have waited for - there it is - the cathedral. It’s impressive, but that is all I can find to say about it at this time.

I’m simply relieved to be here at last - to have arrived. I think no one really enjoys this moment. I thought we’d arrive happy and in unison, as a group, but we didn’t achieve that harmony - there’s no sense of achievement, no need to celebrate.

WE GET CERTIFIED!

We go to collect our compostelas - the certificate testifying our completion of the camino. The office is crowded with people, each carrying their carnet covered in the stamps of each refugio they stayed at. Our Carnets are completely full. Five counters are issuing certificates but we have to stand in a queue for an hour or more. The heat is sultry and a group of Italians starts singing nostalgic songs.

When it’s our turn our names are translated into Latin: Andrea (Andi), Gabriel (Gábor), Gregorius (Gergő), Stephanus (me, István) and Csaba (Csaba doesn't have an equivalent in latin or English so he gets to keep his name intact).

Click on the carnet or certificate for larger images.

GETTING THE GRAND TREATMENT

The guidebook says that a free meal is given each day to the first ten pilgrims who go to the Hostal delos Reyes Catolicos, a grand mansion, now a very elegant five-star hotel. We think it's definitely worth a try and march confidently into the hotel. We ask the receptionist which way to the dining room. He politely asks us to go to the rear of the hotel and enter through the car park where a rather rude man tells us to follow him.

He ushers us into... well, not exactly what we’d expected... not a glittering restaurant but the kitchen! Here we are given some very simple food. We walk 500 miles and what’s the reward? A plate of fried eggs and chips and a tub of yogurt!

Actually, I have to tell you that this meal was really delicious and, once the hunger pangs were satisfied, I chilled out. It’s kind that the hotel bothers to welcome pilgrims at all, so we’re grateful for this simple meal. I really am learning to take pleasure in simple things. I need more practice.

THE END IS THE BEGINNING

As we eat we make plans. We’ll spend a couple of days in Cape Finisterre - a beautiful place on the Atlantic Ocean and then get on a train back to St. Jean de Pied de Port to collect the car. But before that, we’ll go to the main square and enter the cathedral to finish the camino off in the traditional manner - by touching the tomb of St. James.

What does it feel like to touch the tomb? That probably depends on what you expect from it. To some it feels like touching cold stone - nothing more. For me it was a strange moment. I suddenly felt very empty. Literally empty.

I had read in my guide book that there's an old maxim which states that the real camino starts only when you arrive in Santiago. Now I understand what that means. Santiago is not the end of a journey, it’s the beginning. The camino has not filled me full, has not completed me. It has emptied me. Cleaned me out. It has made space inside me for new things. Maybe better things. Suddenly I find myself smiling more than I’ve done for a week.

IT’S ENOUGH TO BE MOVIN’ ON

Soon we’ll be home - back in Hungary after experiencing our own private road movie. We’ll have travelled in a big circle, but we’ll not be back exactly where we started from because we have changed. We have grown. This is what life is for me right now - the urge to change and the need to grow.

If you don’t speak Spanish, let me teach you one phrase - Buen Camino! It means good luck and happy travelling of course but it means more than that. To wish someone Buen Camino is an acknowledgment that you see a person who is searching for perfection. Whether perfection is achievable or not, the search is worth making.

So... wherever your own private road movie takes you, I wish you Buen Camino! Perhaps, if I am lucky, we will meet along the way.

THE END

With special thanks to Csaba, István, Gábor, Gergő, and Andi for sharing their photos, and to the many friends they made in Spain who also appeared.

[ From left to right: István, Csaba, Gábor, Gergő & Andi ]

For a list of the themes evoked in each episode, please see the Teacher Notes

If you would like to write to any of these intrepid travellers, please contact us. Your letters will be passed on to them.

End of Part 5. Back to the Main menu.

For more information about pilgrimage in all its forms, see the new REEP Pilgrimage Pages.

LINKS

Gratuitous Acts | The Rub | Buen Camino

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