We arrived at Santiago on a beautiful sunny morning at 9am. It was very quiet, especially around the cathedral square which is how we hoped it would be. The full impact of completing our journey became evident as we went through the day.
Firstly we decided to collect our Compostella, a certificate of completion, having to queue on some winding stairs leading to a room where we had to present our creditales (the book of stamps collected daily confirming that we had done what we said). On the stairs we met many old friends from many nationalities. There was a festive air as we congratulated each other in reaching our destination. Later in the day we attended the midday pilgrims' mass and this seemed to complete the journey.
It was strange to feel that the journey had ended. We had been travelling as if in a bubble, unaware of the rest of the world and what had been happening in it. This had been our world with the people and their stories in it, their successes, sadnesess, triumphs and illnesses. We had all felt the encouragement, concern, advice and love extended to each other, often done with great humour.
We had all been on a journey, be it physical, emotional, psychological or spiritual; searching for ourselves, who we were, who we wanted to be and maybe considering what we wanted in the future.
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