We had a quiet afternoon and evening on our last full day day in Santiago de Compostela. A thunderstorm came through which sent pilgrims running for shelter. I wish I’d have gotten photos.

Noël loves feeding animals whenever he can. He’s been feeding the pigeons every chance he gets. Sometimes with dirty looks from servers. He doesn’t seem to mind.

We went into the church. It was in between services. We wandered around and saw St James casket and hugged the apostle. The cathedral is quite ornate and very peaceful. They tell you as you enter no photos and shhhhh. I have to admit when the guard at the door tells you to shhhh…It works. It was very quiet with beautiful music playing.

We were pleased to have breakfast and drinks and lunch with fellow pilgrims. All telling stories of experiences along the camino. We laughed and cried at the shared experiences.

Finally we said our goodbyes and are having difficulty expressing in words our feelings. This way brings you in contact with people you see day in and day out. You share the journey, meals, your own stories and the joy of getting to know and love these amazing.

I have to say that even though this is my 5th time entering Santiago de Compostela the raw emotions and feelings keep coming. And as we greeted friends coming in and said goodbye to others and then finally took leave of Santiago de Compostela the tears came with all the feelings. And the tears were filled with joy and sorrow. Joy that we have a whole new community of friends, the amazing experience of everything we have accomplished and endured, and the difficulty of saying goodbye. I prefer to say “so long” because I believe our paths will cross again.

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