Arrived! O Pedrouzo to Santiago de Compostela. 24 Km (15 miles). October 21

I've arrived at my destination, Santiago de Compostela.  It was a total of almost 500 miles (800 Km) of walking from France. I got there about 1 PM in a horizontal rain storm holding hands with a group of friends I've seen many times over the last few weeks. Other friends who had arrived in previous days were there to greet me. It was really fun. I plan to spend a lot of time in the next few days greeting people coming in after me too. 

A dog hiking with a backpack and raincoat just like all the other peregrinos. -

 The group.  They were all going to get Camino tattoos after arrival.  They wanted me to join them, but sorry, no tattoo for me!

The pilgrim office where you get your Compostela, the certificate (in Latin), saying that you made the pilgrimage.

The Compostela -

Tonight I'm staying in an old seminary complex.  It's absolutely huge.  I have a single room instead of a bunk bed but it's about as sparse as a room can be.

The view from my bedroom window at one of the other wings -

 The room. The bathroom is about a minute walk down the hall -

I went to a Mass in the cathedral. One of the best things about it was that there was an organist playing the giant pipe organ. I didn't get to see the famous Botafumeiro (giant swinging incense burner) in action, but I did get to go into the crypt under the altar where the apostle James's (Santiago) bones (sans head) are supposed to be.

Into the crypt -

Santiago's little silver casket -

The walk today -

I'm thinking about staying in Santiago for three nights before deciding what to do next. The main part of my trip is over, but I have another week in Spain. I'll keep the blog going at least every other day, and I may end up doing more walking!