Freitag 29. Sep. 2023 Santiago de Compostela

After we arrived in Santiago yesterday, we were initially quite busy with our impressions of the city and the cathedral, but we still managed to pick up our Compostela without having to wait. There were also very important things on our agenda today.

On the one hand, a visit to the pilgrim mass with the Botafumeiro, the censer that is swung through the cathedral.

Secondly, the visit to the tomb of James. The hugging of James's back represents the end of the Way of St. James. This represents the re-encounter with God, faith or with oneself. The gesture thanks the apostle for assisting the pilgrim in the task. True to the motto: BUEN CAMINO.

Yes, and there was the path, the Camino Primitivo, which had already demanded everything from us in the first half with mountain-like stages. Also characterized by a lot of nature and little infrastructure (cafe bars :-) we had to be frugal a few times. It can be said that this Camino is not one that is suitable for everyone to hike. Basic fitness and the belief in yourself that you can actually do it are the basic prerequisites for mastering this path. At 310 km it is not one of the longest Caminos, but with a total of 9100m ascent and 9050m descent it is probably the most distinguished in terms of altitude.