Thirteenth stage on the Camino Portugues from Padron to Santiago de Compostela

I had slept poorly, perhaps due to excitement, as the last stage lay ahead of me. Accordingly, I set off early (8:00 AM). The sky looked amazing and it was still relatively fresh. Market stalls were being set up near my accommodation. The information lady had already told me the day before that a big festival would be celebrated on Sunday. It's a shame that I had to move on.

Since it was still relatively early ;-) it wasn't too crowded, thankfully. Sure, there were already some pilgrims on the way, but not these huge groups. So I was able to enjoy the landscape and walked Step by Step to Santiago. Before I properly started walking, I stood by the side of the road and took a deep breath in and out. I wanted to soak up EVERYTHING again :-). It felt damn good to walk the last stage!

In a little village, I found it totally crazy, as I thought I would be walking over people's properties. It was so narrow and winding there. But I also felt that the people were rather annoyed by the pilgrims, as hardly anyone greeted :-(. But a friendly cat came running towards me and she had kittens, ooooooooh how sweet, I was totally fascinated by the little tigers. Since I had said out loud, 'oh you are so cute', a woman spoke to me. Antje, also from Germany, started a conversation with me. She joined me and asked if we could walk together. 'Yes, gladly.'

Antje comes from the former GDR. I had told her about the film Good Bye Lenin and she started reminiscing about the past. I found that totally exciting. We laughed a lot.

Through the storytelling, I noticed during the previous stages that you don't truly perceive the path. I told Antje that too, and we kept taking breaks whenever I/we saw something beautiful. In a cafe, we rested, and I got us two pieces of cake. Two Irishmen sat down with us and chatted with us. That was a wonderful and fun break.

On one stage, it went somewhat steeper uphill and the path consisted of large protruding roots and big stones. A group of five e-bike riders was behind us. The first two passed us. I stood by the edge to let them pass better. Unfortunately, one woman didn't make it. Her front wheel slipped right next to me, and she fell into the ferns in slow motion. She wasn't hurt. I helped her to get the bike upright. I whistled to alert their guide to the situation. Of course, at that point, a traffic jam occurred. Other pilgrims wanted to pass us :-(. I don't want to delve deeper into the behavior; I just type 'well, there are such and such people'! It took a while for the lady to get back on her bike. Once we had passed this section, the bikers were on a road and in front of us lay the next root/stone passage. The guide asked the group if they wanted to ride up there. I had Google Maps on and said, 'here is the road, and the Camino intersects with this road, so take this one'! They did so, and at the crossroads, we saw each other again and waved.

These passages were really challenging, and for the first time, I felt my backpack. It already felt relatively heavy after a short time, even though I had almost used up all hygiene products, so it should be lighter. I'm revealing this point now. In my excitement about Santiago, I had packed two 500 ml bottles of water in my backpack and had not filled my drinking bottle. They didn’t belong there at all!

Antje showed me her phone and said, 'look, there's another ascent coming'! 'Uh-oh :-(...ugh! You could always follow the stone markers to see how far it was to Santiago. There were still about 7 km to go and I was really exhausted. Well then, chin up, we can do this.

Behind a bend, we could see the two towers of the cathedral in Santiago for the first time. We stopped and were blown away by the view. Apparently, the sight was like a kind of doping for us. Without further groaning, we walked all the way to Santiago.

It was an indescribable feeling to stand in front of the large square by the cathedral. Many pilgrims sat or lay down on the ground. I raised my arms in the air and shouted, 'Yeah, we made it - Bon Camino'.

The way to Santiago was the most exhausting for me. Due to the conditions of the paths, but also because of the ascents. Yo, I was really exhausted but also very happy!

In Santiago, we picked up our Compostela and had something to eat together. Since I already know Santiago, I could give Antje some good tips.

In the evening, I sat in my train back to Porto.

Here I will spend another full day and will fly home on Tuesday.

At this point, 'Thank you dear Daniela and dear Littlefoot, without the video call on Tuesday, I would have surely given up', but now I am extremely proud that I succeeded with your push!

Overall, according to Komoot, I have walked 275 km :-)!!!!

Today, Monday, the 30th of September 2024, is a beautiful sunny day in Porto. I will now enjoy it to the fullest!

Goodbye, best wishes Anke