The previous night was again one of little sleep and lots of snaring. Before 05:00 I went for a shower. We were off by 06:00 and reached Santiago by 12:30.
To describe the feeling as a sense of achievement distracts from the inner experience. We therefore did not enter the cathedral, we went to get our Compostelas, the certificate in Latin stating that we completed the pilgrimage.
Then it was time to look for accomodation, no easy task. "Do you have a reservation? Sorry sir, we are full."
A woman stops us and asks if we are looking for a room. The way she is dressed, let me immediately respond: No! Ansie can't hear, and asks if she knows where we can stay. The lady explains about an apartment just around the corner. After further looking around, we decided to take her up on her offer.
She has a beautiful two bedroom apartment and rents out the one room on a daily basis. We can use the apartment as we please. What a joy!
At 17:00 we were meeting Cristian and Theresa, two pilgrims whom we met on the way. We went for sangria and said our goodbyes. After supper we walked past the cathedral. The Santiago orchestra was performing at 20:00. This was a fitting end to our pilgrimage, Chaikovski's Hungerian Dance.
This morning we went back to the cathedral. First, we went to the crib where the remains of St James are kept. I was thankful for our pilgrimage. The relics of St James reminded me again of this long tradition of faith we find ourselves in.
So again, the question is not did we achieve what we hoped for? The question is; did God achieve that which He planned for us? In faith, I would like to answer, yes! It was sufficient.
"...all these are nothing less than tools for the cultivation of virtues; but as for us, they make us blush for shame at being so slothful, so unobservant, so negligent." (Rule of St Benedict)
Johan van den Heever
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