38/38 Sunday, a Day of Rest.
Video still: Cathedral square
The albergue is located on a ridge from which there is a great view of the old city situated on another ridge. It reminded me of the view from the garden of Gethsemane of Jerusalem. The similarities do not stop there. Both cities are very special places with a unique sacred essence. It is sad to see that people justify fighting over control of a city like Jerusalem in the name of religion. Luckily Santiago can be enjoyed in peace. On a beautiful day like today Santiago radiates just that, peace, maybe I am just looking at a mirror again but it feels good to be in this city. 
Video still: Cathedral square
Today I went back to the church for the complete pilgrims mass. It was also another opportunity to film the swinging of the botafumeiro, hopefully without shaking hands. As I walked into the cathedral I spotted Collette. What a joy and privilege to see her here today. She had been a witness to my journey from the start, seeing her again here in the Cathedral meant a lot. You expect and hope to see the familiar faces from the Camino in Santiago but not everyone makes it, some pilgrims I walked alongside sadly didn’t. I was one of the lucky ones.
Video still: Cathedral square
We sat down early and took up the front row seats for the pilgrim’s mass. Today a list would be read with the number of pilgrims and their country of origin that had arrived in the last 24 hours. “Nueva Zelanda... uno”.
Pilgrims come from all over the world. The cathedral was again filled to maximum capacity with barely room stand let alone move. Quite a magnet this place, and justifiably so. Next to me sat a 20 year-old kid from The Netherlands. He had walked non-stop all the way from his home in 3,5 months.
Video still: Marcel and Collette
Many pilgrims return again and again to the square in front of the cathedral. People party, celebrate and gaze. They gaze in awe at the building and contemplate the significance of this moment of the pilgrimage for this is it, kilometer zero. The turning point from where the journey home begins. 
Video still: Marcel and Collette
I began to look forward to come out of the longest therapy session of my life. One hears about the effect El Camino has on people and I wished to have such an experience. I sure got what I bargained for.
As the sun went down, the air cooled, but the old stonewalls continued to warm the city, radiating the solar gain from the day. It has been a glorious day; the weather, the people, the city and joy of having made it and the satisfaction that came with it. 
Video still: Time to say goodbye
The next day I woke up feeling very grounded. Thank God I was no longer in process. It felt like going back to work on a sobering Monday morning. The last two days in Santiago were crucial to provide much needed closure. I was ready to move on and felt no longer a pilgrim. Some walk home, some continue to walk to Finistere (the end of the world), the most western point of Europe. I took a plane to the next destination on my journey of which El Camino was only the beginning.
Mission (vision) accomplished
With this post I have reached the end of my Camino Blog. My journey continues for the rest of my life, I am very much aware of that. El Camino was only one chapter, quite an intense one. The next destination of my journey is the small village of Sturovo in Slovakia from where I have been working on this blog. My stay there brings with it a new set of challenges. Spiritually it seems a much tougher chapter than El Camino so far. I can no longer rely on yellow signs pointing me in the right direction. I am thrown back into the deep end, having to learn how to swim in a new way it seems, or have I forgotten that all I need to do is float, and go with the flow. Maybe I haven't recognised the flow of Sturovo yet.
I will continue posting on my main blog http://marcel-baaijens.blogspot.com regularly. If you are interested, please come along. Thank you very much for your presence and comments. I wish you all a safe journey, Marcel Baaijens
