SANTIAGO DE COMPOSTELA, Spain — We made it!
A bad back, various foot injuries, numerous blisters, a stomach bug suffered on the final day by my daughter-in-law and torrential rains as the temperatures dipped into the 40s could not derail us.
My son, his wife and I completed our journey on Monday evening as we braved the falling temperatures and downpours. In all, we walked more than 190 miles in 14 days from Porto, Portugal to the cathedral in Santiago de Compostela in Spain where the remains of James the apostle are said to be.
Complicating matters on that final day was a sudden stomach ailment suffered by my daughter-in-law. About 5 miles into our 13 mile day we nearly had to call it quits as she could not go on. But miracles happen on the Camino de Santiago and they did for us as well.
A Spanish family saw that she was suffering and asked me what they could do to help. I explained what was happening and they said they had medicine to help her. Within an hour, she was much better, well enough to complete the walk.
As we entered the cathedral square, shortly after 5 p.m., all three of us became overwhelmed with emotion. We held each other and wept.
This trip had long been a dream of my son and I. The walking was so demanding both physically and mentally that a rush of emotions just washed over us.
There is so much we learned about ourselves on this trip including learning that we are capable of doing so much more than we believe, learning that we could survive on very little and how freeing it was to live with just the supplies and clothes in our backpacks. We also learned that we are so small in the grand scheme of things and that we truly need one another to survive and thrive.
On Sunday, something else pretty amazing happened to me on the Camino. Anyone who knows me knows that I live and die by the Arsenal football club based in London.
I was walking and wearing one of my many Arsenal jerseys. A fellow pilgrim, a Spanish lady, asked me if I was an Arsenal fan. I said, of course, and pointed to the badge on my jersey. She smiled and told us that her son was on the team.
We were blown away to learn that she is the mother of Arsenal’s world class goalkeeper David Raya! She showed me photos of them together.
She asked me if I lived in London and I had to explain that no I live in Florida and wake up very early on the weekends to watch Arsenal play. Our paths crossed again on Monday and we exchanged pleasantries.
It’s funny, every day that we spent walking, I couldn’t wait for the walk to be over for the day. But on the final day of walking, I wanted to relish every step and remember everything that I could.
I’m happy that we made it but sad that it’s over. I still can’t believe that I was able to walk more than 13 miles a day for 14 straight days.
Now I can’t wait to get home to my wife and my own bed. I’m looking forward to resting and waking up without a 13 mile trek waiting for me.
Contact Torres at jtorres@floridatoday.com. You can follow him on X @johnalbertorres
This article originally appeared on Florida Today: Camino de Santiago walk ends with tears and a surprise | Torres
Reporting by John A. Torres, Florida Today / Florida Today
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