The Stamps in My Pilgrim's Passport

For the first time, half a million pilgrims have reached Santiago in one year: number 500,000 arrived on October 19. To earn the certificate, called the Compostela, you walk at least the last 100 km and collect stamps along the way. I collected stamps.

My Stamps

1. Sarria, the start. A stamp from a café, with a croissant. A strong beginning.
2. Day one. Two stamps: one from a little stone church, very old and official, and one from a bakery. I was moved, twice.
3. Day two. Three from a farmer: two on my passport and, by accident, one on my hand.
4. Day three. Two from my hotel, which has a pool. Most pilgrims don’t stay at hotels with pools. I’m a different kind of pilgrim.
5. Day four. Two from a café, plus one of my own face, made before the trip. I’ve decided mine counts double.
6. Santiago. The final stamp, under the cathedral’s towers.

The Certificate

At the Pilgrim’s Office, a lady looked through my passport for a long time. She stopped at day four, and looked at me, and then back at day four.

Then she counted the real stamps, at least two for every day, and gave me my certificate. It’s in Latin, which makes it extremely official. She asked me, kindly, not to make my own stamps again.

It’s framed at home now. The shell on my backpack means I’m a pilgrim. The shell in my pocket is from a very good dinner of scallops.