Before leaving Santiago de Compostela there were a few remaining pilgrim oriented tasks to complete. The first was to join the queue at the Pilgrims Office. This is where Pilgrims who have walked at least 100km of the Camino Way...
...and have got at least 2 stamps on their Pilgrims Passport for every day they have walked, get a certificate to mark their achievement. We hadn't walked 100km, so weren't entitled to a certificate, but we could get a stamp, & THAT meant something to us, as our passports have been a means of marking our camino experience.
The last thing to do, was purchase the symbolic scallop shell. In the middle ages, the Pilgrim who had completed the journey received a shell, not a certificate as a means of marking the pilgrimage. It is believed to have been the earliest example of a souvenir!! Although Pilgrims now have to buy their own, & although I hadn't walked the whole Camino, I still felt I wanted to mark my achievement...even if customs takes it off me when we return home!!
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