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When we woke up that day, I think none of us was expecting to experience what was about to happen. As we stepped out of the albergue, we were cheered by a clear blue sky and a somewhat crispy mountain air, that promised to get warmer in the next couple of hours. After 10 days of unstable weather and many soaking wet kilometers, it looked like summer finally got started and during the last couple of weeks we were blessed by many such beautiful mornings. On the other end, after almost a month walking, we knew this day was going to be different from all the others, as it definitely was, just not in the way we were anticipating. Our pilgrim trio was born only few days before, we had planned similar schedules and we had to walk the remaining 100 km a bit faster than some of our other companions. Each of us had fairly different stories and reasons for doing what we were doing (as I had learned, “no one walks 900 km because they enjoy walking”), but each of us was, or at least felt, at some kind of life crossroad, and was hoping to gain some clarity. That morning we were strangely quiet and, after a while, we all admitted to each other that our bodies were feeling more keen to walk slower and indulging in longer coffee breaks than usual. I guess it was happening unconsciously at first, and we needed a few hours to understand what was going on inside our heads. Oddly, that happened more or less simultaneously for the 3 of us and we laughed a bit when we realized it. Around midday, we approached Monte do Gozo and we knew that just up that small hill, the grand view of Santiago, our ultimate goal, would reveal itself. Strangely enough though, we were not in a hurry to walk those last 200 m and to finally see it. Instead, we stopped in the small (and frankly quite bad) tourist market in the adjacent parking place, ‘officially’ searching for a souvenir, but mainly looking for excuses to make that trip last longer. Luckily an injured sparrow materialized in front of our eyes and, all of a sudden, taking care of it seemed a far more important task for us than to reach our coveted destination. I picked up the little bird while Guido and Elisa searched for something to be used as a temporary nest. That tiny thing was so scared it broke my heart, or maybe it was simply the vehicle that all my emotions were using in order to come out. While we were chatting about what to do with our new friend, I noticed we were being observed by an old man. He was sitting few meters away, next to his minuscule stand where he was making and selling small pendants carved out from various EU coins. We approached him and, without saying a word, he gently took the box from our hands and started feeding milk to the Pajarito. When, after the initial diffidence, the bird actually started to drink, he turned up to us, smiling from below his thick beard. It was a beautiful moment. Just the type of sign we needed to regain our spirits and proceed with our trip. Como quiere Santiago. Always.