Monte del Gozo

	Camino de Santiago: Stage 31 (of 31); Lavacolla to Santiago de Compostela
Assuming you leave Lavacolla at a reasonable hour, it is possible to get to the cathedral in Santiago in time for the pilgrims' mass at midday. The guide book says 3 hours taking it easy, 2.5 if you push it. I am hardly young and fit and it took me a little over 2 with a spring in my step and not even slightly out of breath; so much for guide books! Admittedly it is almost all downhill, but it is probably more a psychological thing that you are "almost there" after many days walking in anticipation. Monte del Gozo is the first place from which you get a view of the city. It has a huge, anonymous pilgrim hostel, a rather ugly sculpture and a quaint chapel, but otherwise a total anti-climax...keep walking!