Tuesday, August 7

We did it!!!!

Left Siguerio at 6:30 a.m. after quick cafe con leches, with the Italian group hot on our heels. Seems as though we all wanted to make it to Santiago in time for the noon mass, which really meant we needed to get there by 11, in order to get seats.

So we left before dawn and immediately missed our first Camino marker. "No Way, Jose" again took charge by flagging down a passing car. After what seemed to be a five-minute discussion, Jose turned to us and said, "Right. He says keep going straight." The joke in Galicia is that the people talk in circles and everything "depends."

We got back on track and soon left the Italians in our dust. My ibuprofen kicked in and I ignored my blistered heels and kept up a decent pace. Unfortunately, Jill was suffering from a strained Achilles, so she and Lisa stuck together at a slower pace while the rest of us focused on getting to the church on time.

The day warmed up to temps in the high 70s, and we gradually left the farmlands behind and began entering the outskirts of Santiago. We passed an older Australian couple who were hiking the Camino for the 5th time!

We were thrilled when we got our first glimpse of the cathedral and quickened our paces. Finally, we were in the middle of town and we began seeing other pilgrims coming from different routes. We made it to the Cathedral Plaza around 10:30 a.m., and realized that our hotel for the night was right beside us. The hotel used to be a convent, but has been tastefully modernized into a 3-star hotel. Liz and Katherine Zwingli were already there waiting for us, so we dropped off our backpacks and headed to the cathedral. The plaza was buzzing with tourists and pilgrims. I've never seen so many backpacks in one place!

The outside of the cathedral is done in a gothic style and it protects the original medieval building inside. We entered and had a quick look around before finding seats for mass. We saved two seats for Jill and Lisa, but just as the mass was about to start, a big, smelly German man came and forced his way into our pew (my apologies to our German friends!)-- even after we explained that our friends were sitting there! He just smiled and said, "No. I sit here." Jose had a heated discussion with this moron that got nowhere. I was so upset that I slid over and told him in no uncertain terms that he needed to leave. He just looked at me smugly and said, "No. I sit here." That's when I blew a gasket and poked him in the arm and told him he was a very bad man. I repeated this several times for good measure, but he just looked at me and said, "C'mon, this is church." Fortunately, the Holy Spirit entered my body right then and restrained me from slapping this very bad man. Jill and Lisa appeared and I opted to leave the pew and stand for the whole mass, not wanting to sit next to Mr. Evil. I was hoping to shame this man, but that didn't work at all. The only thing that happened is I stood on my tired feet for another hour while he got iced out on the "peace be with you" part of the program. I know. Nice way to behave in one of the holiest places on earth. My bad. How many Hail Marys will make up for this?

I managed to enjoy the mass, which was in Spanish and ended with the famous swinging cage of incense. This has a name, but it escapes me at the ment. Just google it.

We left mass and headed to the Pilgrim's Office, where we got our final passport stamp and our official Pilgrim certificate! Woo-hoo! Pilgrimage complete! Then it was on to our holy rewards of beer and tapas. :)

One more thing about the cathedral. There are three rituals each pilgrim should perform. The first, is to touch the statue of St James, just inside the front entrance. The second, is to hug the bejeweled statue of St James behind the altar. Then, you visit the crypt of St James located in a tomb under the altar. We did all three dutifully, and I have to admit, it was very affecting. I got teary-eyed viewing the crypt.

The rest of the afternoon was spent on a very lame tram ride where we learned nothing because you could hear nothing. We shopped a bit and then had our final dinner together.

Buenos noches, I am exhausted!