Day 38 Santiago

Two days of ”rest” in Santiago and then I fly back home.

It seems like a lifetime ago since I landed in Paris with Stephanie and Julie.  I’ve been away from home for 40 days.  I’ve never been away from home for longer than a couple of weeks.  And never by myself!

I am so excited to be going home to my family, and yet I am so sad to be leaving my Camino family behind.

We had a wonderful evening at the beautiful restaurant Carretas, we had so much fun, we closed the place!  Peter, Charlotte and I returned to our hotel after 1am!

Jim, Charlotte, me, Peter, Annie and Agneska

So after a well deserved late morning sleep in, we met for breakfast and then went sightseeing in beautiful Santiago.  We met up with Kathryn and Annie, and did a little souvenir shopping.  We took an audio guided tour of the Cathedral, where you walk around with what looks like a combination TV remote and a 1982 Motorola cell phone, and you punch in numbers indicated on the map of the Cathedral to listen to a recording of a description and back story of the site or item being viewed.

 

The Cathedral is breathtaking, with Romanesque architecture and Gothic and Baroque additions.  It is undergoing quite the restoration, the front of the Cathedral is covered in scaffolding as well as the main entrance.

St-James’ relics are said to be kept in the crypt here, and since the early Middle Ages, Christian pilgrims from all over Europe have walked to this site to pay homage to one of the twelve apostles of Jesus.

But, for modern pilgrims,  poor James’ relics play second fiddle to the famous Botafumeiro.  This is the giant incense burner, which is suspended from the ceiling of the Cathedral and, with the use of pulleys and a very thick rope pulled by eight red-robed men, swings from one end of the transept to the other.  It weighs about 80kg and stands 1.6m high, and can reach speeds up to 68km/h as it dispenses clouds of incense high above the pilgrims seated below.

 

The tradition of the Botafumeiro started in the 11th century, where it was believed to help mask the smell of the unwashed pilgrims, and since plagues and diseases ran rampant, the incense would also have been thought as a preventative measure.

The Botafumeiro is not displayed at all masses, but it is brought out at all Friday night pilgrim masses.

So, later on we made plans to attend the Pilgrim’s Mass at 7:30 to witness ”the show”.

After the Cathedral tour we exited through the west door and walked around to the front. In front of the main entrance to the Cathedral is the main plaza, and parked there was…a choo-choo train!  Of course we took the choo-choo train sightseeing tour of the city, why break with tradition.  I love these tours, they are very informative and interesting and you feel like a kid on a Carnival ride grinning from ear to ear waving like an idiot to anyone lucky enough to gaze in your direction!

Later on, we went back to the hotel to rest up a bit before mass and dinner.  We headed off to mass at 6pm.  It was only a 20 minute walk from the hotel, but we were told to get there early if we wanted a seat.  There is a special section for pilgrims, the transept, which if you can imagine the Cathedral built in the shape of the cross, the altar is at the top of the cross and the transept is the crossbeam.  We arrived at 6:20pm and it was already filling up.  We were lucky to snag the second row of the west side of the transept, right in front of the Botafumeiro.

The mass was so moving and beautiful but the highlight was, of course, the Botafumeiro, and it did not disappoint.  The choir’s music resounding through Cathedral and the giant incense burner flying high above our heads , this was the cello that was stamped on my heart.

We met up with Tim and Agneska at mass, and the seven of us went out to dinner down ”tapas bar lane”.

Another wonderful evening with tons of tapas and copious amounts of vino tinto.

Before I went to bed, I took a moment to add up all the numbers I’ve been keeping track of since I started the Camino.

Total kilometers walked on the Camino: 829km

Total steps: 1,276,060

Total hours spent walking: 183 hours and 8 minutes.

 

No Glory without Pain!