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  Santiago de Compostela, Galicia, Spain and Canary Islands
Wednesday, July 22, 2009

Day 32 - Tuesday, July 21  Arca de Pino (Pedrouzo) - Santiago  20.6 km (12.8 miles)
 
Up early, ate a quick breakfast and started to walk at 4:50 am - luckily we had a headlamp!  Do you know how dark it is in the middle of a thick forest at that time of morning?  All Cathy and I could think of was, "lions, tigers and bears, oh my!".  We hadn´t gone far, when we noticed two people standing off to the side.  (I will guess at ages) A young lady maybe 25 and her tiny , little grandmother, who I would say was at least 80. They were steppin aside and letting us pass.  We had seen them walking yesterday and commented on how very nice it was that they were on their way to Santiago. They had no light and I´m not sure how they were going to walk in the pitch black without tripping over rocks or roots.  I turned back and gave them my flashlight - hoping later that the battery would last until daylight.  We didn´t see them yesterday (or today) and I sincerely hope they made it to Santiago safely!
 
We arrived in at the Cathedral in Santiago about 11:00 -  first thought was how very old the cathedral is.  Santiago is a UNESCO World Heritage site and is said to be one of the most beautiful cities in Europe.  Narrow, cobbled streets wind this way and that way  It definitely gives the city character. Building the Cathedral started in 1075 and was completed in 1211.  It has three entrances that open onto three different City plazas.  The main entrance is under repair.  After a quick look around we stopped by the Pilgrims office.  When you finish the Camino and present your Credential with all the stamps from alburges where you've stayed and restaurants/bars or churches, you´re award a Certificate (compostela).  So we have our certificate! 
 
Checked into a hostel and walked around town for the afternoon.  Also stopped by the cathedral, but it was so crowded it was not enjoyable.  Figured we´d visit on Wednesday morning before the crowds take over.
 
Day 33 - Wednesday, July 22   Santiago
 
Taking a day off by not walking. . . but only 1.   Visited the cathedral at 9:15 and were able to embrance the statue of St James, visit his tomb (where the priests were saying morning prayers) and then attended Pilgrims Mass at noon.  Each day they have visiting priests help with Mass. . . there were probably 10 different priests there today.  They help give communion to the crowd that attended.  Cathy wrote a synopsis of the message. . . since the mass was in Spanish.  It was basically a message for all denominations not only Catholic about unity, peace, all walking to find our way in the world and living in harmony with each other. 
 
Mass ended at 1:00 and then at 1:15, several priests brought out the botafumeiro (google or Wikipedia the term botafumeiro).  This is a massive, silver incense burner that is tied to a huge pulley and controlled by 8 men called tiraboleiros.  (Thank God they can tie a good knot!)  They light the incense and the tiraboleiros pull the botafumeiro up and start it swinging across the pews.  This is a ritual that started very long ago when Pilgrims used to walk the Camino and never change their clothes.  By the time they entered the church, you can imagine their odor.  Odorous pilgrims is no longer the case (at least the ones I've met), but swinging the botafumeiro is still performed.  It was so exciting to see this in person (Cathy and I had seen this on Burt Wolfe's travel show on PBS back in late December. I've still got the episode saved on the DVR). 
 
We have a kitchen at the hostel where we are staying so we enjoyed cooking pasta and tomato salad tonight.  Off to walk again tomorrow and we are ready!   30 km to our first stop and it will take 3 days to reach Finisterra. . . everyone we´ve talked to says it´s a great walk and place.

Very little internet connectivity for the next few days. Will blog again when I'm able.

Pat - your prayers were delivered.
 
All for now!

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