Well, as befits the holder of a freshly minted Compostela, I never arose from my comfortable, quiet pension bed until after 9am. A great beginning to the rest of my life! Then I discovered breakfast and free wifi about 20m away up the road.
By 10am I had made it another 200m or so up another nearby street to the Museum of Pilgrimage, to which I was surprised to find I had free entry. This was fascinating. The first room had some superb photos of pilgrimage in different faiths. There was detailed info about the development of the legend of St James burial, and the development of both the Cathedral and the town of Santiago. There were some gold artifacts discovered in this area, pre-Roman. And there was a collection of pilgrim objects. My favourite was a book made in the 90s by a pilgrim who made watercolour pictures of the places he walked through. Simply amazing.
I toddled off to the pilgrims' Mass again to see who I could see, and yes I saw some more new arrivals I knew. The botafumiero never flew for them today though.
The day then followed a very Spanish routine. I had a late lunch followed by a siesta, before taking to the streets for a wander. Partly my wandering was 'aimless' meandering, just taking in the sights and appreciating the street life. And partly I was being a consumer doing my bit for the ailing economy. Have you any idea how hard it is to be sure you are actually buying deodorant in a smallish shop? Had to do some play acting with a female shop worker to be sure! And I gave up on buying new undies when I was twice presented with huge bloomers. Umm, no!
Just before 6pm I returned to the big plaza in front of the Cathedral to do a bit of a dance in front of the webcam. Hope my arm-waving was big enough Michele- cos it was a bit embarrassing- not that anyone else took any notice!
Finished the evening sitting in the main plaza again with a young woman pilgrim from New York that I had met up with along the way. Turns out she has just finished her studies to be an architect.
Time for bed here again- and I know I can send this in the morning from the same breakfast place I went to this morning. Two days in a row- breakfast in the same place.... The pilgrimage must be over!
Sent from my iPod
I am so sorry I didn't see you! Too many people and too small!
ReplyDeleteMichèle
Arlette has a book, "Compostelle Carnet d'un pèlerin" by Jacques Dary and it is filled with watercolours and hand written text. He walked in 2001. He has a drawing of O'Cebreiro under snow on May 3rd! Beautiful book.
ReplyDeleteMichèle xx
Michele, Rom bought that book in Moissac while I was there, the very same one. I think it is exquisite. He started in Vezelay I think, and there were even a couple of pictures from along the Cluny route.
ReplyDeleteHe did passing by Autum, Cluny, LePuy and then the traditional GR 65 route! So glad you had sun throughout your visit in Santiago! It is sunny in Moissac also and here in Ottawa! Summer weather! Leaving in 30 minutes to celebrate la Fête Nationale du Québec.
ReplyDeleteMichèle