Day 2- Post Camino
Well this little blog is coming to a close, as I will soon be leaving Santiago.
Today I visited two museums, and spent time just absorbing all the Santiago street life on a sun-filled day.
First up I saw the Cathedral museum, and my favourite thing here was seeing the old manuscripts, especially the pages with carefully coloured illustrations. I could imagine some medieval monks working away on them. I also liked being able to go out on the top floor terrace to gaze at the people down below in the square.
The second museum, Museo do Pobo Galego, about life in Galicia, had this amazing triple spiral staircase in it. It was also set in a beautiful park that I wandered in.
But 'street life' was the main item on today's menu. I think I must have seen at least six brides posing for photos in front of various buildings. And when one bride left her convertible parked outside the Parador while she skived off for photos, it was soon used as a photo prop by many plebs!
There were also musicians aplenty. There was the 'four hands' concert on a grand piano in the main square at 12.30pm. There was a superb violinist on a street corner that lots of toddlers stopped to listen to. There was a very spirited performance by some drummers this evening in another square.
And part of all the goings on was the steady stream of pilgrims arriving, their physical journey ended. I realised I did kind of speed up at the end when I saw a couple of people I'd met along the way who were just arriving. This evening there was someone in monk-style clothes in the square, greeting a whole lot of people he had obviously walked in with. He was an 'exception' in that he was meeting people where they were in the square outside, rather than just inside the Cathedral.
Oh, and I accidentally got to see the botafumiero fly again. I went into the Cathedral early evening, not realizing there was a Mass on. In fact it was nearly over, and I am such an 'old hand' now that I could see the action was ready to go.... It hardly seems fair really, since I was in the church for all of five minutes, but I got a great view!!
Sent from my iPod
Margaret,
ReplyDeleteCongratulations on the completion of your Camino!So glad to read that it was another success.
I have enjoyed reading your posts and seeing the handsome photos. Now it is time for you to enjoy your memories.
Remember "The end of one journey is simply the start of another. You have to see what you missed the first time, see again what you already saw, see in springtime what you saw in summer, in daylight what you saw at night, see the sun shining where you saw the rain falling, see crops growing, the fruit ripen, the stone which has moved, the shadow that was not there before. You have to go back to the footsteps already taken, to go over them again or add fresh ones alongside them. You have to start the journey anew. Always" Jose Saramago, A Journey to Portugal
Margaret Meredith
Margaret, yes I have taken new steps in some new and old places this time, and encountered many new people along the way, heroes all who I admire. But I suspect that my next adventures will all be closer to home!
ReplyDelete