Exploring Santiago de Compostela
Santiago and the Cathedral
We had intended to get up early
this morning and attend the English pilgrim's Mass at the Cathedral, but sadly
our alarm clock went unheeded in the dark, cozy, warmth of our room.
Apparently, we were a lot more exhausted than
we realized.
By 9 am we were awake and
heading down to St. Martin's restaurant below our hostel for a breakfast of
small pastries and cafe Americano.
Afterwards, we made our way to the Cathedral through streets that were
already heating up under a bright, hot, sun.
On our last visit to Santiago following the
Camino Frances, we
took a tour of the Cathedral which we enjoyed greatly. On our first tour, we were
able to explore the Cathedral museum, as well as being taken 'behind the
scenes' and up onto the roof.
This year
the tour didn't include a trip to the Cathedral's roof, but it offered a tour
of the Portico of Glory, which were also excited to see.
After some difficulty purchasing tickets,
which we apparently could only buy using a credit card (not cash or debit), and
then only by tap, which at first did not work and then seemed to work (making a 20 Euro purchase into a 60 Euro purchase) even though
this feature is disabled on my credit card, we gained admittance to the
museum.
The first floor of the museum
features displays explaining the restoration work that has been done on the
Cathedral since the early 1900s.
The
next floor up illustrates how parts of the Portico of Glory and other Cathedral
doors have been created and replaced over time.
The museum was relatively full of other tourists and pilgrims, as well
as several school groups.
We made it as
far as this second floor before a security guard spotted Sean's camera and told
him to leave.
He tried to explain that
he hadn't taken photos inside the museum, but the guard was firm - he had to
hand over his tickets and camera or leave immediately.
Although we'd visited the museum before, it was a pity to once again
miss the chance to visit the Portico of Glory.
Some things just aren't meant to be.
Somewhat disappointed, we emerged
back out into the bright, hot, sunny courtyard in front of the Cathedral.
Almost immediately we ran into Peter and Sue,
two pilgrims we had met along the Camino Portuguese and spent quite a lot of
time getting to know.
It turned out that
they had been receiving our texts for the past few days, but weren't able to
send a reply.
If we hadn't been
unceremoniously hoofed out of the museum we probably wouldn't have gotten a
chance to see them again before we headed off to Finisterre.
We've had these fortuitous meetings before on
both our Caminos, where people we assumed we'd never see again turned up in the
most unexpected ways.
We spent a lovely hour or two
sitting at an outdoor cafe in the shadow of the cathedral, enjoying coffee and
Santiago cakes and talking about the Camino Portuguese, and our plans for
future hikes.
We discussed whether we
would recommend beginning the Camino in Lisbon or Porto, and talked about how
different it felt to arrive in Santiago the second time.
It was a beautiful Camino and a pleasure to
remember it in the presence of those who shared it.
Eventually, we parted ways, hoping to run into
each other once more before returning to our respective continents.
Finding it too hot to explore the
crowded city streets, we opted to visit the Pilgrim Museum.
The museum offers fascinating displays that
explore what pilgrimage is, how it has changed over the years, and what
pilgrims used to look like and carry.
Many different art forms depict pilgrims throughout the ages.
This time there was also a stunning
photography exhibit that showed scenes from the Camino Frances and Japan's
Kumano Kodo pilgrimage.
These two
Caminos are twinned, and people who walk both are known as 'dual pilgrims' and
are eligible for a special Compostela.
The
photographs were presented by Aoife Maire Nidhubdha (Ireland) and Luis Gago
Sotorrio (Spain), who run a Spanish travel blog 'Destino Ikigai.' The brightly
coloured temples, delicate vegetation, and majestic mountains of Japan's Kumano
Kodo pilgrimage certainly look beautiful.
Perhaps one day we will be lucky enough to have the chance to walk along
it.
As the siesta began we settled down in
the shade on an outdoor patio to enjoy a couple pints and look through the
guidebook to prepare for our hike to Muxia and then Finisterre.
As we sat there we noticed that the streets
and Cathedral were full of armed police.
The alleyways and winding streets were being methodically combed by
pairs of officers, and all the entrances and exits to the square had police
vans parked across them.
Nothing seemed
to happen, but it was slightly unnerving all the same.
Realizing that we would have a long
walk tomorrow, and wishing to minimize our chances of getting lost right out of
the gates, we wandered around the Cathedral to find the beginning of the
Camino Finisterre.
We easily found the first
marker and saw a well-delineated path leading out of the city.
Satisfied that we at least knew where to
begin in the morning, we headed back to the Pilgrim Office to ask for
information on the buses back from Finisterre, and to obtain new Credentials on
which to collect our stamps.
The
credentials were free, and we were helped by a very friendly and enthusiastic
volunteer.
Since it was late afternoon, hot,
and the streets were still swarming with armed personnel we decided to head
back to our room for a bit to work on the blog, take care of some emails for
our upcoming hike across Canada, and prepare for tomorrow.
A bit later we headed out to a nearby
Lavadaria and washed our all clothes.
As the sun began to set we walked
back through the beautiful park to the old quarter of Santiago.
We stopped at a restaurant we visited in 2016
for dinner and then made our way back to the square, where the colourful Spanish
folk band
Tuna de Derecho de Santiago was playing guitars, bagpipes, pan
flutes, small handheld drums and other traditional instruments under the
archways at the edge of the Plaza del Orbradorio.
The band was dressed in long black cloaks
with red sashes, decorated with patches boasting of their many accomplishments.
People of all nationalities were singing,
dancing, and making merry together.
The sounds
of the joyful, shared celebration attracted a growing crowd, and the lively, humorous,
and talented performers kept people there.
Eventually, we wandered through the
empty streets of Santiago, listening to the distant sounds of music from the
square, and the patches of laughter spilling out of various bars and
restaurants along the way.
It was a
peaceful and beautiful end to a restful day.
Tomorrow we begin our walk to the 'end of the world.'
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