WHAT ARE YOU GOING TO DO IN SANTIAGO?

The week before Santiago was in sight, the talk everyday was..."What are you going to do in Santiago?"
"I'm going to the Black Cat for una cerveza."
"I'm going to get a massage."
 "I'm getting a hotel room with a bathtub"
"I'm getting my clothes washed."
"I'm burning my clothes!"
"I'm going to thank the Saint!".
"Are you going to Mass?  Of  course, I'm going to Mass."
"Do you think they will swing the Botafumeiro?"
"I heard that this Friday will be the last time they will do it."
"No, No, No I heard that Thursday is the last day!"
"We are going to compress the last week into three days because we can't miss the Botafumeiro.  We are going to start walking at 4 am every morning.  We will walk until 8pm."

This trip has been so wonderful.  But I can't rush ahead.  I must take each step,  and I must experience and be in the here and now of the moment.  I can't walk in the dark.  I will accept whatever I find in Santiago.  I arrived on Friday in the mid afternoon. I got my Compostela certificate.  Saturday is my day to go to the Cathedral.  I'll put my arms around the Saint. I 'll see his tomb. and I'll go to the Pilgrim Mass at noon with a spirit of thanksgiving..

Arriving at the Cathedral on Saturday is the ultimate Pilgrim hangout.  It is unbelievable how many people I see that I know:  Helen and John from Glasgow, Larry and K from Montana, Debbie from Australia, George and Mike from Quebec, Tamsin from the UK, Laura from Cape town, The Korean kids.  We are all so happy to be reunited. at this moment for our final solemn act as Pilgrims. The church is filled to standing room only  It is Saturday at Noon. This is the Pilgrim Mass.  Six priests and the bishop say Mass.  They welcome and greet the Pilgrims in every language.  We all feel the joy.

And then as the Mass ends, Six men lower the Botafumeiro from its place of suspension over the main altar.
It is filled with smoke producing incense.  The Botafumeiro is given a good push and the men pull the ropes with such precision and force that the Botafumeiro easily swings from the ceiling of one side of the Nave to the ceiling on the other side of the nave ...at least ten times..  The audience is in awe.  We are all overwhelmed because the rumor mill told us ... for sure... that we would NOT see this event. When it comes to a stop, we CHEER, we APPLAUD., we are OVERJOYED.  What a memory to bring to our next chapters of living!   Here are my Photos of the moment.

It weighs about 40 kilos

This is the pulley  system in the Dome 

WHAT HAPPENS IN SANTIAGO

Hurray! I made it! I walked into Santiago in the pouring rain on Friday October 18, 2013 at approximately 1:30 pm.  There is a long line of Peregrinos at the Pilgrim Office.  We are all waiting for the same thing...that final moment of completion.  It is my turn to go to the counter to present my Credentiale (actually 2 of them) filled with sellos from every stop along the way. The volunteer Pilgrim-Amigo behind the counter gives me a warm greeting and welcome.  She carefully exams my two Credentiales, inquires about my walk and congratulates me for completing the trek.  I am overcome with emotion.  My face is covered with my broad grin and tears are streaming from my eyes.  The pilgrim waiting behind me gave me a big hug.   I received my Compostela. I completed what I set out to do. I did it on my own. I did it at my own pace. WHEW! I'm ready to start life anew!

I was proud to wear my American Pilgrim patch everyday. 

Here is my Compostela in Latin.

Here are segments from the two Credentiales I presented . They were stamped (sello ) front and back , beginning and end with the official  Santiago sello and completion date.

Tomorrow I hope to see the BOTAFUMEIRO!

SANTIAGO, DO YOU KNOW THE WAY

                                                                                                                                                              The walk over the last three days has been dominated by rain.  At the end of the day everyone is struggling to get dry… boots, sox, pants, shirts, tee shirts, vest.  All are soaked even though the outer layer is covered by a waterproof.  One albergue has  an inviting fire place in the bar/lounge/dining area.  It is a great place for drying boots, gloves and sox. 

 

 There is no washer or dryer available here.  A group of Austrians are hovering around the fireplace making sure that their boots are front and center for drying.  It is comical to watch.  Every now and then the owner of the albergue re arranges the boots so everyone gets a fair share at boot drying.  Soon afterward the Austrians come back and move their shoes to the place nearest the heat.  I am happy to report that my boots were dry and ready for walking in the morning. 

I have chosen my next albergue by the fact that it has a washer and dryer available. The volume of traffic has picked up over the last few days the closer I get to Santiago . I have walked with Spanish school groups who are on Fall break, groups of Danish, Irish, French and Dutch making the journey of the last 100km. With the greater numbers of pilgrims the urgency to get to Santiago also increases.  Here are scenes from my last day walking into Santiago on October 18th.

A real street sign

Just landed ... at the edge of the Camino

Autopista

Camino and the airport runway

arriving in Santiago

The sign I have been looking for

The Camino becomes what I think 
they call"multi modal" in traffic
engineering lingo.  The Camino
is bordered on one side by the
autopista  and the airport 
landing/take off runway on the 
other. With all this traffic Santiago 
can't be far.

Cathedral spires in the distance

My goal today is to get the PILGRIM OFFICE in Santiago , validate my Credencial del Peregrino, receive my Compostela  and check into my hotel. 
No more albergue life on this trip!

THE WAY ON THE WAY

How do you know you are on the Camino (aka The WAY)?  There are many maps and guide books and many internet resources.  The guide book I used and many other pilgrims used is titled  A Pilgrim's Guide to the  Camino de Santiago, St Jean - Roncevalles - Santiago, The Way of St. James, The ancient pilgrim path also known as Camino Frances. by John Brierley.

the 1st sign in St Jean

A road sign with the Camino Path on the right

This post appeared every100 meters on this short path

Many communities put them in the center of the sidewalk

This one is on the corner of the barn

Pay attention or you'll miss it

Handy that the bar is right there

This one is right on top of the pylon 

This was easy to miss high up on the corner of the building

muddy run off could cover this

fancy symbols on the bridge

made by pilgrims, THANK YOU!

The Camino goes through the Airport approach

A WET PATH

mind the puddle

down the rabbit hole

Just a smudge of yellow

The last sign everyone looked for in Santiago

The Way is marked with two symbols, one is the scallop shell, a symbol of St. James. The legend says that when they raised his tomb out of the water at one point it was covered in scallop shells ( as in Coquilles St Jacques). Statues of St. James usually portray him with a scallop shell on his hat and often around his neck. And the ridges in the scallop shell are to symbolize that all roads lead to Santiago,   The other symbol, a bold yellow arrow, was developed when the Camino was revitalized in the 1960's. Looking back through my photos, I have easily 75 photos of these various markers along the way. It is possible to walk the way without a guide book.  Like Dorothy following the yellow brick road, simply look for the yellow arrow or scallop shell. Here is a selection including the first and the very last one I looked for and many in between.  

ALBERGUE ( al ber gay) LIFE

One of the big things that made this Pilgrimage possible was the albergues all along the CAMINO. Albergue can be defined as a lodging or a shelter.  The albergues might be operated by a local government or a local parish or they might be a Private (entrepreneur/ family run) albergue.  In order to secure a bed (not a room) at an albergue, you must have a CREDENCIAL, an official document stating that you are on this journey as a PILGRIM.  I  received my Credencial del Peregrino from an organization called American Pilgrims on the Camino others got their credencial at the Pilgrim/tourist office at our starting point in St Jean Pied de Port. Each day when I stopped walking and wanted to obtain a bed at an albergue, I had to present my credencial which was then duly stamped with a Sello. The sellos are  prized collectables of pilgrims...and are a necessary seal to present to the Pilgrim Office in Santiago.

one large bunk room no cooking or dinner 

grandma's house did your laundry for a fee.

Albergue Facilities:

  Bunk beds  -  in one large room or several smaller rooms . There could be as many as 50 people sleeping in a room or as few as 8.  I always chose (insisted on/requested) a lower bunk.  Overall the bunk beds were in relatively good shape and not of the springy canoe shape of my childhood.  I quickly became adept at picking the bunk I could sit up in without hitting my head! 
In most places you used your own sheet and blanket.  Sometimes you were given a disposable sheet or there was a real sheet. Sometimes there were blankets available.

I usually made up my bed and then I put up my Bungee cord at the end of the bed.  There I could hang up my clothes to air out or my my just washed undies to dry or my towel to dry.

bungee cord drying line

this room had a balcony on the atrium

8 bunks were wedged into this small room

poles and sticks hanging at the door

Boots were required to be removed before entering the bunk room.  There were usually racks provided for boots and there were stands to place hiking poles and sticks. LIGHTS OUT 10 pm.  Doors usually locked at 10:30 pm. 

Toilets and showers -  Some were very modern and others were less so but they were always clean.  Sometimes there was one toilet and shower for 20 and other times there were three for 20.  Some albergues had a coin op  washer / dryer that could give you both for  5 or 6 Euros.  In others, outdoor sinks were provided for pilgrims to wash their clothes by hand.  Most provided outdoor drying racks for laundry.  

Meals at the albergue - Some had no facility for meals or a place for the preparation of a single or shared meal.  Others prided themselves on the kind of Pilgrim menu they could provide you... the 3 or sometimes 4 course meal to restore your energy for the next day of walking.  Or there were many restaurant choices available in the local community.  Most Albergues had some facility for breakfast. this meal was usually a coffee ( I chose Americano instead of con Leche since I prefer black coffee.  It was accompanied by baguette toast and butter or jam and sometimes a juice.

The albergues generally opened for guests between one and two in the afternoon.  Mandatory departure was 8AM the next morning.  Maximum stay one night.  NO EXCEPTIONS!

Cost per night: community or parish albergue 5 euros or a donativo (donation)
Private albergue 10 to 13 euros
Breakfast 2.50 - 3.50 euros
Pilgrim menu at the albergue usually 10 euros.
Restaurants also served a 10 or 12 Euro dinner too.

albergue breakfast room

albergue dining room

happy pilgrims at the end of a delicious meal!