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| Is that arrow saying "pilgrim"... |
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| Walking by 07.00 |
As my good friend Jayne had suggested, it seemed entirely appropriate that I would arrive in Santiago on a Sunday! We were up and out early - ankle strapped, painkillers taken! It felt much better today but still sore. My knee was also starting to give me some grief, from taking the weight on it and favouring one leg over the other due to my ankle.
We had our pan, chorizo, sliced cheese, nectarine and persimmon with us for breakfast but no coffee... we just hoped that we might be lucky enough to find a place open on the way, but it is not easy in Spain on a Sunday!
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| Cute rest area with pilgrim symbols |
I left a note in the book for Camiña and after locking our stuff in the car, we set off. We had to search for arrows by torchlight. I had my lovely mini "lantern" clipped to my backpack and that was great for guiding our way. I held it up pretending to be a medieval pilgrim. Mostly we were on roads today but we had expected that. They were still quiet lanes though, but not medieval ways. We only went slightly astray once, as there were no arrows - yup even when this close to Santiago, they can still disappear. I wish I had trusted my map reading as we would have taken the right track - but really it was just like a square and we went along two sides of it and the true track the other two sides, so we joined up in the right place. There was also a very cute rest area with cute pilgrim symbols but it was a bit early to stop!
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| Breakfast and coffee - with our "hand/shells' |
For most of the way there was a lovely cool mist and we still passed little bits of medieval road near chapels and old bridges, next to the main route. As we arrived at the bottom of a woodland track that led steeply up to the busier streets and underpasses on the outskirts of Santiago, we were in luck - a sign suggesting a bar that sold coffee. Michael made a quick side trip as he was unencumbered with a large backpack and had the flask and breakfast in his small daypack. I headed on up the hill and met a lady walking 3 dogs (one off lead and blind that she called constantly) and she asked me if I was afraid to go alone. She said she would be - and I said, "but you have 3 dogs!"... As I neared the top of the hill, M in his usual marching gate (he would probably be one of those pilgrims!) caught up with me bearing gifts - cafe con leche! Wonderful - I couldn't believe our luck and then, as we reached the top, there was a little rest stop with fitness equipment and stone benches - perfect for our coffee and mini breakfast picnic. We had also passed a sign that said "obrasoro" - work of gold - the plaza and cathedral... and it was only 4km away!
We crossed a bridge with many moments. This is a feature of all caminos as they enter Santiago - there is a famous place on the Frances where people leave their shoes and other things and this bridge was a less romantic version of this. It was still quite a shrine though and it was interesting to see. The shoes tended to line the parapet below the fence but a few hung from their laces above. 
It is not quite what I had in mind for the male and it is not the same a cairn with the stone from home tradition, so I kept it with me and decided the right thing would come to me at some point.
Right after this we saw what was the largest and wiggliest zebra crossing ever - so I did a quick John, Paul, George and Ringo demo (well you have to don't you?)... and headed on.
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| And finally there it was - the physical destination of this journey |
Now our way was marked with arrows and the occasional scallop shell embedded in the pavement. Pilrgims were dotted about, but still not many on this route and our journey right to the cathedral was still as special and quiet as it had been for the last 1242km. Finally there it was... looming out of the mist - the spires of the cathedral of Santiago itself. It was as exciting as I had hoped and as we saw it - we were yet again on the cobbles of an old road! It took us down to where a river ran through the town, with more medieval bridges crossing it - amazing they were still being used by modern traffic - and then up, up and more up - quite steeply, toward the cathedral itself which was of course now difficult to see behind the buildings of the city.
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| No idea if this was the right route for the Levante/Via de la Plata, but it didn't seem to matter for now all roads lead to the cathedral |
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| Peeking from behind other buildings |
Now, of all times - the arrows stopped - not a single direction in sight! No - surely not... maybe they think, oh now you are in Santiago, you can see the cathedral so you won't need markers! But yes, we do! We dithered and wandered and ambled about and eventually just had to resort to using Google Maps and navigating our way in along any route - although we did find old buildings as of course we are in the old part of the city and I am sure pilgrims would still have come along any of these roads.
On entering the square, it is a momentous occasion. Initially we can in at the back and were still in awe of the buildings... we took photos and were excited and impressed, but on turning the corner of the building - wow - there are no words for the grandeur on all sides, not just the cathedral, but the government building and the old pilgrim hospital (now the Parador) as well... and there, dominating the whole plaza - the main portico. It is the most magnificent cathedral I have ever visited.
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| Panorama of the whole square including the parador - sort of left but central |
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| Main portico of the cathedral |
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| Arrival of the Robertson Male |
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| When I very first arrived at the back of the cathedral |
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| I love this view of the square - it really gives a good impression of how it looks and the grandeur - taken from outside the Parador |
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| St James |
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| Cross of St James at the main portico |
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| The botofumiero - not doing any swinging at the moment! All pilgrim masses are off in the Cathedral while they complete renovation work - it is now in St Frances' Convent not far from the Pilgrim Office (They were due for completion 2020 but who knows at the moment of writing) |
You are now able to wait in the corridor leading to the desks where the volunteers will check your credential and fill in your Compostela and/or certificate of distance. You can have both but can only collect a Compostela if you have completed at least the last 100km on foot (200km by bicycle) and have completed it for spiritual or religious reasons. There is apparently an exception - and that is if you are a resident of somewhere like Finisterre where the distance to Santiago is less than 100km.
Once queuing I was both excited and for some strange reason, nervous! I don't know why but it was a slightly anxious moment - maybe they would not give me the Compostela? I didn't have 2 sellos per day as stated in the info although I had walked from Valencia and kept a diary, photos and got many stamps along the way sometimes several on one day - surely they would realise I really had walked it! As noted earlier, I later discovered as outlined earlier, the two stamp rule from 2019 is ifor those only walking the last 100km, but I didn't know that at the time - and if you break the route into more stages (you don't have to do the whole lot continuously as I thought) you need to get a stamp from the same place you left off when you resume. At Reina Lupa I had been given two stamps anyway one for arrival and one for leaving - she dated them accordingly the night before as they too aren't up at the early hour most pilgrims leave (this is Spain!)... but it shows that even the albergues don't fully know the latest rules and how they apply. I stood in the queue armed with everything - my 3 credentials, my photo and written diaries, my FB photos and mala - por si las moscas as they say here (just in case!) |
| Lighting a candle at the end of my Camino |
They count the sellos and check the daily dates stamped to make sure they are consecutive. This does not mean the days have to be exactly one after the other - there can be breaks but the next one must follow on and be for the "next" part of the camino. You can not for example walk a week of the camino in La Mancha, then go back and walk another section in the Valencian region and then go back up and do a bit in Galicia and so on. You might complete the whole camino this way - but it is not in a "sequence" and this apparently IS a criteria.
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| Garden on the way to the Pilgrim Office, where many pilgrims await their turn to queue for the Compostela. Lovely lunches shady and cool - relaxing moments with a cold beer. |
My name on the Compostela as the nearest they can make to Tamasine in Latin as the religious and spiritual ones are in Latin is Thomasian - and the certificate of distance recorded 1242km, more than I had expected. I think the Levante guidebook states 1205km. This certificate is in Spanish. Both are beautifully illuminated scrolls - and I do not begrudge the €3.00 for each scroll and I was not going to put it in my travel bag without a sturdy tube adorned with scallop shells - €2.00. Everyone is delighted and many take them out to look at them in the streets and photograph themselves with them outside the cathedral.
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| Certificate of distance (left) and Compostela (right) |
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| Outside the pilgrim office with my certificates, the diaries, prayers from the Dhama centre and Robertson Mala |
As we left the pilgrim office, sadly there were pilgrims who were just arriving, too late to queue for their certificates that day as no more numbers were being issued. They would have to wait for their turn the next day, but for those who were flying home, they would end up leaving without their Compostela. I couldn't believe it! I was so glad that I had planned an extra day in case of delay, things going wrong or to just relax and enjoy the city. I can not imagine doing that long journey and not being able to obtain the Compostela. At the airport I heard two ladies saying that they did not get their certificate and when asked if it was because they hadn't done the distance, they said they had but didn't get it because... but I couldn't hear their answer. The gentleman talking to them said - they are strict, aren't they?! So I am wondering if they were doing only the 100km and had not got two stamps each day - but I will never know.
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| From the door of the Parador looking over to the Cathedral |
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| Courtyard on the way to our room |
We headed to the Parador - the Hostal Dos Reis Católicos and wow, magnificent and the oldest hotel in the world apparently! This was my gift to us both and a surprise for Michael. We checked in and they were fabulously professional and treated everyone equally - no matter how you had arrived or how shabby (in our pilgrim walking garb and later hire car) or porsche. We left everything in our amazing room (which seemed miles away through cloistered courtyards and inner gardens) and it was hard to tear ourselves away to go and find a taxi. I just wanted to see everything, read everything and absorb the amazing building.  |
| Our room - all the furniture is also lovely and many are antiques. |
Back at the hotel for a wonderful rest, a coffee and pastry in the sunshine, a fabulous bath and a little time to explore the courtyards and history of the building. The whole place is filled with old furniture and collectables - the more expensive rooms are decorated with antiques, but even our room had old style furniture and a medieval feel to it - and the walls and corridors were adorned with artefacts, objects, relics and religious icons from the old hospital. This hospital would care for the pilgrims that arrived sick or injured after months of traveling and who were sometimes beaten by bandits. The hospital was also set up to take in the abandoned children of the poor and so it ws mainly an orphanage - wow, possibly the most spectacular one ever! It is in this way, that it has been acting as a hotel for many years - in fact since 1480 and is believed to be the oldest hotel in the world that is still operational as such. 
It is truly a superb place, worth all of its 5*s and a fabulous experience. I would thoroughly recommend it if it is in your budget and I would definitely plan to stay again - but ideally two nights if I can afford it! I could only afford one night this time, at €218.00.  |
| Dinner, in the vaults! |
We also decided that we would absolutely treat ourselves to a luxury dinner in the Parador dining room. Suckling pig on the menu and sea urchin, clinched it! It was beautiful, the food stunning and it was worth every penny - €111.00 including wine and three courses, a divine luxury but actually good value considering the next night was €63.00 for nothing particularly special and served "cold" by the time we got it. Rather a sad and disappointing last night meal, but we have to forget that as the climax (other than completing the Camino of course) was definitely the Parador and our celebratory meal. Lunch had been at the wonderful Caracoles (Snails) restaurant which also promised conejo asado, one of my favourite things in Spain, but sadly they are shut on a Monday evening as we had planned to go there the following night... however, we promised to return! I had the amazing and spicy caracoles for lunch and Michael a fish type bisque - both were divine and we spent the time discussing and commiserating over Brexit with a couple of Germans who were then heading on to Finisterre. Michael had an amazing fish dish, bisque (again - but he loves it) preceded by a rice and clam dish. The bisque was hake and prawns with a Galician broth - so delicious and all local. Mine was gratinated sea urchin - mouth watering and soooo delicious. Galicia is well known for its sea food and rightly so. It has D.O after the dishes - denominación origén. My main - another of my all time favourites - cochonillo. Just superb. The wine - of course it had to be sparkling to celebrate - Galician carva.
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| Government building outside the Parador and opposite the Cathedral |
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| Cathedral at night |
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| View from our window |
Breakfast was also superb and one of the bets I have had in a hotel. Often fancy hotels have the most appalling breakfasts, it is not an easy meal to prepare well! It is usually the breakfast that lets the side down, but at the Parador, there was a whole range of fruits, fried eggs that were still soft, chorizos, cheeses, membrillos, pastries, breads, juices and other deliciousness.
Now we were ready to set off for the Pilgrim Mass at the convent of St Francisco and a day of exploring the city, visiting the Cathedral Museum (and taking the tour of the main Portico - well worth it!) and visiting St James himself.
Santiago de Compostela - Monday 7th October, 2019.
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| Convent of St Frances - where the Pilgrim Mass is held until the Cathedral renovations are complete |
One of the nuns from the convent sang beautifully and the whole ceremony was actually an interesting and lovely experience - in fact making me think that attending church is actually quite helpful for learning a language as they speak very clearly and slowly. Most people are familiar with church speak, words from the Bible and so on, so it makes sense that this is also how people used to learn to read many years ago.
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| The pilgrim mass |
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| Inside the church at the Convent of San Francisco |
From the mass, we headed to the Cathedral to "hug" the statue of St James. Apparently it brings luck. We thought we would touch the place where the pilgrims have placed their hands for centuries - thus making a hand shaped dent in the pillar for which it is famous. We had no idea where it was, although I was sure from the film The Way and the TV programme about the Camino Frances, that it was at the entrance somewhere, but we could not find it. I thought maybe then it would be near St James' tomb... but despite hugging St James (twice as M thought he must get lonely or else find it tough being hugged by people who just want something from him so we would just give him a hug to feel better)... we still did not locate the hand hole. We even entered and passed through the sepulchre twice - but still no dent in a pillar... hmmm, where is this famous pillar?!Michael went in search of an official to ask and - ahah... all was explained. It is no longer permitted to touch it and it is in the portico by the main door, so I was right that it is on a pillar at the entrance, but no one enters through the front door any more.. and the reasons for this we later discovered when taking the tour of the portico. The access to see it and the amazing architectural and sculptural work of the main portico is by entrance fee and guided tour only. This is done via the museum next to the main portico and it really is well worth it. The portico exhibits various decades of paint (visible) from 1188, 16th, 18th and 19th centuries. The figures of the angels are designed to make the fans more lifelike as the sun's rays catch them and the paint was coloured accordingly. It is quite fascinating and the videos in the museum reflect these changes which might not be possible to see during the live tour depending on the light conditions, but also because you need to see the changes in light from dark to light.
We visited the museum first and learnt a lot about the cathedral and Mateo (c.1150 to 1200 or 1217) who was instrumental in the sculptures in particular in the Pórtico de la Gloria and the stone choir (which was torn down in 1603) at the time when it was built in the late 12th Century.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Master_Mateo
Master Mateo sculpted all the faces to be different yet where St James appears as both pilgrim AND apostle, he is given the same face and features so that it is obviously him. The three arches have Christ at the centre of each and each tells a story of (arch 1) the Old Testament and the prophets (arch 2) of the New Testament - with Christ sitting on his human family tree (where the hand print is obvious and deep but destroying the carvings which is why pilgrims can no longer touch it) and his heavenly family above and (arch 3) of the apocalypse. The paint at the top of this column and especially on the church side is really bright because there has been less damage by light and pollution over the centuries. Christ is on the top of the central column but also imposing into the main arch above him. The statue of Christ looks all in proportion but is 3m high! The figures over the central Christ are all tuning musical instruments and these are the elders, preparing to play in the apocalypse and then there is the final arch of the apocalypse itself displaying all the demons.
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| Tuning their instruments |
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| The hand print...! |
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| Cast by the glass door at the Parador |
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portico_of_Glory
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| From inside the Parador - apparently each day, they still offer free accommodation and food to the first 10 pilgrims at the pilgrim office getting their Compostela... I wonder how many know about this?! We certainly didn't... next time I might walk in the night before haha! |
From here we headed off to do a spot of shopping - destination Decathlon as I do like their sports and hiking clothing and there are some long sleeved shirts I particularly like to work in as they are slightly longer at the back - great in cold weather outdoors. I want to get these embroidered with my Leadchanges logo. I couldn't find all I wanted and my foot was really causing me pain as was my knee (maybe worse actually) from having favoured my ankle, but I still made some nice purchases and was glad to head back to the Parador to check out and find our new hotel for the last night.
We checked out of the Parador - they had allowed us to keep our car there for the day while we explored and the most beautiful rainbow of light, cast as if from a prism (refracting through the glass door) was across the floor. I took photos of the entrance hall, the scallop shells woven into the carpets and other lovely touches throughout and wised we were staying for yet another night.  |
| Handle at the Parador |
A good night's sleep at our modern but very comfortable 5* hotel - the Palacio Del Carmen and they had great parking which makes all the difference in a big city that has narrow ancient streets unsuited for modern vehicles and the density of traffic. It was however, rather sadly devoid of soul after being spoilt in the old world luxury and history of the Parador though.
We awoke to a rainy and misty morning, ready to leave bright and early. What a trip and not a day with bad weather, just a little mist at times and no real rain, but today, Santiago was crying as we left... but we will return!
Buen Camino!
