I arrived in the square in front of the Cathedral at 10:30am after a 7:00am start from the hostal in Faramelo. I was heading out with Carolina, the older Dutch woman and the retired Australian couple. It was dark. I had my headlamp and someone had a flashlight. There were some street lamps, but some of the precarious descents were very scary in the dark.
Carolina set the pace and I had to keep up or I would lose them. I made the 16kms to Santiago in 3.5hrs. For the others it was shorter because when they came to the same fork in the road that I did a few minutes later, they took the road more often taken and that made a 45mins difference, because I took the other fork and got lost!!
Entering the square in front of the Cathedral is very emotional. Many cried including me. I met up with Anika, Claudia, the two woman from Brittany, and the people I had set out with that morning. I got my Compostela very quickly, put my backpack in a locker and went to the Pilgrim mass at 12:00 noon.
The mass was packed. It was standing room only. The music was amazing. The sermon was in Spanish, but the ceremony was universal. The large incense burner was out for repairs, so I knew I wouldn’t see that. However, Santiago was a spectacle in itself.
My hotel is lovely. I found a small restaurant next door to have Padron Peppers and a glass of wine. While I was relaxing, Alex, whom I had met in Oia walked by. She ordered a glass of wine and helped me finish my peppers. Servings are large here. I treated her to the glass of wine and she gave me the name of the restaurant that she and another group of pilgrims were meeting at tonight. I hope I’m not too tired to show up.
I’m still in awe of the whole experience!
Buen Camino!!