Santiago de Compostela

Parador living is quite amazing. We had a wonderful breakfast in the traditional room where they used to feed the pilgrims. Of course, we were having an extensive hotel breakfast inside this beautiful structure. Here’s a photo of the room with stone walls and windows overlooking the plaza:



After checking out, we walked over to Alameda Park which is outside the city center and popular with the locals. We visited the “Duas Marias” statue which remembers these two eccentric ladies who used to walk around the park at 2 pm. They apparently were a bit impoverished and had mental issues - their family was targeted as they were against Franco. They used to flirt with the local boys as well, hence the winking and the hand reaching out. Many people pose as if their bottom was being grabbed:







Also famous about the park are beautiful views of the Cathedral - here’s a few from our walk:











We then headed over to the Cathedral museum where you’re not allowed to take photos of the treasures or beautiful chapels - only from the balcony and in the cloister.





One sacred chapel where the kings of Leon are apparently entombed was jaw dropping and there was a beautiful recently discovered and restored Triptych that remembers St. Francis of Assisi and Queen Isabella making the pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela.

We cut our visit short to head to noon mass at the Convent of San Francisco - the church that memorializes St. Francis of Assisi and the location of the pilgrim mass during the renovation of the cathedral.



Here you can see Tresa and Mary Ann looking for seats. We made sure to arrive 30 minutes prior as we were sure it would get full early like Christmas or Easter mass. We found seats next to a couple from Seville and observed the many pilgrims.



There were people in crutches, barefoot, and many people in pain. But we were all here together celebrating the pilgrimage. At the beginning of mass, they announce every country and every Spanish province from which a pilgrim had arrived and registered with the pilgrim office within the past 24 hours.

There was a group that was hard of hearing and I believe 2 priests who accompanied them. There was a translator for both the priests and the group. I wasn’t sure if the mass permits any priest who made the pilgrimage to join the celebration at the altar as there were several, including clearly one American as he read part of the service.

In any case, I completely teared up when the priests signed the Our Father and served communion to those hard of hearing. Along the way, we saw many with special needs and it reinforces that this pilgrimage is for everybody.

We returned to the museum to finish our visit and then went to Meson 42, our alternate for dinner last night for lunch. We ordered a goat cheese salad and some bread with ham - all delicious.



As it was close to our SunTransfer pick up to the airport, we returned to our Parador hotel for a quick self guided tour and freshened up. A photo of the chapel:



Our driver was early and we headed to the Santiago de Compostela airport which is not very large. He was very chatty and friendly. He advised he had done the full French way and walked the Camino in 27 days when it takes about 34. He definitely had a lot of energy as Mary Ann tried to understand his fast talking stories.

At the airport, we shared some wine and got on our 1 hour flight to Madrid where we transferred for another 1 hour flight to San Sebastián. Our SunTransfer driver picked us up and we drove about 40 minutes to the top of Monte Igueldo, where we’re staying at an Accor hotel called Mercure. We have beautiful views of the sunset, the famous San Sebastián beach called La Concha, as we enjoyed our welcome drinks and then dinner for our first of two nights in San Sebastián!

Camino Day 5: O Pedrouzo to Santiago de Compostela

Our last day of walking and we were excited to be done! We left O Pedrouzo and started out for Santiago de Compostela for our 11 mile / 18 km journey. After getting going, we stopped by this restaurant called “15 KM” as it’s supposed to be that distance away from Santiago. We saw our usual friends and all the pilgrims sang happy birthday to an 11 year old from Poland. The pilgrims have such a great sense of camaraderie.



And as Tresa sipped her coffee, and eyes wide open like she had seen Santa Claus, the running driver was running by; Tresa pointed, we all yelled and cheered, and he smiled and said hello. He had promised he would see us today and he kept that promise! The German and Austrians we met last night at dinner laughed and other pilgrims noted they had seen him too running backwards and made them bitter! We also learned from another pilgrim that he was a physical education teacher - this all seemed to make sense as all the pilgrims had wondered about him too!

After breakfast, we continued forward and got closer and closer as you can tell from this marker:



Actually none of the markers that counted the kms showed the kms anymore. We weren’t sure if they didn’t want us to countdown or they had all been stolen at some point. Most of the paths at this point were well trodden and we switched from dirt paths to paved roads and back again.

We stopped for some coffee below where we could put up our feet and watch the pilgrims going by. Here we met some US Air Force guys and one was in terrible pain; his foot completely blistered up on the first day. He said this was harder than his military training and I wasn’t sure I believed him - he said the mentality and the monotony of the walking was hard for him. Despite how fit you are, you really don’t know how your feet are going to react.



And here, is where we saw a guy riding by on a unicycle! I didn’t take a photo, because he was too quick, but the US Air Force guys said they met him at breakfast and he had been trekking from Norway!

Here’s a photo of us at Monte de Gozo where they commemorate a mass led by John Paul II in 1989 with the statue below:



Monte de Gozo is the last hill for the pilgrim and where you get your first glimpse of the Cathedral and it’s three spires. Here’s a picture collage of all of us trying to stand in front of the view:



Also here is San Marcos chapel where we got stamps and said a prayer on Monte de Gozo:



After an hour walk downhill and into the city, we were here! Here’s a sign adorned by gifts as pilgrims unburden themselves along the walk and shed some of their gear and mementos:



And the scallop shell marker of the city and our tired feet:



We snaked through the city of Santiago de Compostela to get to the historical city center - here’s a photo where you can see the spires and as we navigate the city folk:



And then we made it to the main plaza in front of the cathedral!



We were hangry at this point, so we got lunch and celebrated with pilgrim menus and with some cava! We also saw the Dutch and Seville family here and we all congratulated each other. We also learned the Sevilla brothers had a little 9 years old sister who was waiting for them with her aunt and the Dutch couple was actually a brother and sister. The sister was mourning her husband and we all said we would pray for him as she was tearing up about her Camino completion.



Afterwards, we headed into the cathedral which is under heavy renovation and in preparation for the next holy year for the cathedral; the holy year is when July 25th, the holy day for St. James the Apostle lands on a Sunday and the next one is 2021. They expect more than double the amount of pilgrims. Here, we’re in front of the famous fountain right before we enter the Cathedral:



And the famous incense holder:





We stood in line, but couldn’t take pictures as we hugged St. James pictured below and kneeled in front of his tomb:



Despite our ability to navigate northern Spain, we struggled to find the pilgrims office:



But found it and stood in this long line....



To show our credentials and all our stamps! Here’s a collage of my completed pilgrim passport!



And a selfie of us with our Compostela and Distance Certificates which confirms we walked the minimum 100 kms - we actually walked 115!



The Compostela in Latin as is my name, but he obviously couldn’t latinize my Korean middle name:



The distance certificate:



Then we checked in our hotel which is a parador - typically converted convents that are high end hotels. We ran into the Japanese fivesome and here are some photos including the rooms:













After showering and resting, we headed out and wandered though the plazas. We entered Fonseca pictured below which was the seat of the original university and has a beautiful courtyard - you can see the cathedral spires from here:





We had dinner at Petiscos do Cardeal where we ordered all the tapas of the day which included mussels, octopus, stuffed peppers, mushrooms and prawn, and the special white wine. We had flan for dessert as well, all pictured below:



After some chocolate ice cream for Mary Ann and mango sorbet for me, we returned to our hotel for some white wine and listened to the music from the plaza. This included classical, opera, and people singing along as we enjoyed the beauty of the cathedral. Some photos taken by Tresa below:





What a day! I can’t believe we did it after all this planning and waiting and survived! Mary Ann and I first talked about this years ago! I’m so pleased we were all in good shape except for the understandable soreness and tenderness. We had beautiful weather and enjoyed the company along the way. Unfortunately, we did not see our running driver buddy for a second time today, but there’s still a chance we may see him at the pilgrim mass tomorrow. We feel truly blessed to have this experience, and I feel so lucky to have done it with the Thomas sisters!