May 5

Slept ok but couldn’t each much breakfast. Too many thoughts about the final walk of this long pilgrimage. I left a few minutes earlier than the rest with Amy in search of am ATM. She needed money and only brought an expired ATM card so I was going to be her banker. We went up and down the street finally following directions into a mini mall of some kind. We searched all over for the Santander Bank. I couldn’t find it anywhere. We decided to leave but the door we ended up at was locked. When heading back to our entry door we met a guard and asked him where it was. First he sent us to the toilet. After convincing him we really didn’t want a toilet, he pointed out the ATM machine behind us. And he unlocked the exit.

We caught up with the others shortly after.

We walked city streets, then wooded lanes, an honor system coffee stop, a comical almost life-size peregrino (pilgrim) display, rain so ponchos on, a wax stamp place for our pilgrim passports.. Wait a second, I remember seeing a sign yesterday that said, ‘this is the last wax stamp before Santiago’. They need to fix that sign. Then we got to two Camino markers pointing in opposite directions. Luckily I was prepared for this. Off to the left was the shorter route off to the right was the longer route. Guess which we took? Guess which everyone took. Not a pilgrim went to the right. We walked a while with a mother-daughter from Miami now living in North Carolina with a coffee Bean business. The daughter is still living around Brickell. Going to study psychology. Their coffee shop in Brickell is Puroast Coffee.

On our approach to the general area of the cathedral we met Rosa at the sculpture of The 2 Marias in Alameda Park as planned. They were 2 eccentric women who used to walk around in the 50s. The statues were put up in memory of them and get repainted in various colors every few months. Rosa walked us into town, in front of the cathedral for photos and showed us how to get in for the 12:00 Pilgrim Mass. We were seated at 11:15. Come late and you might have to stand. No backpacks allowed in so Amy took them all because she didn’t come in.

We were able to walk down to the crypt of St James, hug his statue from behind, and other sites: the organ, stained glass window, the golden altar, the Botafumeiro (incense burner) which is smaller than I thought. There’s a low chance that they will use it. We’ll see.

Mass started right on time at noon. It was freezing in there. All Stone built in the 11th to 13th centuries. Heat probably wasn’t on their mind. Rosa gave me another neck thingy that I put on my head to keep it warm. The singer had a good voice. The mass was in Spanish with a little bit of English here and there so I had no idea what he was saying. I’m sure it was typical Catholic service. Next communion for the masses.

And lucky us they did use the botafumeiro. Rosa had a sit on the sides of the altar not in front which was perfect because they swung it back and forth over us with the smoke getting stronger the more they swung it. What an exciting fascinating sight to see. It was worth sitting through mass for.

Next stop checking in at our hotel across from the church. It was an old monastery and hospital from the 15th century.

We had the fixed price lunch at the hotel. What a deal. 14 Euros for appetizer, main course and dessert, water, wine, coffee and bread. We drove the waiter crazy. 100 questions. No one could just order. It was a choice of two things!

Next stop, the pilgrim office to get our Compostela verification of completion of the Camino. Joana and I went with Rosa and then it started to pour as we approached it but she knew a back way in that got us out of the rain quicker. She works here every once in awhile.

We had registered online yesterday so all we had to do was show our barcode today which gave us a number to get in line and be called to get our Compostela. I had 900. Joana had 901. They called 901 and no 900. I went in anyway. I don’t know what that was all about. Maybe it was an indication from God because I was bored at mass. Anyway, we both got our Compostela and we got another certificate verifying how far we went. That one we had to pay 3 Euros for and another €2 for a tube to protect them.

At this point. Rosa headed to the train station for her trip back to Pontevedra where she lives.

Back to the hotel and time to get our luggage. Andre had to park in a lot away from the hotel since no cars are allowed in this section except for special vehicles. He had to get a taxi from the parking lot to bring all the luggage up to the hotel. When I got mine it had been sitting in water. I had to take it up and empty everything out and hang things up to dry. I was not a happy camper.

Next on my agenda, I just wandered around the old town weaving in and out of roads, looking for smoked paprika for Ernie. I have five varieties to bring back. I picked up some Argentinian empanadas to have in the room for dinner along with the chocolates that Rosa had given us. That with my leftover banana from breakfast I think I got all the food groups. Now I’m trying to relax under a big heavy blanket because it is freezing.