Santiago

Well, I made it back to Santiago, but my grand plans of the day completely failed!

First, I’m 99% sure I left my driver’s license and American cash in the albergue in Muxia. So far, I cannot find it, and I’ve taken everything out of my bag twice. I’ll look again at home, but pretty sure it’s under the bed.

Second, the clothes I hand washed yesterday early afternoon were not dry by this morning.  Not even close!  I had an idea to remedy that, but, see number four.

Third, I hadn’t showered since Wednesday (it’s now Friday) as my clothes were either wet or dirty on Thursday and I figured a shower would be futile.  Again, I had an idea, and a grand plan, which leads to number four..

Fourth, the minor seminary where we had stayed just a few days prior is now closed for the season.  As in, until March.  It closed yesterday.  Why November 6th, you ask?  Why a Wednesday/Thursday close date?  Who knows.  It’s Spain.

Anyway, my grand plan had been to leave my backpack in the lockers at the seminary for just 2euro for the day.  As the lockers were downstairs near the common area, I had plans to also utilize the dryers and the shower, before catching my train to Madrid.

So, wet clothes, no license, no shower in 2 days – will be 3.5 by the time I get home – yay for the people sitting next to me on the airplane!!  Further signs this trip is over and I’m meant to come home now!

But, as with all the other bumps in the road, nothing I can do to change things, so might as well just get on with it!

I went to the pilgrim’s office to see about where I could put my backpack for the day and there is a concierge office near the cathedral, so it went there.  Also for 2euros.  Not bad.

The sun came out lots today, so though chilly, I was not wet.  Big plus!  Also, the cool day meant I wasn’t too sweaty and therefore not too stinky, other big plus!

I got to go to the pilgrim’s Mass again at the cathedral.  I actually spent lots of time at the cathedral off and on today.  It was great to be there with not a lot of people, and I could also spend time in their Blessed Sacrament chapel and lots of time down with the relics of St. James.  During the Mass, which today seemed about half local and half pilgrims, the sister-cantor again led the congregation in singing the psalm (which I didn’t know, but could get half of it), the communion song (not one I knew), and the Mass parts.  And, again, the Alleluia was a familiar tune and we sang the Sanctus and Agnus Dei in the simple Latin chant, so I could participate.  I was surprised that more people weren’t singing, as the only other voice I could hear was coming from behind me.  During the sign of peace, I made sure to check out who it was and it was a Korean pilgrim.  So, the 2 people singing the most at a Mass in Spain were American and Korean and we were singing in Latin.  I do so love the universality of the church!

After Mass, I found a little place to eat which was actually were I ate last year with some of the other pilgrims on that trip.  A super cute tapas restaurant.  I finally had patatas alioli (roasted potatoes with garlic sauce) and chocolate with churros!  Really yum. and I am so happy I found it again.  It was the only place in Santiago that I found with patatas alioli, so it was a very good find.

I spent the rest of the afternoon meandering the city, visiting the cathedral a couple more times, shopping, having one last café con leche, etc.  I found I was kind of restless and couldn’t just sit somewhere for a long time, so I ended up racking up a bunch of miles again.  Very different without a backpack, though!

I ended up buying a new pair of shoes for less than 7 euros!  They are pink, though one is pinker than the other (hence the cheap price).  Pink is normally not the first color I would pick for shoes, but the price was right and now I won’t offend anyone with the stench of my feet.  The unwashed rest of me will have to do. 😉

I made one last visit to the cathedral before picking up my backpack.  I had left my long sleeved shirt out of the bag in the hopes it would dry quicker.  It was just a bit damp, but should be good enough by tomorrow morning, so I can change out of this shirt I’ve been wearing since Wednesday.

I went back to the restaurant where I had eaten with the group on Sunday night, because I really liked the dish I had and they had other inexpensive tapas as well.  I ended up with the meat I’d had before, called zorza (some kind of spiced pork), served with fries, and pimientos con Padron, or peppers from Padron.  Plus bread and water.  Good price, good food.  The peppers are interesting in that approximately one in every ten is a hot pepper and there is no way to tell which one is going to be hot.  They grow from the same plant – hot and sweet next to each other.  I had about 4 hot ones on the plate, but the bread and potatoes helped cool things off.  I was very full after, which is good, because who knows what I will get on the airplane tomorrow!

After dinner, I walked to the train station and got ready for the journel.  I also repacked my backpack so it is ready to get on the plane tomorrow.  I changed into my non-holey pair of plants and my new shoes.  My old shoes and holey pants have found a new home in the wastebasket of the train station.  They served me well, but it was time to part.  I’m sure the other patrons were wondering why I was taking pictures of the trash, but, I will never see them again, so I’m not bothered!

So now it is the beginning of the end.  The train is off!  In 9ish hours I’ll be in Madrid once more.

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