An early start for a blessing before breakfast

Firstly, I’m pleased to report that I’m not actually marooned on the top of my triple decker bunk bed. Slept ok, although it was pretty noisy with the windows wide open for ventilation. I’d made the schoolboy error of having packed my ear plugs somewhere safe in my pack, but not in the smaller bag I’d taken with me up the mountain/ladder!

I was up and out by just after 6.30 in order to walk the 5 minutes up to the terrace outside Se do Porto, Porto’s cathedral, to join the gathering throng of peregrinos in the pre-dawn gloom. The morning light rapidly began to improve as more and more pilgrims appeared. Some had their packs and looked ready to begin immediately. Others (like me) appeared not planning to start walking this morning.

We were all there for the weekly pilgrim blessing at 7am. A little after 7, a few volunteers from the Pilgrim Office including a priest with his robes. However a South African priest, who was walking with a group of Saffas, offered to lead the blessing and quickly switched into the robes!

We were all then duly blessed, including a sprinkling of holy water!

Next, it was time to head down to the Pilgrim Office, a few streets from the catedral, in order to obtain both a credencial (for collecting stamps) and a scallop shell, the traditional sign of a pilgrim on the way to Santiago.

I then returned to my hostel for breakfast!Read more