Hostal dos Reis Católicos

“Travel isn’t always pretty. It isn’t always comfortable. Sometimes it hurts, it even breaks your heart. But that’s okay. The journey changes you; it should change you. It leaves marks on your memory, on your consciousness, on your heart, and on your body. You take something with you. Hopefully, you leave something good behind.” – Anthony Bourdain

Day 35 - Monte do Gozo to Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela -4.5km - 55 mins

I went to bed by 9pm and fell into a deep sleep, quickly. By 1:20 am I was awake couldn’t get back to sleep. By 2:30am I gave up for a bit and answered messages on my phone for a bit. Finally tried again just after 3am and slept until just before 5am. By 5:20am I gave up and started organizing myself to leave. I am glad I was the only person in the room, as I never want to be THAT person. You know - the one that leaves early and wakes everyone else up in the process. I was out the door by 5:55am. And back in to collect my poles by 5:59am hahahah. Ok - really on my way by 6am.

The lights of the city were shining and beckoning me towards Santiago. I set off at a brisk pace and kept it up most of the way. I was nervous, excited and scared for the ending, all at the same time. As I reached the outskirts, I stopped for a few photos. There were no other pilgrims around - I was on my own. As I got closer and closer, I saw a handful of local residents out and about, starting their day. It was all pavement walking today and although the way was damp from more rain last night, I felt stable on my feet and was able to keep my pace.

At 2.2km to go, I sent Annette a text to say I have about 30mins to go and was on track for 7am arrival. She had wanted to greet me as I came in. Each time I checked my map, I noticed she had not read the message. No worries. I was happy to walk in alone.

As I approached the Cathedral, I did a short video of my actual arrival. I did get a bit teary as it is has been quite an emotional journey in many ways. And here I was…at the end of that journey. As I finished videoing, there was Annette striding towards me from the other corner of the square. I was the first (and only) pilgrim in the square. Other than a couple of security guards, we had the place to ourselves! Big hugs, a few tears and more photos followed. We then headed down to the pilgrim reception centre in order to await their opening and get our Compostelas. Unfortunately, it was 7:10am and the office did not open until 9am. We were #2 and 3 in line.

Sometime around 8:30am, it started to pour with rain again. All the pilgrims in line geared up and waited out the foul weather with the promise of our hard earned Compostela at the end. At 9am, the doors opened to welcome us. As the first 10 pilgrims passed through the doors, we were issued the equivalent of the Willy Wonka Golden Ticket. We all received a free meal at the world famous Parador hotel! Now, I did know this was a tradition, and it was one of the reasons I had wanted to get here early. But still, I was “early”, early! We each waited our turn to get our Compostela and have our name written in Latin on it. I bought Annette and I each a hard cardboard tube to keep it safe and, a tin mug each to mark the occasion.

Back out into the rain we went, and over to Annette’s accommodation. A beautiful apartment on the other side of the Cathedral, with lovely views across the square to the Cathedral. From here we watched the rain, pilgrims arriving in the square, and had a bite to eat. Once the rain eased off, it was time to head out to the pilgrim mass which is held each day at noon, in the Cathedral. Again, I don’t know the words, but the mass was moving. We were even lucky enough to see the botafumeiro swing.

The botafumeiro (literally 'smoke caster', in Galician) is one of the best known and most popular symbols of thethe Cathedral of Santiago of Compostela,Galicia(Spain). It's a huge censer bathed in silver gilt and It weighs 62 kilograms empty and is 1.50 meters tall. The botafumeiro is filled with about 400 grams of charcoal and incense. Then it is tied with strong knots to a long rope that goes to the roof of the building, and moves by means of a pulley mechanism through the transverse nave (transept) of the cathedral. To achieve this, a group of eight men, who are called tiraboleiros first push it to get it moving, and then each pull one end of the rope to gain speed. Formerly the impulse and the stop of the same was carried out by the biggest tiraboleiro , who was also the one who set the rhythm of the impulse. Currently this figure no longer exists.

The movement of the botafumeiro can reach a speed of 68 km/h during its movement through the transept of the cathedral, from the Puerta de la Azabachería to the Puerta de las Platerías, describing an arc of 65 m and a maximum height of 21 m (a 82º angle). To reach this maximum height, 17 complete runs are needed.

This is a gigantic incense burner used to swing to cover the stench of the pilgrims that stayed in the upper levels of the cathedral after arrival in Santiago. Today it is used on holy holidays and when the sim of 500€ has been donated to see it swing (often by your groups). It apparently also swings everyday at noon mass during a holy year (which 2022 is, as a double holy year due to COVID, as 2021 was the official holy year).

After mass, it was time for our free lunch - Galician bean soup, seafood paella and an amazing trio of dessert slices - plus bread and wine, obviously. Worth the 2 hour wait this morning, for sure!!Les mer