Day 35 …and in to Santiago I go! pt 2

Day 35 - Part 2

After our amazing (free!!) lunch, I needed to collect my pack from Annette’s apartment and get checked in at my Albergue. On the way back though, I needed a few more photos, in the sun this time!! I asked strangers to take a couple of the shots so I could get what I wanted. I had time to do a quick chat with some family and friends, to show them where I was and show them the Cathedral.

Finally checked into my Albergue for 2N. Not sure what I am doing after that, but it’s a start.

We were waiting for a pilgrim friend Karin to arrive in n the square, and were able to get some great photos of her when she did. We hung around to say hello to those we knew, the met Lucinda for a champagne toast to our success. Rain started pelting down again which cut the celebration short - but only by a bit.

Time to rest up and recharge the phone before dinner. Annette, Karin and I had gotten reservations at Abastos 2.0. This is a Michelin restaurant that has six market stalls and a small shared dining bar. It has recently expanded to have a larger dining area in a building across the street. The food was seriously amazing - almost all seafood that we had on a tasting menu. Basically, the waiter fed us dishes until we said stop. We tried the mini shrimp, cockles, tomatoes and fig, tuna tartar, mackerel with grapes and garlic purée, sea bream tartar with orange and pork tacos. A bit of Santiago cake for dessert, a couple glasses of wine and boom - 126€ later, our celebratory feast was done.

On the way back to our accommodations, I showed the ladies the shadow pilgrim. Every night in a corner under the baroque clock tower in the Plaza de la Quintana, a hunched pilgrim appears. He stands life sized, and wears the traditional garb of the religious pilgrim: cloak, broad-brimmed hat, and a staff top-heavy with a gourd for water and the traditional scallop shell, which is the symbol of the pilgrim.

According to local legend, the pilgrim is a local priest, who had fallen in love with a nun of the convent of San Paio, across the plaza. They met every night secretly, traveling through a secret passage under the Quintana stairs that join the convent to the cathedral. The two lovers planned to elope, and he promised to meet her in the plaza dressed as a pilgrim to conceal his identity. On the appointed evening, he waited in the shadows, but she never came. Since then, every night he returns, hoping to see her.

I thought it was a pretty cool way to end the night, and amazing day!! It will take me a while to process all this journey has meant to me. The next few days will be hard - what will I do, if I am not walking??

Funny enough, everyone is usually in bed by 9ish on the Camino. Tonight I got back at 10:30 - and was the second one in my room. It’s almost midnight and some people are still out. We all know we can finally sleep in tomorrow!Read more