Days 42 and 43: Santiago (5/12 and 5/13/14)

We were in the 'central ciudad' in Santiago by 8:30,

 at the Pilgrim office before 9am  

and had papers in hand by 9:05!

The Pilgrim office writes the names of pilgrims in Latin, 

if possible,

on their Compostellas.

The only name of mine able to be "latinized' was Jean - my middle name.

The document didn't look the same as ones I'd seen from friends 

who walked just last year,

so I double checked - 

and when I say double checked, 

I mean I grilled two separate employees 

at two different times, 

to make sure this was the 'official' compostella!

I wasn't going through all of this to get a bogus one!

I was told they changed the document earlier this year.

Seems the old parchment one, 

printed with only tones of beige, 

wasn't 'exciting' enough for modern pilgrims tastes.

In other words, they caved to modern sensibilities.

After a celebratory breakfast,

we took a quick look around the city -

 and the Cathedral - 

before checking into an albergue 

and going to Pilgrims Mass at noon.

Mass was standing room only; 

I can just imagine how crowded it must have been the day before...

and, after Mass, the huge butifumerio (incense burner) was fired up and  sent into the crowd -

much to everyones delight.

 Of course, back in the day, 

it actually would have been used before the service, 

to mask the smell of pilgrims who had been traveling for months/years,

but because its become such a crowd pleaser 

and has basically been reduced to merely being a photo opportunity,

they do it at the end of the service 

so as not to disturb the liturgy itself. 

We also did the traditional (almost obligatory) 

"visit the Saint" -

going behind the altar to pay our respects

to the huge St James which looks out over the congregation

before going down to the crypt 

 to see the container that reportedly holds his remains 

and those of his two disciples,
Theodore and Athanasius.

The image from the Cathedral I liked the most
was a reminder that its an active parish church -

The rest is all for show anyway!

As I suspected, the Cathedral was too big and overdone for my taste -

and that feeling applied in spades to the city itself.

Gorgeous narrow medieval streets,

that, were it not for the cars could be in a 'guess the century' game.

Sadly, all of them filled with hundreds and hundreds of shops, 

selling countless, and as far as I'm concerned worthless, religious gee-gaws and trinkets.

I swear there's nothing sacred our modern culture can't make trashy...

Good grief!

It was fun though to run into so many people we'd seen on the trail -

and celebrate their Caminos' end with them!

We also heard, via the Pilgrim grapevine,

that the Convent of St Francis was giving out a commemorative  Compostella.

Seems St Francis of Assisi had been a pilgrim to Santiago too 

and this was the 800th anniversary of his birth.

 Every hundred years, the convent gives out a compostella to honor him...

yes, my friends, 

I have a document the likes of which won't be given out for another 100 years...

try to dampen your envy!

What my poor sons decide to do with all this stuff upon my death is their problem, right?