Hey all! Kate here. I am finally writing about our entry and stay in Santiago.
Yesterday was realllllllllly hot. We walked about 22km into the city. We arrived at 1pm through the city and some people even cheered for us and wished us congratulations! We entered in to the main plaza by the cathedral and took in our accomplishment. It felt surreal to be done.
mmm
Then we went to our alburgue. We got a nice private room for our time here at a building next to a seminary. It felt appropriate for us.
We took a long sista, showered, and went to mass at the cathedral. We got into town too late for the daily pilgrim’s mass at noon but this was a nice simple service at 6pm. It is tradition to go hug the statue of Saint James. We did that and then went to confession. That was a first for me but I found it very powerful.
We then went to the pilgrim’s office and got our compostela. This is a certificate that we indeed did walk the camino. We had to show our credential that had all the stamps we accumulated over the month to prove that we walked. We then ran into our Camino friend Jesús. He is a wonderful, Spanish older gentleman who we have walked with for the past few days. We bonded over religion and our faith. He asked us to meet him at 11:30am the next day for something before the pilgrim’s mass but we didn’t understand what.
Today we got up and had a breakfast of hot chocolate and churros! Edward has wanted this the whole camino and now I know why. Hot chocolate here is thick, rich, and a million times better than the stuff in the USA. Dip a churro in that….. yum!
We then did a little shopping and went to find Jesús. We found out that he was reading for the mass and wanted us to sit with him in the front of the church right by the altar!!! There were ar least 1,000 people there and we were in front! It was an honor, a gift, and a holy moment for us. The service was beautiful and then, because a group had donated money for it, the thurable swung. This is no ordinary thurable. It hangs from the ceiling and is about 4 feet tall. It takes around 6 men to pull a rope and, when lit, it swings the whole width of the cathedral. It was breathtaking to be so close to it and see the incense fill the space. I was so moved I started to cry. A wonderful nun saw me, kissed my forehead and prayed with me. We then, moved beyond words, went to eat with Jesús to say thank you to our friend.
Later in the day we met up with Jesús for a beer and said our goodbys. We then ran into other friends we made walking amd got to say adios to them. It was the perfect way to end our day.
This trip has been beyond amazing. God has,shpwn up in so many direct and indirect ways. I have cried in pain and wept tears of gratitude. I will never forget this month.
Tomorrow, back to the USA.