Monday in Santiago

By now you are wondering if we are ever going to leave this place. We are having great fun but the weather is warming up so it's going to be too hot here for us very soon. We walked downtown in the morning in time to check out if we could get onto an English rooftop tour of the cathedral before Wendy's appointment at the post office at 11am. Nope, none today, come back tomorrow morning to see. Really? Like we are staying right outside this office just waiting for them to decide. 

I left Wendy at the post office where she had been asked to come in and discuss how they (the post office or Correos in Spanish) might be able to help the pilgrim have a better experience on the Camino. First they took her on a tour of the main building and then concentrated on the facilities for the pilgrims: left luggage and luggage transfer, the room where all the suitcases and boxes that pilgrims send on to themselves from across the country end up until they arrive to claim them, clothes that they won't use until later etc. This post office is trying to find ways to stay viable even when fewer Spanish are using their services for letters. 

She even had a visit to their rooftop terrace which is not open to the public but has a fabulous view.

While she did that I checked out a bunch of shops and wandered the streets of the old town. Tried to take a picture of the food in the window at one of the restaurant/bars. A little glare but some pulpo (octopus) ready to be chopped up for lunch and served with a sprinkling of olive oil and paprika and eaten with toothpicks. 

We did not eat lunch there but had a good galette from Normandy.

Mine was filled with cooked ham, mushrooms and emmental cheese and Wendy's with seafood and cheese both served with a nice glass of local white wine.

We headed home for an afternoon siesta then back out to the 7:30pm mass because a little birdie told us the botafumeiro would be swung at that service. This theatrical event only happens when someone, often a tour group, pays a fee for it to be done. It is not advertised because the church wants all the services attended and not just the ones when this event is scheduled. But we know a special elf who let us know in advance. Yeh! So we walked down to the cathedral 30 minutes ahead of the service and were able to get seats in the transept. No singing nun tonight, maybe she just does the earlier services. Instead a fellow (monk, brother, priest???) sang. It's too bad we were not able to understand most of the sermon because it sounded like it was all about pilgrims and probably very interesting. But because the cathedral is still open to the throngs who wander around at the same time as the service, it's a bit distracting. Watching the swinging of this huge incense burner is really cool though, even after seeing it a number of times.

After the service at 8:20 we met up with Paula and went down for supper to a place outdoors along the road where the pilgrim office is. Paula eats there regularly and the food is inexpensive but good. When we arrived there were about 5 tables set up outside but the only empty table had a sign on it.

 

The owner/server said it was reserved for some people in 40 minutes but said we could eat there until they arrived. So we did, they never arrived, and he kept taking down the tables until we were the only table left so I guess you can say we shut the place down, at 10pm. Great dinner and lots of wine, we had such a good time.

Wendy's 1st course (premier plato) was Padron pimientos and they are delicious. Only just coming into season now.

Paula and I closing the place down.

We went up to the plaza Obradoiro to listen to the Tuna band again. So full of energy and such fun. Love this music.

We started home, by now dark and after 11 so all the tourists are in bed. We found the pilgrim ghost on one of Cathedral outer walls. And managed to get his picture. What a great day we had today.

Wendy and Marion