We remain in Santiago de Compostela for one more day. Paula is still recovering, but she’s clearly on the mend. I’m still testing negative. I’m sure the mask is working, but man it’s a drag to sleep with one on.

We attended the pilgrim’s mass at the Cathedral. This is an impressive church, but also, gaudy and ornate. We’d been told they read everybody’s names who received their compostelas over the last 24 hours, but I didn’t hear it. That’s over 2,000 names and I don’t think they had the time. One treat, though, is the botafumeiro flew today. Video below

The botafumeiro is a fairly large, fairly heavy incense censer that swings from one side of the cathedral to the other at full speed. You might have seen videos of it on YouTube, and it swung in The Way. It’s somewhat rare for it to happen; it means somebody (or somebodies) ponied up the $450-500 in advance for it to happen. Spoiler alert: Somebody in our Camino Family paid for this for tomorrow’s mass at 7:30 pm. I wandered back to the cathedral while Paula napped, and I could have stayed there for some day. It’s a plaza where you can see joyful reunions and celebrations every couple minutes. I ran into Henry and Yvette from Miami; they arrived today and we running through the same emotions I did yesterday. It was great to see them. I also saw Patricia from Madrid, who had just graduated from college and was “burned up” and went on Camino. She always pointed out the best ice cream places.

I ended up going back into the cathedral, and saw the tomb of St. James (allegedly) and I entered through the Holy Doors, only open on Holy Years. So I got that going for me.

Before dinner, Paula and I walked some more. We weren’t the only ones. It seemed like the entire city was out for a stroll; I love this walking culture, to see people and be seen in the multiple parks and plazas. Oh yeah, and eat ice cream. We also saw the sculpture The Two Marias of Santiago de Compostela. Story is here in case you’re interested: https://andaspain.com/blog/two-marias/

Finally, dinner. I ate octopus again. Paula did not. Yeah, I’m a little torn about eating octopus. They are smart animals. But also, very delicious with that paprika crust. I hereby state I will only eat octopus while on Camino. The Padron peppers are really good as well.

Tomorrow, we ride the high-speed train to Madrid and a few days in the literary quarter. You have to love a three-hour train ride that would take 7-8 hours to cover in a car. Yup, big fan of the high-speed train and public transportation. There is also a chance we’ll see Carmen aka Janet as well. I feel we owe her dinner. I’m planning on continuing blogging while we’re in Spain, but it probably depends if we have something to blog about. The Camino provided so much grist for the mill; now you’re up, Madrid. Let’s see what you’ve got. Buen Camino.

-Will