Lavacolla to Santiago de Compostela - day 6

We woke up early on Sunday morning to grey skies and pouring rain. The plan was to try to make our final walk to the Cathedral to arrive at 11am. The youngest son and his lovely girlfriend were determined to keep us company and walk the final 10 K with us even though they were somewhat less well attired than us for the journey. My husband was also keen to witness our arrival and despite not having a single word of Spanish said he would get the local bus and be there waiting for us. I confess to having some doubts about this and felt a little sad at leaving him to his own devices.

Chapel at Pazo Xan Xordo

Our host at the Pazo Xan Xordo kindly gave us a small map showing how we could link back into the "Way" from where we had finished the previous day.It looked as if it was only about 200 yards to rejoin the path. So after slogging up the long hill we began to get a little worried that we had not seen any other walkers but eventually we were on track again and were walking with many others all of whom like us were hoping the reach the Catherdal for the midday Pilgrims Mass for the completion of the journey.

Monte Gozo

On reaching Monte Gozo we were now half way on our final stage, the heavy rain and mist meant that the view was some what obscured. We said a brief prayer in the little church here in thanks for our safe arrival to this point before heading off once more. From here it was only a very short walk to the edges of the city which was much larger than we had expected it to be.

arriving in Santiago-el Templario Peregrino

unusual door knocker in Santiago

Just 3k more to reach the Praza Obradoiro, we eventually reach the famous Gate of the Way- the Porta do Camino where you enter the ancient city. The square was packed with crowds of people and a Galician piper was playing a lament as we entered, the rain was still pouring.

Cathedral Spires in the sunshine a few days later

 

The Cathedral of St James is a magnificent site and our joy of arriving was completed for me at the sight of my husband standing on the steps. To be surrounded by my family and friends, having completed this amazing journey to this special place was one of my life's greatest moments. Thankyou  God for keeping us safe and giving us the mental and physical strength to make this journey, thankyou to all our family and friends who participated, helped and encouraged us when we had doubts, to those who shared our pre walk training, thanks to all the people we met along the way who were also making their own journey.

We now entered the Cathedral, it was 11:15, not a seat to be found. It was Pentecost Sunday and many people like ourselves were arriving in a steady flow. We removed our very wet outerwear and moved up the left aisle to try and get a standing place. We got a little space and soon realised that we were stood right beside the ropes the tiraboleiros use to swing the giant Botafumeiro (incense burner). Before the start of Mass announcements were made as to what countries  all the pilgrims had arrived from the previous day and everyone was welcomed in a range of languages.

view of the altar from the left  aisle

Next was the swinging of the Botafumeiro, this was an amazing spectacle requiring 6 men to pull the ropes. Following this the Mass began, mainly in Spanish but with the Gloria, Kyrie, Credo and Pater Noster sung in Latin. As a child I had grown up with the Latin Mass but as an adult I had only ever been at a Latin Mass once, back  in 1976. I found myself singing along and surprised myself that I remembered all the words.

Botafumeiro almost touching the roof!

Afterwards our final stop that day was to be the Pilgrim's office to obtain our Compostela which together with our completed Pilgrim's Passport would be a permanent reminder of our very special achievment. When we exited the Cathedral the rain had become torrential so we made a dash for the nearest cafe to grab a snack and some hot drinks in the hope it would eventually ease off.

We joined the queue at the office where we met some of the peple we had met in the earlier days who had also arrived on Sunday. We decided we would come back to the Cathedral on Monday evening when it was less crowded and   have a proper look at the beautiful interior.

After a brief tour of the ancient city we returned to the Pazo Xan Xordo to relax and remove our very wet clothes before going for a superb evening meal at the San Paio at Lavacolla followed by an early night.

A truly wonderful experience, tough at times but very worthwhile.
Day 1- full of anticipation
Day 2- beautiful scenery and Portomarin has a stunning location
Day 3- this was the hardest day of all
Day 4-definitely the longest day
Day 5-the least physically demanding day, almost all within my comfort zone!
Day 6-a very special day-great sense of achievment and joy

Would we do it again? I would love to think so.

Relaxing at Xan Xordo

Our next post will describe some of the other things we did and places we visited in our few remaining days in Santiago.


"You don't choose your family. They are God's gift to you, as you are to them."
Desmond Tutu


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