Camino: Santiago

After so many days of getting up and walking most of the day, it felt really lazy to be getting up after eight o'clock for a nine o’clock breakfast in Hotel As Artes.  We are to meet the group in front of the Parador at ten for a tour of the Cathedral and nearby surroundings. 

Margareiña is a really good guide, and she put a lot of her own personal life story into the tour.  Some of this lore we already knew, especially Marcia, who has been studying Santiago faithfully for several days.  But, we learned more from Margareiña.  

Botafumeiro replica in shop window

Her tour ended a few minutes before twelve noon when the Pilgrim Mass began in the Cathedral, by then well packed with pilgrims and tourists filling the pews, sitting on the floor and standing on all sides.

I got in place just before the service started, and Marcia had already found a spot on the other side of the north transept.  A good location was key, because Margareiña had warned us that her sources said the botafumeiro would indeed swing today.

The mass began with several representatives of groups reading salutations on the occasion of their having completed the Camino and being there.  I had just about tuned out these canned speeches when I noticed a woman said “we represent the people who transport more people around the world every day than any other form of public transportation.”  That caught my ear! Then she continued, saying “we the people of Otis Corporation…” Talk about product placement!

Anyway, the bishop who led the service next began by asking prayers for the souls of two pilgrims, one German and the other from Palencia, who died on the Camino yesterday.  He then went on to welcome by name several church-related, youth and religious groups which had completed the Camino.  Then he continued, welcoming pilgrims by country by country, citing which city they had begun their pilgrimage from, and working his way down from furthest away starting point to closest.  So we got mentioned as “the pilgrims from the United States who began their walk in Ponferrada.”

The bishop gave a nice sermon that talked about the Camino being not so much a goal in itself, but more as way to find what is important in life, a way to take time to find yourself, and a way to enhance one’s own Christianity.  At one point he quoted a Spanish poet who said something like “the important thing is not how fast you run the path, but the journey itself.”  The service ended with communion, an offering, and an exchange of “Peace be with you” greetings among the congregation. 

Then, while the bishop explained how the next action is a tradition unique to this cathedral and is meant to symbolize the new spirit that infuses the people who have completed the Camino, several men in brown robes moved into position.  They formed up around the square wooden platform that is on the other end of the rope to the botafumeiro suspended from the ceiling on a series of pulleys. Another walked in with a brazier of hot coals, and before long they had it lit.

The group of about eight or ten strong men then began to work the rope while another started the botafumeiro  swinging.  With each swing they got it to go higher and wider, until it was virtually at a 90 degree angle at the top of the swing. It put out great streams of incense that filled the church with a nice odor. Eventually they brought it to a stop, and with a final prayer, the service ended.

Those of us who signed up for the Michelin one-star restaurant met by the Parador again, and then headed down that street to Casa Marcelo, showcase home to famed chef Marcelo Tejedor.  When we went in at 1:30 p.m., we were about the first people to arrive. The efficient young woman who did all the order taking and serving brought us iPads with the restaurant’s two degustacion menus displayed – one at 45 Euros with four courses, and another with nine courses at 75 Euros.  The iPad also provided the wine list, from which we selected a reasonable red wine, a tempranillo. 

The meal began with a cream of celery soup that had been foamed, perhaps from a siphon – it was heavenly. That was followed by a merluza (hake) that was so tender and perfect – perhaps one of the best I’ve ever had.  The last course, a seared rare tuna was excellent, but perhaps less challenging.  The dessert was pff pastry with vanilla bourbon cream. Fortunately our server was also very accommodating about running five separate Visa cards through her machine – it worked out to about 51 Euros per person.

Breads and pastries

 In the afternoon Marcia and I walked around and did a bit of shopping in a leather store and looking at other shop windows.  Not only is the presentation artistic and attractive, but you suddenly realize that despite the fact you're in the city center you have not seen a single chain store -- no Gap, no Banana Republic, no Benetton -- none of the omnipresent American or European logos and signs.  

Leather products

I searched for and bought a small leather change purse -- not exactly the design I had wanted, but it will serve.  Besides, the one they had was green, and the craftsman said, "No problem" when I asked about one in brown.  She simply dyed and dressed the leather in brown and buffed it while we waited.  

Hat shop

And, the hat shop on Rua do Vilar caught our eye with their stacks and stacks of red hat boxes from London.  Nothing would do but I must have a txapela, that is, a Basque beret.  The shopkeeper was a hoot: a little lady with very direct opinions.  When I began to debate whether I'd prefer the 20 Euro model or the 26 Euro model, she brusquely intervened, "The cheaper one will serve you just as well." 

We also looked in on a small workshop where ladies were doing lace work by hand, as well as specialty food and wine shops.  Marcia gave thought to searching for genuine saffron or pimenton, but we never found an open store that sold them.

About eight o’clock we met some of the group to go in search of tapas.  Marcia led us to the best vinoteca in Santiago (according to Alex and several guidebooks), one called O Beiro, but our group had too many disparate interests to continue there.  Some were looking for a sit-down restaurant and menu situation, while others wanted coffee and ice cream.

There were several options.  Marcia suggested a tapas place where people could point at what they wanted.  Katie and Pat joined us for tapas and – with all the noise, crowding at the bar, the various plates, and the many wines and beers being served by young girls running back and forth – this may have been the most authentic Spanish tapas experience of the trip.

Hostal dos Reis Catolicos

We headed back to our hotel, stopping by the Concello on the Praza do Obradadoiro to listen to the tunas who were performing  “Guantanamera” for an appreciative post-dinner crowd.

We decided to see the inside of the Parador Hostal de los Reis Catolicos again by having a pacharan in the bar before retiring to our hotel for a last night in Santiago.