Arrival

800km and 34 days later, this is it: I am finally in Santiago de Compostella.

How is the arrival? No red carpet, welcoming commitee or fanfarre I am afraid. Actually, no one really seems to notice you. After all, there are on average 100 pilgrims arriving daily at this time of the year. After walking through suburbs, modern Santiago and then entering old city "intra muros", I checked in my hotel, then went for the credential office. There, an employee checks your ID, where you started walling from, that you have all the stamps from places you passed by and asks for the reason of pilgrimage. If you fulfill all points and answer "religious", you get a certificate in Latin (including your name finishing in -um) that you have accomplished the pilgrimage. Then, you can either hang around and great other fellow pilgrims, as they flog in, go to sleep, sightseeing or attend mass. I went shopping, as I wanted to spend the next couple of days in (grey) jeans and (red) polo, rather than (déjà-vu)sports gear.

On my arrival, I was a bid disappointed, personally expecting some feeling of relief, accomplishment, happiness... Nothing really, I just felt tired (and hungry). At midday, I attended mass: the cathedral was full and although I arrived 20min in advance, I had to stand. The priest welcomed all the pilgrims, stating nationality (there was another one from Switzerland starting at St Jean,with whom I have become friendly) and held a simple, but very nice mass, accompagnied by a young choir from Grmany. When we all started to shake hands, this woman from Montana apeared out of the blue. I had talked to her a couple of times, actually first impression of her had been not good and I thought she was dead boring. However, when she hugged me and said "peace" I couldnt help but to start crying. Difficult to explain what happened, though all books warn that at one stage of the pilgrimage, the Way makes you cry: Despair, pain, sadness, abandonment but also happiness. None of this for me, however I can add the simplicity of a woman from Montana.

The cathedral here is famous for containing the remains of St James and also for the Bota Fumeiro, a 1.50m silver and gold adorned incense pot, which is swung by 5 men through the ails of the cathedral. Originally it was to remove the bad odors of the pilgrims, now it is a highlight of the mass though not used in every mass.

 

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