Eh bien dear friend, where are you now?
Now in Finisterre. I have hiked with my Swiss 'brother' Jonas from Santiago to Muxía, and after to Finisterre!. We had a rest day in Santiago with plenty of wine to celebrate that we have reached `la meta` [the goal]!.
Is it really a good idea to hike the road of St. James in October? Do you notice some of the `holy` year? And our great friend from Regensburg (= the pope) will also be November 6th in Santiago right? It will probably be a huge carnival on the road, or is it not too bad?
In terms of weather it does not really matter, it is compared with the summer chilly in the morning. In León the temparature was one degree (!). Only in Galicia it rains but that makes sense because it is the greenest part of Spain. In Galicia [O`Ceibreiro] I even managed to get a place in the albergue which is exceptionel!.Only from Sarria the trail was busier because from the latter it is the last hundred kilometers to Santiago. From here hikers in general run `en masse` to get this certificate/ document ("Compostela").
Santiago!
Anna
Galicia!
Villafranca del Bierzo
... the suffering pilgrim, Alto do poio
Galicia
Samos
Sarria
antes [before] Portomarin
Marieke from Utreg [Utrecht], que musica divina! [what a divine music!]
It looks like you make many new friends, who are they?.
This picture was taken in a huge hotel right next to the cathedral. The first ten pilgrims receive a free meal by showing the 'Compostela'. You must then enter into a sort of garage so the regular hotel guests don`t see you. You will be guided through various courses and at the end is a simple meal, drizzled with cheap wine!.
The guy who sits in across me [anti clockwise, number two] was rather annoying. He found himself quite a hero (he had started in Tui which is the camino Portugues in Galicia, seven days of hiking), and irritated us with so called `historical` facts. Anyway, "der Weg gehört jeder ' [the road belongs to everybody]. You actually see that in the course of centuries not much changed: people remain the same, there are good ones, cheaters, liars, braggarts, drunkards, etc. just as in former times!.
And what kind of device is that what the man is holding?.
That was in the cathedral, a huge censer. Imagine four men pulling [let loose- pulling- let loose etc.] a rope that is attached to that censer (`Butafumeiro ') thus swinging it through the cathedral accompanied by loud organ music. It's pretty spectacular, I've seen it three times now, yeah, I was three times in the mass more than I normally go to church in a whole year!. I didn`t feel so comfortable in the cathedral because so many people were there to witness the spectacle. Also here you can find traces of the Moors, see picture below (horseshoe shape).
It is unclear to me when the `butafumeiro` is swinged through the cathedral, maybe only this year because it is the holy year [as the birth day of Santiago is on a Sunday]. The story behind the 'Butafumeiro` is also nice. The story goes that the old pilgrims smelled so much that the priests could barely take the smell. By swinging that huge censer through the cathedral the smell was somewhat suppressed.
Under the stone statue of Santiago is a stone that everyone wants to touch because it is believed [by the simple catholic worshippers] it should contain healing powers.
The absurdity is that a speaker [in the cathedral] all the time on an unctuous tone asks us to be quiet because we are in a holy place which is totally in contradiction to earlier times: the ancient pilgrims entered the cathedral by loud screaming thus letting everybody know how they had suffered on the way and finally begging the blessing of the apostol Santiago de Compostela!.
Again you see crazy things again back in the cathedral, as in Leon, Fromista (devils that torment a poor soul).
Cathedral, Santiago, mudéjar architecture
Santiago Apostol ( Cathedral, Santiago)
What is actually the story of finisterre?
The Romans believed the place was the end of the world, hence the name, 'finis terrae'. For the old peregrinos it was a tradition to continue hiking a bit, some ninety kilometres. When they arrived at the sea they used to bath themsleves in the sea and burn their clothes thus symbolically cleaning themselves of the filth, but also their sins.
Negreira
Muxia [Virgen de st. barca]
a costa da morte [the death coast]
Santiago
Een lachende engel! [Kathedraal Santiago]
... an arab in Santiago!
... me in my extreme sexy poncho
caminho Oliveiroa- Muxia
... Me in Muxia!
a costa da morte
a costa da morte [Muxia]
caminho Muxia- Fisterra
caminho Muxia- Fisterra
What are your plans anyway?.
I'm going to walk back to Santiago, and then descend south along the coast, Oporto, Coimbra, Fatima, Lisboa!
Vale papi, hablamos!.
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