The Cowling Way: Pilgrims Mass and Pictures of Santiago

We were not on a religious pilgrimage but heck, if you get the opportunity to attend a mass specifically for pilgrims and get blessed for your journey... Why not? The mass was conducted entirely in Spanish. The nuns sing and conduct most of the mass with a priest serving communion and providing a message. The pipe organ was particularly beautiful.

The pipe organ is covered with cherubs.

There is a tradition to hug or press your forehead against the replica of Saint James one of the apostles to gather his wisdom. When in Rome....

There is controversy over if this is the actual burial site of St.James but I went down to check it out.

This is a giant incense burner called a botafumeiro. It takes about ten men to swing it the length of the cathedral. Only used today for special masses such as Easter but originally was a routine part of every pilgrims mass to cover the sweaty and foul smell of the pilgrims.

We roamed around Santiago today. Here are some random pictures of the old town area and a park that we visited.

We had a special treat to meet up for drinks with Trevor Huxham. Trevor has a blog site called a Texan in Spain. He has walked the Camino and was kind enough to respond to email questions that I had. Trevor mentioned that he lived in Santiago and we were pleased that we could get together. Trevor is an elementary English teaching assistant. He has been here for three years but will be returning toTexas at the end of the school year.

I just have to post about beer and wine in Spain. First it is cheap and each and every bar provides you with a free tapa to go with your drink. This was 4 euro total (about five dollars US). We have had everything from olives, mussels to cheese and meats. We just keep saying we would be looking at 25 bucks in the US before the expected tip which btw is not expected in Europe.