Day 16 Finsterre to Santiago de Compostela

What joy -we had only the two of us in our room last night, so uninterrupted sweet sleep. Was able to send a short group email. Packed up and walked along the water in search of cafe con leche. Ran into the couple we had seen in Melide, and were able to travel back to Santiago in a van that had dropped off a group of pilgrims earlier. Same price as the bus, and much less time than the local bus. The HUGE bonus was that I would be able to get to the noon service at the Cathedral (due to time had willingly given this up in order to see the sunrise the previous night).


After communion, I moved forward to speak with a biker I had seen on the Camino, and who was standing very close to the rope barrier. With delight and surprize, I saw the botafumerio being loaded with incense and realized we would witness the swinging of it! The silver botafumerio is a censer standing 1.6 m tall and weighing 60 kgs. It requires several men to swing the rope. I was as close as humanly possible to the botafumerio as it swung in a huge arc, flying through the air, trailing incense. My heart was so full - a final blessing of the Camino. I took a video and will include it here. The video is quite long, but you will see that the whole thing is quite the performance. Luckily Brian figured out how to straighten the video so that you are not looking at it sidewise. Thanks! You will find the video at the bottom left of this post.

It is traditional for pilgrims to pay homage to St. James the Apostle. There is a small camarin (or little chamber) behind the high altar where one can hug the statue of St. James and say a prayer of thanksgiving. Then to the crypt to visit what remains of the tomb of the Apostle and his disciples. There is an excavated chapel on whose altar rests the Apostle's Urn - a silver chest fashioned by local creftsmen in 1886. Inside the chest are the mortal remains of St. James the Apostle and his disciples Theodore and Athanasius. Photos are prohibited. On the kneeling bench I say my prayer of thanksgiving for a safe journey from Oviedo.


A late dinner after some shopping (there were windows loaded with amber). Drool...
Paris tomorrow, then home to Vancouver. Hard to believe. It is always wonderful to travel; equally wonderful to return home.