We woke up today and did not have to go anywhere except to the Pilgrims’ office and the noon mass at the Cathedral. What are we going to do with ourselves?

The pilgrims office opened at 10am. Prior to visiting this office, we visited the Santiago tourist office. Here, we found that there is a walk to participate in where the path goes around all the historical sites near the Cathedral. It will take 3 hours to complete. Well, that is an option for the day.

We arrived at the pilgrims’ office sharp at 10 am and there was already a long line-up of peregrinos. We stood in line to await our turns for questioning and obtain our certificate. The questions would be: did we walk all the way? What are our reasons for doing the camino? Religious or other? If you state other, your certificate will not be in Latin. So when it was my turn, I state that I did the walk for religious purpose and got my Latin “Paper of Honor”. My name Hilda was also written in Latin, HILDAUM. Marybel’s is Mariabellaum.

I calculated the distance I have walked and it is 395 kms, not the 762 kms that I originally intended to do. It is still quite a feat for someone like me who has never done something like this before.

Later at the noon hour, we took in the pilgrims’ mass. The priest announced how many pilgrims arrived from which country but did not mention names. We missed the part when he announced Canada.

I have to say this. When I took communion in Ponferrada, the host got stuck to the roof of my mouth. My mother always said that it was because not all of our sins have been forgiven and Christ have a problem entering a body not yet purified. The holy sacrament was incredibly stuck on the roof of my mouth refusing to go down my throat on Easter day. Must have had an abundance of sins.

Now in Santiago, the holy sacrament slid so easily down my throat. No problem going down. Doing the camino must have absolved my many sins….lol. I don’t know if this is true but I will take it as so and rejoice that perhaps a purification of some form had happened on the Camino path.

We shared lunch with Sarah, Kathleen and yes, our famous Japanese Family. We chatted about life after the camino. The Morimotos will continue on their travels until February 2014 and then will resume their normal lives as Tokizo has to go to school. Sarah will visit her son in Germany for 10 days and Kathleen will return home after Fisterre. Here is another interesting event, Kathleen was an opera singer in her university days and we caught her street performance quite by chance, later in the evening (almost missed it). She sang accompanying a street performer playing an instrument and it was most enchanting. Once she was done, the people in the crowd were wonderfully surprised that she was not part of the street act and that she was a peregrina singing for them. She also advises that she has never done something like this before. You do get braver when no one knows you in a different country.

It was such a beautiful day today weather-wise. Light breezes, clear blue skies and sunny all throughout. I sat outside by myself in front of the cathedral for a while and just people-watch. Marybel was taking a nap in the hostal. The cathedral is next to the Hotel Parador Santiago which is reputed to be the oldest hotel in Spain. We will visit the Parador for breakfast tommorrow morning. While sitting in this main square, I caught sight of Darth Vader, Han Solo, Princess Leia and several storm troopers coming out onto one of the hotel’s balcony. What, you say! Yes, I was quite surprised too. There was a small performance of light sabre sword fight. The characters also posed and waved to the crowd in the square. I went into the hotel lobby and inquired if there was a Star Wars Convention happening. The answer is no. There is a party and people have rented a room and dressed up in the Star Wars outfits. That must have been the theme of the party. Marybel later offered another theory that it was probably a wedding party. Most Plausible. Myself being a Star Wars geek, found this to be just the moment for me. Here I was basking in the sun outside the Santiago Cathedral main plaza absorbing the vibes of the church’s surroundings and then a live Darth Vader and his gang enters the scene to provide the ultimate entertainment for me, the sci-fi geek. Who could ask for more? It was just so perfect.

I also have to let you know that I will visit St James tomb tommorrow as I did not want to do this today without Marybel. There I will place the colorful bracelet of desires/prayers and will ask St James to intercede on your behalf.

Peace and love
Hilda 🙂