Day 38 - Muxia to Santiago de Compostela

 

The problem with sleeping in a dormitory is that one person can wake everybody with a little thoughtlessness. 

This morning I had to be up early for the bus back to Santiago. It left at 6:30 and there might be a lot of peregrinos waiting for it. I had set my watch alarm for 6am as I was already mostly packed and it wouldn’t take me long to get out and walk five minutes to the bus stop. I woke at 4am and didn’t really sleep again. Some people started getting restless at 5:30 and at 5:40 somebody’s phone alarm started to go off. The trouble was, he was in the men’s toilet/shower block. It kept ringing for quite a few minutes until he came running back in. I think we were all awake by then. So I was up, washed, packed and out the door before my alarm went off. I went down to the bus stop and there was already a crowd there, including Adrian from the Netherlands. We all had a good laugh about the walk the day before. Everyone seemed wide awake, as if it was the middle of the day. I can only assume that everyone get used to functioning with a lot less sleep on the Camino.

We were in Santiago by 8:30 and I made bee line for my luxury accommodation for the next 4 nights. I am staying in San Martino Pinario – a former monastery which also provided for the pilgrims to Santiago. It is now a hotel but Adrian said the when the monks sold or leased it (?), they insisted that it should still cater for the pilgrims as well as tourists. Pilgrims get a special rate of 25 euros per night, including a buffet breakfast.

A little while after I had got there, I turned around and there was Adrian who I had been speaking to on the bus only an hour earlier. I didn’t know it, but he was staying there too. His niece is on holiday in a camper van  in Portugal, and suggested she pick him up and drive back to the Netherlands together. So, as Adrian had to wait in Santiago until his niece could get to him, he was staying there too.

Adrian was also looking for Anna (also from the Netherlands), who he had met when they were walking the Camino Via de la Plata (I think). After that Camino, Adrian had immediately started the Camino Finisterre, where I had met him, but Anna had stayed in Santiago. So while we were queuing for breakfast, Anna joined us. As we were not residents at this time, we paid for our breakfasts. You should have seen the three of us, it was like we hadn’t seen food for weeks. Adrian joked that they couldn’t possibly make any profit from the peregrinos. The other hotel guests must have wondered what was happening as we set about the buffet.

Eventually, when the rooms were ready, I made it up to my room. The web site makes it very clear that these are not plush rooms, they are for pilgrims. So, my expectations were not very high. They are the rooms originally used by the monks and the breakfast room was the monks dining room, including the pulpit, where the bible would be read to them during their meals as they sat, eating in silence.

My 'cell' for a few days

So, my monk’s cell is probably a lot plusher than it would have been when occupied by a monk. Never the less, it is quite thought provoking to think that a man would have spent every night in here. This was his space. His only personal space where he would have slept , prayed, cried and thought about things in his world.

I have my own bed, toilet and shower. It feels so luxurious. I am really not joking. After spending five weeks sleeping in dorms, it feels amazing. No one to wake me up by their snoring or getting up to go to the loo in the middle of the night; and not worrying if I will disturb others, if I do the same. That’s not to say I hated the dorms, in many ways, I had become accustomed to it. It just feels luxurious having my own space (and breakfast in the morning).

Apart from not doing a great deal today, I took the opportunity to wander around the old parts of Santiago. Like many old towns and cities, the streets twist and turn, get narrow and then suddenly open up into a square (or Plaza). Santiago is a lovely city, with these very narrow alleys and streets twisting and turning and then arriving at a Plaza with four streets leading away like a maze. I kept thinking, have I been here before?

I got into the Cathedral too. It really is impressive from the inside, as is the amazing architecture outside. To be honest, the crowds put me off. It is more of a museum that a church, but I guess you could say that for most cathedrals around the world. I did take time to sit on my own and pray while everything went on around me. Then I too took interest in all of the history. I went down into the crypt and saw the silver casket that reportedly contains the remains of Saint James, the brother of John, and one of the twelve disciples of Jesus.

I also saw the huge incense burner that occasionally get’s swung (the Botafumeiro) during the 12pm pilgrim’s daily mass. I would love to see the spectacle, but I don’t think it happens all that regularly. It was originally used to fumigate or at least to help with the smell of the sweaty (and possibly disease-ridden) pilgrims.

Last time I stayed in the (different) albergue in Santiago (day 32), the manager gave me lots of tips about Santiago, where to get my Compostela, where to get a photograph of the cathedral etc. and where to get a good lunch, with a set price menu. So tonight, I sought out a restaurant – Casa Manolo. It didn’t open until 7:30, which is late for me but early to the local residents. I turned up at 7:35 and found a queue of 15 to 20 people outside, with the doors still shut! This must be a really good place, I thought, as I joined the end of the queue. Five minutes later, they started letting us in and getting us seated, menu choices etc. There were only three member of staff serving and they were running round like anything, but they all knew what they were doing to keep everyone happy.

I chose a minestrone soup and for a main, I had octopus rings in batter and potato slices, like thick crisps, and salad. The soup was amazing and never like a minestrone soup I have had before. I had a bottle of red wine a bottle of water. I poured myself a glass of both and then half way through the meal, I realised that my bottle of wine had disappeared! I was dumfounded, where did it go? Has someone taken it? I even looked under the table to see if it was there! In the end, I called the waiter to say someone has taken my bottle of wine. I didn’t do a good job, but in the end he realised I wanted a bottle of wine, so he got me another one.

It was about 10 minutes later that I realised that none of the other tables had bottles of wine on them either, just the water. Then the penny dropped, I wasn’t meant to keep the bottle, just have a glass of wine. It was just like someone had made up the rules of the game but no one had told me. Previously, in other albergues or restaurants I would get a bottle of cheap wine with the meal and I assumed that this was happening again.

I then resorted to Google Translate on my phone to explain that I was confused about the wine and sorry that I had requested another bottle. When the waiter was passing, I showed him the message. It was at this stage I realise they were going to charge me for the new bottle. After that was cleared up, they took the bottle back and only charged me for another glass.

After that, it was back to my monks cell for a good nights sleep.