Epilog: Pilgrim's Mass

It's weird not to be spending a third of the day walking.  It's been nice to go to restaurants and cafés.  Friday's rains didn't encourage much else.

Check out these effigies.  They used to be stored in a corner of the cathedral.  They appear to be from the feast of the three kings.   We found them in the old pilgrim's office,  next to the cathedral. 

Tina and I walked to the cathedral to catch the 9:30 AM pilgrim's mass.

The cathedral has been beautifully renovated, inside and out.   Mass wasn't too long, but one of the cool parts was that a part of it was done in Polish by two of the three priests celebrating the mass.  Tina appreciated that.

If you look closely at the photo,  in the center of the altarpiece, there's a large figure of Saint James.  Before the mass, we climbed up behind the altar and gave him a hug.  It's a very special tradition. 

On our way to lunch,  Tina had the idea to duck into an alley that she'd seen someone come out of.  We discovered a community garden not two blocks from the cathedral.  Who knew?

Lunch was at a restaurant that we discovered in 2006 when I lived here with the kids. We'd come back over the years, and the owner would recognize us. I mentioned it to our waitress, and she said "That's my grandfather."  It was apparent that she ran the place now.  Later, he came out and said hello to us.  He was very old...

I did not buy any of this wine,  but I thought "what a good name!"

It's now Saturday,  our last full day here.  This afternoon,  our friends Dave and Andy should be arriving... and I'll finally get those beers Dave owes me.

There'll be one more post on this Camino, and that'll be one on lessons learned and funny bits that got left out.  After that, we'll pick up in Gijon when Tina's ready to finish.