It's not the end

First try at Santiago

I arrived in Santiago around ten o'clock today. There was some sort of festival with bagpipes and drums, a bishop, speeches and music. I hung around for three hours, then went to the front yard of the church. It was too much, so many people, tourist trinkets... I didn't even visit the church. I'm back at the camping site taking it easy. Tomorrow I'll check the church again.

Today I was in the center early. First I was the only person on the streets, then there were some walkers. Not many people in front of the church. Some had arrived on horseback and were posing there with their poop bucket. They had a car driving after them and a guy who brought a bucket and a shovel next to the horses. I entered the church through the special gate, only open during the holy year. I examined all the rooms I could get into. Then the church service started. Someone had paid for the botafumeiro, which is a mega-sized incense burner that is whirled around, so that also happened. People seemed to be thrilled about that. The priest seemed funny, although I don't know why, since I couldn't understand.

On the church yard I bumped into Team Athletic. I had a coffee with Jeron, Mariere, Francois and Chris. Mariere had been in Finland, in Karjaa in the eighties as a swedish teacher. We were the last ones to stay after the others went for the next church service. After that I waited in different lines for an hour to get the Compostela, the certificate of the Camino. Walked around the town, but as it was sunday, nothing was open. You could get into the shopping mall, and people were just walking there, even with all the shops closed. Probably because of the air conditioning. It's real hot here. I decided to walk to the ocean. I got another credential from the tourist office. Off I go in the morning.