Galicia

Santiago de Compostela is a small city with a huge cathedral and a special history. A really long time ago the remains of Saint Santiago (I forgot his English name) were found at the site of the current cathedral. The Catholic Church decided to build a monument in his honor, a cathedral that would hold his remains.

According to tradition, when you go inside the cathedral you have to give the bust of Santiago, which sits on top of his tomb, a hug and you have to touch, or headbutt, your head to the back of his. I don’t know why exactly, but tradition says this is what you do so this is what I did. In the cathedral is also the largest botafumaero in the world (a botafumaero is the incense dispenser used in the catholic church). It weighs 54 kilos and it takes eight men to pull the ropes of the pully system to get it to swing over the congregation. It was historically used to cover up the stinky smell of the pilgrims.


Santiago de Compostela is the last city of the Camino de Santiago, the pilgrimage that starts in southern France and crosses northern Spain, covering over 800km and lasting about 30-33 days. Before coming to Santiago I had wanted (you know, like “oh that would be kind of cool to do someday” kind of a feeling) to do this pilgrimage at some time in my life, but being there and seeing the pilgrims sitting in front of the cathedral (especially amazing where the young women who did the walk alone) solidified and intensified my desire to do the walk. Whether religious or not, the spiritual journey is said by many to be incredibly rewarding and life changing. I have already signed Caitlyn up to be my walking buddy but if anyone else is interested (I am really serious about this…I have promised myself that I will do this, so the sooner the better) let me know. You can’t tell me you don’t want to walk 800km and spend 30+ days in northern Spain where it is more likely to rain than be sunny.

I also went to a teeny tiny fishing village called Cabo Finisterre, The End of the World. This is the westernmost point on the Iberian Peninsula and once thought to be the end of the world, literally where you would fall over the side of the Earth. Many pilgrims doing the Camino de Santiago continue their journey until they reach the coast, where they burn their clothes and throw the ashes into the wind (doesn’t this sound great?!? Okay, who wants to do it with me??).