On Leaving Santiago

Hi all,
Well the "Black Cat" is no more. There is a "Black Cat" image on the wall but the doors are long since locked. However the ever resourceful duo of Italian counts, Massimo and Francisco, found a superb tapas bar and introduced us to the delights of tapas, eight off. None of your Glasgow kiddy-on stuff, the real deal.

Left there and moved towards the square in front of the Cathedral where we had arranged to meet a few of the others. Progress towards our destination was constantly halted as the two charmers enocuntered many of the peolple thay had met on the Camino and each meeting consisted of lots of hugs for them and excited banter. It was great to watch how much joy they brought to each of the meetings. No wonder they are the idols of the Camino, especially for the ladies.

Finally we made it to the main square and found that more and more of our fellow travellers had arrived ahead of schedule. Last night we met the wonderful Roman lawyer Oscar who was disappointed at not being able to book into the $300 per night Parador. Tough at the top.

Nicole from Hamburg plus Vita and Kathleen from Belgium (who had walked from Belgium) had also arrived and a great time was had by all. We bought some wine and had the really good fortune to be entertained by a Gallician folk band (20 thereof) for about three hours. Greg and I even sang, he in Gaelic to great applause, and around 1 o´clock the oldies left the troops to their fate. We discovered that the guys had found the only bar open in Santiago and danced away until about 2.30. I don´t even remember those days.

This morning we decided to avail ourselves of the free breakfast offered to the first 10 peregrinos who turn up at the Parador for 9.00am. Six of "us" duly arrived at 8.00am and were joined in dribs and drabs by 5 others. That makes 11, only 10 are allowed. Senor 11 (as well as one of the others) is a permanent peregrino, moving from one Camino to another as a way of life and places like the Parador are a source of free food. Consequently he was not for moving on and that set the stage for a bit of queue jumping which was thankfully avoided when two of the prospective breakfast guest had to leave because they could not produce the Compostela, which is necessary for entrance to the feast. Hence the crowd had reduced to 9 and all were admitted.

The management did nothing to resolve the situation but then the management at this point is the car park attendent who no doubt has other priorities than sorting out queuing rights for peregrinios. The feast was a cup of coffee and some bread, hardly worth the wait but that was not really the point of the visit, at least for "us".

Also the manner in which we were all treated, courteous enough but basically as tokens to a long forgotten ideal, highlighted once again that the only people to whom we the peregrinos are special, is to ourselves. I am sure the shrinks would do a number on this tribal bonding but it somehow begs the question of just how enlightened we become on this or any other Camino. Mark you, it is not the first time I have heard it said by those who have done this before, that the Camino only really takes effect after the walking stops. I hope so.

Said goodbye to Massimo and Fransico who are off to walk the four days to Fisterre. Good luck guys and thank you for your company and support. Look forward to receiving the photos.

On a lighter note, I have done the tourist bit and bought the presents, all bar the chocolates and my Camino Tshirt.

Greg has to be out tomorrow morning at 4.00am to start is journey back to Owen Sound in Toronto, I at 8.30am for Prestwick. Doesn´t sound as exciting but for me it can´t come quick enough.

I will produce an epilouge sometime later in the week but in the meantime I want to thank everyone for their support and encouragement over the past four weeks. It meant a lot to us, especially during the down times.

best,
Arthur