Day 8 Santiago – Pilgrims Mass – Thursday 9^th May 2013

 

 

Did I say our lodgings were damp on our first night in Santiago?

As usual we were up early and packed by 8.00 am and we moved to more expensive but vastly superior accommodation in the Hotel de Aliaga on Rua Aliaga Arriba, about five minutes from the Cathedral.

Taking no chances, Phil and I took our places in the Cathdedral at 10.30 for the 12.00 noon Pilgrims Mass. We were hoping to see the giant thurible, the Botafumeiro in action. Despite it being Ascension Thursday, sadly we did not.  I enjoyed the serenity of the Cathedral, other than the rock band warming up outside in the Cathedral Square during the Mass.

But it was cold, very cold inside. So much that when we repaired to a café I added an amaretto to it on purely medicinal grounds.

 

Barry, Josephine and Joe in the picture, and myself (taking the picture) decided to go on a tour of the Museum and the Cathedral. It was money very well spent. Later on, we were about to embark on a roof top tour of the Cathedral when the rock band struck up again and we could not hear ourselves. The apologetic guides returned our ticket prices. It seemed they enjoyed the noise even less than we did.

 

View from the cloister. We were impressed by the Cathedral. So much so we shelved the idea of spending the next day in A Coruna in favour of exploring further the delights of Santiago and its many churches.