ZippySails

So we didn't trudge into Santiago late at night but instead walked the rest of the way from our sleeping grounds and took in the beautiful image before us as the Cathedral revealed itself over the hill. I can only image arriving here after walking 800 or so kilometers like many we met (we walked 114, just enough to get our official certificate). We found an Alberque, showered, dropped our packs off and went to the noon day mass which is the one in honor of the pilgrims as the hikers are called. The Cathedral of course is grand but is unique in that hanging from the very high ceiling is the famous urn of intense. This urn is swung at some of the masses said each day. It is a magestic site to experience we have heard, swinging from one side of the Cathedral to the other going all the way to the ceiling on each side. We unfortunately were not at one of these masses. We tried several different times to witness this but did not (thank you Utube though). We also visited the tomb of St James, the Apostle who's body resides here. Hard to grasp the reality of standing in the presence of Jesus brother. We walked the city and saw the road where the pilgrims coming from France walked in. We sat at a cafe and watched the hikers coming down the hill and cheered them on.