More from Santiago

Today we attended the Pilgrims´Mass at Santiago Cathedral. The names of the countries of origin of pilgrims who have arrived in Santiago the previous day were read out. While we Canadians get grouped with Americans and called Norte Americanos, it was still great to hear Norte America read out.

The mass was actually very nicely done. A nun with a wonderful soprano voice sang several hymns and engaged a multilingual audience in the singing. A priest welcomed pilgrims with a short welcome in five different languages. It was quite an experience to experience the interior of a gothic cathedral with a mass going on. One can really understand the awe that medieval pilgrims must have viewed the magnificence of the Cathedral!

After the pain in our feet subsided and we had a day to rest we are already thinking of our next walk in two years time. We think we will forego a trip to Finnestre by by bus and instead walk it as part of our next trip. While we are not sure which part of which road we might do in two years, but Jim is leaning to he southern route that begins in Sevilla.

We purchased our train tickets for the 11 hour train ride to Bilbao on Wednesday.. Given our experience with the volcano ash cloud and our flight to Bilbao as our trip began, we decided to take the train to Bilbao instead.

Looking forward to home, family, friends, and pets!

All our best,
Jim and Wendy