Friday night we went to a special mass at the Cathedral. They have mass a couple of times each day but usually only swing the big incense burner on Sundays. Apparently the huge amount of incense required costs a lot of money so they will do a special service if someone pays for it. The incense burner is enormous and the special thing is it’s rigged on a pulley system and it takes 6 men to pull the rope that sets it swinging almost up to the ceiling. I’ve heard a few stories about why they do it; most of them agree that the pilgrims used to sit in the upper levels (possibly because they smelled bad) and the church wanted the incense to reach them. It’s really a spectacular ceremony.

It was a nice closing to the trip to Santiago de Compostela.

Ellen has arrived safely. We had a great night out, one last hurrah with all of my Camino friends.

Jonathan (who I shared a wonderful celebratory cuban cigar with in the park), me, cousin ellen, and James

Yesterday we had a long, bittersweet goodbye with many people I have come to care a lot about.

John and Peter, two sweet Australian men.

The “fabulous five,” who I’ve been with since Pamplona.

And then we started walking again. It was very bittersweet leaving Santiago; many people were staying behind due to injury or time constraints. And we are all ready to be done walking. But 8 people are continuing on to the coast. We have 2 more days to go but are already talking about running in to the sea.

One lovely thing; only about 5% of people who arrive in Santiago continue on to Finisterre on foot, so the paths are quiet again. A lot of hills but we’ve had perfect weather today and it’s forecasted to stay. A wonderful wind-down.

Goodbye Santiago!