March 11 Santiago De Compostella 

We are staying in a hotel which is right across the square from the Santigao De Compostella cathedral.  It was a Benedictine monks quarters but has since been converted into a hotel.  However is very original old stone floors and everything however it is really cold.  I can only imagine how cold it was when the monks were here as the windows have been replaced and there are lots of modern conveniences which have been incorporated.  

We joined a very noisy breakfast room this morning but there was lots of coffee to be had so after a week of suffering through 1.5 oz very bitter little shots of coffee or 4 oz shots of warm milk and with 1.5 oz of very bitter coffee it was great.  I was on vacuum and got about 4 cups of regular North American coffee.

After breakfast the three of us wandered across the plaza to visit the cathedral. It is absolutely amazing. The incredible detailed stone work every where you look.  The incredibly ornate alters.  The gold leaf on so many of the statues and alters is just mind boggling.  It isn't really well marked but there is a place where you can go down this really narrow passageway to look through a glass window to see the casket containing the bones of the apostle St James.  It was St James who spread the Christian faith to Spain and it was only fitting that he would be buried here.  

After our tour of the Cathedral we went next door and visited the Museum of the Pilgrims.  It was excellently presented.  They talked about a lot of the different pilgrimages from different faiths as well as presenting a history of Santiago de Compostella and how the cathedral got built.  There was a lot of art which had been done through the ages. 

It was pouring rain so we didn't wander too far before we found a nice restaurant to have lunch in.  It was warm and after lunch we all felt like having a nap so we headed back to the hotel.

On the way back to the hotel Judy and I picked up a few souvenirs in a couple of the local junk shops. 

I thought I would post a couple of photos of my pilgrimage documentation just so that there is no doubt as to the authenticity of this. 

We will have our usual picnic supper here in the hotel tonight and tomorrow Ken and Judy will fly to Madrid and I am transferring to an airport hotel.  All three of us are on the same flight back to the US on Monday.

Terry