Santiago de Compostela (Saturday)

On Saturday morning I went into the city and made a beeline for the cathedral to meet Jeff for the Pilgrim’s Mass. Most of the service was in Spanish and I haven’t come to religious ceremonies in my Duolingo lessons yet so I was a bit clueless but I got the gist. After the Communion the incense was released through the botafumeiro - they don’t do this every day so it was special to see it and the ‘tiraboleiros’ clearly know what they’re doing to make that thing swing - when it takes flight, it really takes off in terms of speed & height. (There’s some further background on this mesmerising tradition here.)

For the rest of the morning and the afternoon Jeff and I hung out and got a really good catch up on a cafe crawl. The old city isn’t exactly wheelchair-friendly  which is understandable but even in newer parts of the town the lowered kerbs still had a significant lip for wheelchairs - there’s a bit to go in terms of disability access. Saturday morning was cool & damp but definitely still shorts weather by Irish standards and then the sun came out for the rest of the day.

On the Saturday night Jeff & his group were having a special celebratory dinner. As you can see from his pic below, he was intent on making a statement (and FYI, that’s not magenta, pink or anything else, Jeff says it’s fuchsia).

I left them to it and spent late afternoon & early evening on more wanderings around the old streets, gelato and soaking up the sunshine in Parque de Alameda, I had a gorgeous dinner in Taberna A Fuego Lento where the staff were lovely and I got to watch the world go by. I felt like I wanted to freeze the moment in time because I was in total holiday mode, eating good food al fresco and the wine was excellent (if anyone can tell me how to procure a supply of El Buscador Rioja you’ll be on my Christmas card list for life).

Above: Isn’t this a marvellous tree in Parque de Alameda?

Below: View towards the Cathedral from the park.