May 30 Friday - Baiona to Santiago Like A Trip Home

May 30 Friday - Baiona to Santiago

Like A Trip Home

I woke up to a bright sunny day today. Baiona was sparkling. Mr. Burple and I went down to breakfast and enjoyed our café while looking outside at the sunshine. It's really strange, but this trip I have not wanted to have tostada con mantequilla y mermelada, since the first week. I look at it on the breakfast buffet or think about it at the restaurant, and decide against having it. Very weird. This trip is so different in so many ways from my first two Caminos. It's not a value like better or worse, just very different. Maybe part of the difference is that it isn't a straight line, it's been straight and squiggly and loopy and zig zag. It's been transforming as I go. Currently, I'm calling this portion the "Camino de Los Paradores."

But, I digress. After breakfast, I got packed and headed to town to catch the bus to Vigo to catch the bus to Santiago. Surprise! I didn't get lost or miss any buses. How amazing. I chatted with a woman at the bus stop who had come out to Baiona, from her hometown, to buy fish. She said it is good and it is fresh. It comes right off the fishing boats into the market. She also wanted to know where my husband was, and whether I liked Baiona or my hometown best. I couldn't choose. They are both beautiful. But then she asked me if I would rather live in my hometown or in Baiona. That was an easy choice. I love my home, my friends, and my family. I live in paradise.   

So I got to Santiago and checked into the Parador. The room isn't as nice as the ones in Zamora and Baiona. But it is nice and has a lot of history. It used to be a refuge for pilgrims needing shelter and medical care. It was also an orphanage. 

The info says, "There was a window with a bell and a revolving compartment. A person would ring the bell and wait to hear 'Ave Maria, gratis plena' and then they would leave the newborn," presumably on the revolving platform. 

There is some very interesting history. I took pictures of some of the carvings that were supposed to represent sins. Cracked me up. Then there were the gargoyles, which are actually roof drains, that have no biblical reference. I spent an hour or so exploring this history. I may spend some more time at the end of June when I'm in town for two weeks. Anyone can go in and look at the courtyards and read to placards. You don't have to be a hotel guest. 

This evening I sat in one of the small plazas eating dinner and watching pilgrims greet people they had met along the Camino with great joy. It is a delight to watch people's whole being light up when they recognize someone they had seen or spent time with over the course of the Camino. There are always shouts of greetings, hugs, and laughter. I had many moments like those myself. It even happens on the Camino when you see someone for a few days, then you don't see them for a while, and the you walk into an albergue and there they are. It is such a treat. 

For some strange reason, I turned on the TV tonight and watched old episodes of Castle and Bones. It's a good way to improve your Spanish. And now I'm tucked into my cozy bed in my cozy room and soon it will be time to sleep. Tomorrow I catch the train to Zamora after I stop by and say "hello" to my friend John. 

Night all.