Today we got to sleep in. Well, that is if you consider 8:30 sleeping in. (We were still in an albergue where they have early check-outs). We walked down to breakfast (well, I limped down), which was in the cafeteria for the albergue. I had pretty bad “kankles” by now, and ibuprofen only helped a little with the pain. Breakfast was tasty; in addition to toast they also had fruit and yogurt. What a buffet! Haha.
Next we got on our tour bus and rode into Santiago. Pilgrim mass at the cathedral is every day at noon, so we had a couple hours to walk around before going into the church. I walked around with Sylvie because we were able to move at about the same pace (Sylvie had blisters between her toes that were holding her back). I bought a Camino t-shirt and bracelet as souvenirs. Then I bought some Dramamine in case the bus ride back to Alicante began to give me any trouble. I was willing to do just about anything in order to prevent myself from another horrible puking experience, except perhaps walking to Alicante. (Actually, it’s probably a good thing that my feet were hurting so bad, because otherwise I don’t think I would have gotten on the bus).
Around 11:40 we went into the cathedral, thinking that by getting there early we could get good seats up front. Wow, were we wrong! We could barely fit into the cathedral and it was a challenge making are way into the transept. So it looks like we’d be standing. Apparently, the pilgrim’s mass is dedicated to pilgrims who had completed the camino the day before, but anyone can still attend. So, this meant the building was full of children on field trips, tour groups, nuns, etc.
I’m not exactly sure when mass “began”, but when we were walking in there was a nun singing in Gallego. Her voice was good, not exceptional, but the effect of her voice reverberating off cathedral walls made me want to convert right then and there. It made me wonder how I’d sound singing there. If everyone sounds decent singing in the shower, maybe everyone sounds good in a cathedral? As others around us started joining in singing, the music felt like a power force circulating through the crowd.
Then some religious guys walked down the nave and began to read from the bible. Gallego is not Spanish, but a dialect/derivative of it, and with the echo it was hard to understand any of it. Even if it were in English though, I think it would be hard to follow. This must be why my friends thought church was boring; preaching. But, since churches are always competing against each other for audiences, they can’t keep it boring for too long. So, out came the botafumeiro.
The botafumeiro is an incense burner, weighing 53 kg, which swings across the transept. According to my guide book, it reaches a speed of 68km/hr and misses hitting the ceiling by only 51 cm! It is quite a site to see, let me tell you. In order to get it in motion, it needs a crew of about 8 men pulling on a pulley system. According to my guide book as well, the botafumeiro has fallen twice in its history, in 1499 and 1622, yikes! This was definitely the coolest part of mass, but the showiness of it made me question whether it was even all that religious or just something to attract crowds. Apparently, it served a more useful purpose in the middle ages of hiding people’s stench, since showering wasn’t exactly common practice.
After mass we walked up to the same restaurant as the day before for lunch. Because we would be leaving on the bus directly afterward, I was afraid to eat very much. So, I ordered two salads (for my first plate and second plate).
To give you all an idea of how tired we all were, let me tell you something. After lunch, we had 45 minutes to do whatever we wanted before we had to load the bus and almost our entire group chose to sit outside in the plaza for this time. Those that left were back within ten minutes and sitting as well. We were all just so beat and exhausted.
Then we boarded the bus, I more hesitantly than others. It was around 4pm by this time and we were scheduled to arrive back in Alicante between 5am and 7am. During this time I managed to sleep about a half hour, maybe an hour. My ankles were red and swollen and hot to the touch. They looked like I had gotten a really bad sunburn, but just in that one area. But, lots and lots of Friends episodes kept me at least somewhat occupied, and to my huge relief, I didn’t get carsick.
I was home in my room by 6am and spent the entire day (and following days) resting, icing, and catching up on e-mails. After about a week one of my ankles was still bothering me so I went to the doctor. He said I had tendonitis and that all I could really do was rest and wait it out. A week later I had recovered entirely and began to use the stairs in my apartment building again.
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