On Friday morning, it was the usual packing up, checking out, last one on one discussions and the certificate ceremony where everyone got a certificate for participating. After lunch, it was back on the bus for nearly four hours due to Friday traffic. I returned to the Best Western Prima Hotel for one more night. Saturday morning, I went out for one last walk around Wroclaw. It is a maze of bridges over the many rivers, channels, moats and canals.
I also came across this huge tree on my walk. It had to be at least seven feet in diameter, yet was happily growing in the middle of the sidewalk.
Saturday late morning, I went to the airport via taxi and then flew on Lufthansa to Munich, Frankfurt
and finally Madrid, arriving around 7:30 p.m. I took a cab to the Axor
Hotel where I spent the night. Sunday, I was up early and took the 6:30
a.m. shuttle to the airport for my 8:35 flight on Iberia Express to
Santiago de Compestela. I arrived around 10:00, took a cab to la
Oficina del Peregrinos - the Pilgrims Office - where I was to volunteer
for the week. I spent a four hour shift there and got my schedule of four shifts for the week.
David and Susu are both full time employees, working a 40 hour week spread over six days per week. They are also both tiraboleiros - the men who pull the ropes for the botafumeiro in the Santiago Cathedral. The fumeiro is the smoking urn where incense is burning and that swings side to side and up and down in the cathedral to honor the pilgrims who have reached Santiago. Sesu (nickname in Gallegos for Jesus) took me to the cathedral to watch this event which is held at the end of the mass. Since it was Sunday, the cathedral was packed with every seat full and many of us standing. The photo shows the five tirabolieros pulling on the rope and the video attempts to show a little bit of the action.
After my shift, David and Sesu drove me to the apartment where I would stay for the week. I relaxed, unpacked, and then had lunch at La Burgereia Restaurant, located down the street from my apartment. The special of the day was a cheeseburger with lettuce, a fried egg and chorizo on top, fries and a beer.
Afterwards, I explored the city and had a quiet Sunday evening, with some fruit, yogurt, bread and cheese I found at a local convenience store. And so begins my next adventure.
I also came across this huge tree on my walk. It had to be at least seven feet in diameter, yet was happily growing in the middle of the sidewalk.
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| My Sunday breakfast at the airport: coffee, orange juice, quiche and large clementine oranges |
David and Susu are both full time employees, working a 40 hour week spread over six days per week. They are also both tiraboleiros - the men who pull the ropes for the botafumeiro in the Santiago Cathedral. The fumeiro is the smoking urn where incense is burning and that swings side to side and up and down in the cathedral to honor the pilgrims who have reached Santiago. Sesu (nickname in Gallegos for Jesus) took me to the cathedral to watch this event which is held at the end of the mass. Since it was Sunday, the cathedral was packed with every seat full and many of us standing. The photo shows the five tirabolieros pulling on the rope and the video attempts to show a little bit of the action.
After my shift, David and Sesu drove me to the apartment where I would stay for the week. I relaxed, unpacked, and then had lunch at La Burgereia Restaurant, located down the street from my apartment. The special of the day was a cheeseburger with lettuce, a fried egg and chorizo on top, fries and a beer.
Afterwards, I explored the city and had a quiet Sunday evening, with some fruit, yogurt, bread and cheese I found at a local convenience store. And so begins my next adventure.
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