Our last duty as pilgrims was to attend the pilgrim mass at the cathedral at midday. It was packed but we managed to get seats. The numbers ofpilgrims arriving that day in Santiago with the nationalities and starting points was read out and we even got to see the huge incense burner, the 'botafumeiro' swung which was brilliant (perhaps it was paid for by the American tour group). Then we went behind the altar to hug the statue of St James and then down into the sepulchre to revere his bones. I lit two candles for my dad there as he asked me to.
We were now tourists and went off for lunch and a massive souvenir binge! We hadn't done any shopping for weeks so it was fun.
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