October 18, 2013
We arrived in Santiago 3 days ahead of when we had planned. We can't change our flight schedule so we'll hang around for a while, maybe also take a bus ride to Finisterra, on the ocean. Besides, we need the rest and we need to dry off!
Our hike the last two days continued to be wet, but we enjoyed the thriving stands of Eucalyptus, not native to Spain but imported centuries ago.
Our first sighting of our pilgrimage goal.
Here in Santiago it continues to rain, but we found a very reasonable hotel with a top floor room with a great view of the Cathedral.
It's good to be here and have time to linger in this city, and consider the history and spirituality (good and bad) embodied in its Cathedral. There are vestiges in the cathedral of what stood here in the 9th century, and you can see evidence of Spanish and Church history over the centuries, including tombs of kings and of saints.
Spiritually, the veneration of what are believed to be the remains of Santiago (James the Apostle) expresses a longing for God, and lures us to a kind of concrete earthly connection with Jesus, the very essence of our faith. Santiago's depiction as a pilgrim and a missionary represents the best of human desire to share the Good News we have seen and heard. Perhaps his depiction as "Matamoros," the sword-wielding Killer of Moors, appeals to a darker spirit. Either way, taking all of this in as we wander this Cathedral gives us something to ponder.