Birthday Treats

For her sixteenth birthday, E had requested a seafood feast. Purchased from Kailis, but eaten at home, the menu consisted of:

Oysters 

Caviar w blinis

Octopus, marinated

Sashimi

Sushi.

(We’ll be living on bread and jam for a week, now!)

The feast, with non-alcoholic champagne.

Cooking the blinis

Eating the blinis: Rocky thinking he'd like some!

C made the cake from a Delia recipe.

Beautiful flowers for the birthday girl.

Final Day in Santiago

The Cathedral Museum took up most of the morning and I didn’t see everything. When I arrived at the Obradoiro Square, there was a tremendous racket going on: banging and trumpeting from a group outside the main doors of the Parador. It was a protest by Parador staff demanding a pay rise!

Protest seen from above.

The deafening racket went on for about two hours - all the time I was in the museum, anyway.

The first part of the exhibit was devoted to the work of Maestro Mateo, who was responsible for the design of the earliest part of the Cathedral. Much of what was on show had been discovered through archaeological excavations.

At this point, a security guard told me “No Photos” but I had already taken lots! When she had gone, I carried on:

From there, it was necessary to proceed to another part of the Cathedral building for the “permanent exhibition”.

This was in a secluded corner of the Cloister; it was the charcoal being prepared for the Botafumeiro in the Pilgrims Mass.

On the top floor was a display of tapestries, so intricate in their detail that they appeared to be paintings rather than fabrics.

After all that, I needed a sit down. Where better than the Parador lounge? After an Agua con Gas, I had a final explore of the Parador building:

An inner courtyard.

All my stamps

Finisterre to Santiago

What a difference a day makes. It’s hard to keep up with these sudden changes in the weather. I slept till 8.00 am this morning -rather late on the Camino - and the first thing I saw was a woman going for a swim. I was in two minds whether to do the same and take an afternoon bus back to Santiago, or whether to just go and get the long bus journey over with.

My hotel room decor: I particularly liked the wallpaper, which has a rough surface and silvery lines to look like tiles.

After breakfast, I decided to leave Finisterre, so I packed my bag and walked slowly into town. I stopped to buy some cherries at a small supermarket: they are cheap as chips now that we’re in the middle of the season.

As it happened, Monbus put on an extra service at 11.45 am. It was a brand new bus and went direct instead of hugging the coast. It took just over an hour instead of the previous 2.75 hours. I caught glimpses of pilgrims doing the three day walk as the bus whizzed past.

I had a light lunch at the Parador: an Aperol Spritz, followed by grilled sardines with piquinos de padron. 


It was warm enough to sit outside on their sunny terrace, with the best view of the Cathedral:

Back at my hotel, I have a single room this time, up in the attic:

It’s a bit hot as it was 26 degrees when I arrived, but cooling off nicely now that the sun is going down.

Santiago to Finisterre

It was supposed to be a scenic drive, following the coast, and it would have been given better weather. But it was very wet, with a grey sky and an even greyer sea. We left at 9.15 am and arrived just after 11.30.  In Finisterre it was raining quite hard, so I stopped for a coffee and then took a taxi to my accommodation at Hotel Mar de Fisterra.

Muros: a fishing village en route.

Finisterre harbour.

Since Roman times, this place was thought to be the end of the known world. If you believed the earth was flat, obviously you would have to fall off the edge at some point.

Having dropped off my bag, I walked back into town in search of some lunch. It’s seafood heaven here, with a multitude of restaurants along the front. It was difficult to make a choice, but eventually I opted for this one:

Wall decor.

My lunch: a seafood stew in a cazuela with a whole crab, potatoes and other seafood in the sauce. Two glasses of Albariño and “I dined well” as the pirates said in Majorca at Bendinat.

My hotel was 600m back out of town, with a brilliant sea view as promised. I was ready for a siesta! When I woke up, the sun had broken through and the beach was calling. 

My room with a view.

A paradise for shell collectors: I had to restrain myself.


My hotel is the blue and white building at the end of the row.

Santiago rest day

I went to the pilgrims mass at 12.00, but I got there too late to get a seat. Big mistake! What was I thinking? It’s a long service and everyone is hanging out for the swinging of the Botofumeiro at the end. It is a gigantic incense bearer, said to be used in the Middle Ages to fumigate the cathedral and get rid of the stink of all the pilgrims who had walked so far without a wash:

It requires several men to control it: a unique spectacle, even for the non-religious.

Looking up at the pulley system: you wouldn’t want this to give way!

The remains of the fire that was inside the Botofumeiro.


A security guard looking after the collection moneys in the red velvet bags.

Masks were obligatory in the Cathedral, which was absolutely packed and controlled by security guards. Afterwards I went outside and sat in the sun which had made an appearance in spite of the poor forecast. I was pondering where to have lunch and decided that the best choice was the Parador again, away from the hoi poloi.

Stuffed sea urchin au gratin.


Roast lamb shoulder with piquitos padron.

A couple opposite ordered some kind of flambé:

When I was here before, I spoke to an old lady who ate here often and always sat at the same table. It transpires that she was the widow of a famous local writer, and has passed away herself now. There is a plaque on the wall by the table which was theirs:

It’s quite a splendid dining room: