11 apr

Walked a little bit across a beach today, nothing to speak of. Was looking for scallops. It was a good stretch of beach and towards the end I found my perfect Cocquille de St Jacques. Or at least the shell. I was so happy, I could have screamed. Didn’t do it because a guy, presumably also looking for the real St. James shell, was approaching me from the other side of the beach. He had not been lucky enough to find a good shell, I could see in his eyes. It would have been offending to scream.
Last night we drove to Murcia, a town of the movie The Way fame. It must have lost some of its old fishing village charm, and gained some money in the process. It looked okay, but all was done up in the way that Wal-Mart would look after its surroundings. The attention for detail was completely lacking.
We drove back into Santiago to attend the friday evening mass. This was the mass where a big incense pot, the Botafumeiro, was going to be swung around the catredal. Spectacular it seemed and spectacular it was. I got there in plenty of time, because I had read that the front rows of the North and South bay of the cathedral were the ones that made the experience unforgettable. Some people were even earlier, but we got a second row seat.
Francisco, my Slovakian friend, showed up after about fifteen minutes. He had decided to stay in Santiago for the occasion. I have plenty of time to return home, he said. There have been so many surprise meetings with Francisco now, it seems that coincidence is tending towards fate.
This incense swinging is just great fun. I am sure if they would do this every week in every church, attendance would shoot up. This cathedral was packed tonight. There was even applause after the swinging incense performance. A little bit of spectacle helps to attract the masses.

After the mass I saw Manuel, the guy I met in Hospital de Cruz. And then there were Juliane and Stefan, the German couple I chatted with at lunch in Portomorin.
But I missed Lito. I kind of had expected to see him here. There were so many people that I met for a short time on the Camino and then we split ways. Mostly becaiuse they had to go and have a drink while I wanted to strud on. ‘I’ll see you in Santiago’, they would say. I always wondered how they thought that might happen. Most of these people will only arrive somewhere in the next few weeks. There are only a few people on this whole way that match your own way of walking. Francesco was my main buddy, but I would have loved to see Lito. Maybe he wasn’t interested in the incense, or didn’t know about it, or just hadn’t arrived yet. It is okay the way it is, just thinking of him brings a smile to my face. His toughness and his goodheartedness made a lovely cocktail of a man.
We had a lovely dinner in one of the real restaurants of Santiago. Julie chose the monkfish, I opted for Sole Meuniere. The fish was really swimming in butter. It was fileed for me at the table. Absolutely spot on done, the fish. Lovely.
And now we’re on the way to Madrid. Going to see Claire tomorrow. It has been a long time since we’ve seen her. Three months. Too long.