Santiago arrival

The mist cleared a bit walking into Santiago so I did capture a bit of it.

Of course the first stop had to be the cathedral

but then the next priority was to get to a shop and to the toursim office because it was after 1pm Saturday, and you know by now what that means.... life as you know it ceases to function until 10am Monday. So the exhilaration of finally getting here was put on hold while some info and logistics got sorted out but then it was a shower and out again with first stop being the cathedral pilgrim office.

Some people have been intent on getting their passport stamped at every little spot they come to, whereas to me that felt too much like some weird school days star chart. So I had just got one from each place I stayed the night thinking 'whatever'

But walking into the pilgrim office, I was looked in the eye and asked if I really and truly walked. They then looked through all the different stops stamped in the credencial to see that I had truly stopped all those places before entering my name (in Latin) into the cathedral archives along with all of the thousands who have walked this route for more than a thousand years. all of a sudden I got present to what I had actually done, and I did feel like I was receiving a reward when they placed the stamp of the Cathedral of Santiago in my credencial and filled out my compostela (certificate to say I had done it)

Apart from the personal achievements of simply getting here, there are also the plenary indulgences. For the non catholics among you, it means that all my sins have been forgiven. In the old days papal indulgences were pretty big things and even criminals could walk in their chains and get them removed when they arrived to avoid jail time. I dallied briefly with the idea of changing my honorific from madam (adopted when I bought the brothel) to Saint Jennifer. But apart from the fact that I am not sure that is going to win me too many friends I can't honestly believe the papal indulgence extends to cannonisation. So, reluctantly, I have let that idea go. Besdes I like the corset and feather idea better than hair shirts and ill-fitting sandals!