The Market

The large covered market  in Santiago is about a 10 minute walk from the Airbnb where I am staying. There is no better way to begin the day than walking leisurely through the vendor’s stalls watching restaurant owners and housewives alike shopping for the fresh seafood and fruits and vegetables that will be served later in the day to customers and families.

I love the big open markets where individuals bring the fruits of their labors to be proudly displayed and seem so delighted when you admire the beauty of the displays and comment on the wonderful sights and smells of freshly harvested or prepared items. The cheese and meat sellers are eager to offer samples. In the middle of the market here in Santiago there is a cafe that will prepare to order whatever you buy and serve it to you for lunch!

The last three pictures were taken on my walk to the market this morning. To get there I go through a green space that is a collection of community gardens sitting at the base of an old monastery that now houses pilgrims as they arrive to Santiago. As I’m walking the spires of the cathedral can be seen against the morning sky. There is so much of the old that is preserved here. It evokes such a strong sense of what those midievil times must have been like.

I visited the cathedral one last time today. I sat again for the Pilgrims mass and was rewarded today with the swinging of the massive incense burner suspended over the heads of the pilgrims. It is lit and then set to swaying on massive ropes from one side of the cathedral to the other by clergy. The story is that it in days gone by it helped override the smell of the pilgrims as they arrived from their long journeys into Santiago. Actually, it’s probably a tradition not totally without utility for the modern day pilgrim as well!

I will be up before dawn tomorrow to slip once again into the now familiar and comfortable weight of my backpack and walk to the bus station and on to the airport for my flight to Barcelona and then my train trip to France. It is difficult to leave Spain but I am committed to return and walk the pilgrim path again.