This evening for family night, my Mother cracked open the brightly colored tin filled with the tasty lebkuchen from Lebkuchen-Schmidt... mmm... Since I can remember, every Christmas some very dear friends from Germany have been sending my family these delights. As I indulged in a simple yet sinful sugar-coated square, I was taken back to our visit to new old Nürnberg, the city where these cookies were baked, and I remembered my much neglected blog.
I return for a moment and write:
Oviedo taught us a little about Spanish life. Businesses opened late in the morning, closed in the afternoon for lunch and siesta, re-opened until late at night and people stayed out partying until the next morning... some until 6 in the am. What a life!
We were up to see the last of the carousers as they stumbled home and headed East then South toward Santiago de Compostela. Being Pentecost Sunday, we wanted to make it on time to hear Mass in the great Catedral. Three hours later, we arrived in the city and parked in the first place nearest the Catedral that we could. We were never quite sure where any of our hotels were on this trip, but we always had a general idea and we knew our next hotel or rather Seminario-made-Hostel was next door to the Catedral. Woowee that was amazing! It wasn't the fanciest or most modern of situations, but it was truly memorable.
Our Hotel Seminario was managed by an old sweet little lady. She took care that her guests were comfortable and then left us to our devices. We dashed across the street to the Catedral hoping to catch a glimpse of the Pomp and Celebration that would accompany such a great feast day... We were just too late to hear Mass, but we did catch the tail end of the swinging of the famous Botafume
iro of Santiago!
To add to Santiago... this is a very important pilgrimage shrine and one of the old customs is to embrace the golden gilded statue of Santiago and then to venerate the relics in the casket beneath the altar. We partook and the embrace was unforgettable. It was like hugging an old friend whom you love dearly and hadn't seen for so long. It was really beautiful to see those pilgrims, who had taken the month long walk of Santiago, finally reach their goal, tears streaming down their faces, as they embraced their and my friend.
