The Bitter Non-Pilgrim

A fountain and a pretty convent (hey at least it's not a church, well actually there was a church inside the convent)
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Hola,

Because I felt like such a cheat getting to Santiago on the train, I decided it was the least I could do to walk to my hotel. Actually this time it wasn't very far at all. Although the steps up to the 4th floor were a killer. But I'm a sucker for punishment because I walked up them every time even though there was a lift so really it's my own fault. I arrived at about 9pm so as soon as I got there I headed into the old town to find some dinner. Managed to get a fantastic bocadillo (sandwich) which had lots of salad, bacon and cheese. I was impressed at my ordering skills. I just picked the sandwich that had the most things on it (not knowing what they were) but I figured the more things that were on it the more chance of there being something I wanted to eat in there.

More coffee and more churches

I just really wanted a photo of a nun so I pretended to take a photo of the fountain.
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Sat and read my book about Spain for a while longer and then headed for bed.

The next day I decided to get an early start to make the most of the day. Got to the tourist office to find that pretty much everything was closed because it was Monday so I went shopping instead. Bought some very cool shorts from a shop called Stradivarius (I'm a fan). And then attemped to "deposit" my old shorts (which don´t actually fit and exhibit a permanent show of crack). I didnt want to just throw them outbecause that is a waste, but Spain doesnt seem to have op shops so I just had to go down an alley and leave them there in the hope that some needy person would find them and not think that the bag was a bomb.

The view from the cathedral.
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I spent the rest of the day giving myself a walking tour and also signed up for a walking tour with someone who might know something for the next day. Decided I needed to yell at STA again so I called them only to find that once again they denyed all knowledge of my previous calls. They also put me on hold for 15 minutes which resulted in a 10 euro phone call. I think I might have sorted something out though. Or maybe I'm just naive, I've been hurt so many tiems before! Drank some more coffee, went to the gym, drank some beer, went to bed. At this point I was wishing I was in a hostel because it actually gets a bit lonely just staying in hotels by yourself although I am learning a lot about Spain from my book(argh I sound like such nerd).

Anyway the next day I went into the cathedral (as if I really wanted to see another church). Went on the walking tour, met some Irish ladies who had just finished the pilgrimage - they walked from St Pierre des Corps on the french side of the Pyrenees. It took them 5 weeks which is not too bad, so now Im even more determined. Learnt a bit about the architecture, history of the pilgrimage the reason for the scallop shells, why they have this random almond tart that these girls try and feed you on every street corner etc so the tour is definatley worth doing. But being in Santiago really didnt have the same meaning because I hadnt really worked hard to get there, even though the train ride was quite long..haha.

So that was pretty much Santiago. Left in the afternoon for Viana do Castelo. So until then...

Much love,

Cate xoxo