Oh what a joy to sleep in and not hear people packing up their crap at 4:30 in the morning to race ahead and get into the Albergue and take a nap all afternoon. We didn’t have to be up and out by 8, we could sleep all day if we wanted. We had a washer in the apartment and soap. All we had to do today was sleep and go to mass at noon.
We got up a little after 8 just to prove we could sleep that late. Richard made us breakfast–toast and coffee (plus yogurt and fresh fruit) so we were slowly transitioning back to non-pilgrim food.
Richard lead us to the Cathedral a little before 11 for the noon mass. I warned everyone to not sit too close–I haven’t been to a mass since my sister died 25 years ago. I’m sure God has decent aim, but lightning bolts are not pin-point accurate. We took turns looking around the church while we were waiting for mass to begin. Richard has already been here so he gave us good directions of what to look for and expect. Pilgrims continue to walk up and hug the statue of St James all the way through the mass.
After mass, it was still hotter than hell (ironic with all the pilgrims about). Richard went exploring (he’s still fresh with only 5 walking days) but Pam and I went back for afternoon siestas. It’s been 14 days straight since we’ve had a day off and we were tired. It’s going to take a few days to get us back up to 100%. George also opted for the siesta.
We decided to check on travel arrangements at the pilgrim center. George got train tickets for Pamplona for in the morning. We decided to go ahead and get train tickets back to Hendaye for a week from Monday. While we were finalizing travel plans, I decided to pop into the credentials line to see if there was anyone we knew waiting. I was hoping to catch Helen one more time. Surprise, surprise, surprise! Helen and Lise were taking turns waiting in line. Helen look wore out but was happy to see us. We tried to get them to meet us for dinner around 8 but they looked like rest and sleep are on the agenda.
We had planned to try to get together with everyone for dinner tonight if we could find them. Shaun told us to go higher up in the old town. We ran into Chris with his cousin and he gave us better directions. We met up with everyone and had dinner in the same plaza and did a little table jumping. We got one last picture and said our goodbyes. Pam and I are heading out to Muxia with Katherine in the morning and George is heading back to St Jean then on to Barcelona. Pretty much everyone is moving on in the next day or two. Shaun is going to shut the city down and drain all the beer taps before heading out to Muxia on Tuesday.
We had said our goodbyes and didn’t want to dwell on it any longer. We just had one more thing to do before bed–ice cream.
Shaun, George, and Richard went out for another drink after the ice cream, but Pam and I were beat and went back to the apartment and bed.
