May 31 Monday.
We met up with our camino friends last
night outside the cathedral, we finally learnt the correct name of our spanish friend, Valerian (he had been trying to explain it was Roman). He told us it was possible to do a tour of the cathedral roof (guided in spanish) and we tried to book it today in the cathedral museum to the left of the main entrance. Unfortunately it was fully booked for today, maybe next time. Another useful piece of information we learnt from Guido our Italian friend, alas too late, is the pilgrim rail card (20% discount) available from the desk just by the office issuing our compostellas.
We had checked into an albergue in Santiago in an old seminary just by the Parc Belvis, this is a huge stone built building which claims 100 beds but must have at least 300 spaces. It was comfortable and quiet, except for the snores of contented, completed, compostellaed pilgrims. (Tim was blissfully snoring and unaware of the elderly lady who, presumably confused by the long row of 24 beds in near darkness, tried to climb into bed first with Betsy and then with Tony!)
We now travel gradually back to Porto For a fee days recovery before travelling home, continuation on to Rome is not this year. .