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Today was the end of our eclipse adventure in Spain and the beginning of our Bowery Boys adventure in the Netherlands.

We started the day saying goodbye to our new MIT Travel friends at breakfast (those who hadn’t already had to leave for the airport, anyway). We hope to see some of them on future eclipse tours (Australia in 2028!) if not before.

We didn’t have to leave for the airport until 1:15pm, so we spent a couple of hours wandering around Santiago de Compostela; this time, we explored Rúa do Franco. We discovered that USC (that’s Universidade de Santiago de Compostela) has an exhibit space and garden there, where we met yet another Alonso ruling over a Spanish kingdom.

We also found a post office, but they had just run out of eclipse stamps; if I’d known that Spanish post offices are open 7 days a week, I would have stopped by yesterday in our free time. Maybe next eclipse….

We did a little more exploring along the Rua de San Francisco before returning to the hotel to check out.

Our airport transfer ran 30 minutes late, but it didn’t matter; we got to the airport about 2pm, only to find the check-in gate closed. It finally opened about 2:30pm for our 4:30pm flight, which got us to Amsterdam Schiphol airport just before 7.

We’re staying at the airport Sheraton for a few days to take advantage of a bargain fare back to SFO; we were inspired by the Bowery Boys to spend that time visiting Haarlem and Utrecht.

The Bowery Boys also inspired us to try bitterballen for dinner — they were pretty good!

The big attraction in Santiago de Compostela is, of course, the Cathedral of St. James (which is the finishing point of the Camino – 400,000 or so pilgrims officially complete the Camino each year). We had a great tour of the Cathedral, its museum (no photography allowed!), and the square including the Cathedral, City Hall, a college, and our hotel (formerly the Royal Hospital).

Hostal Reis Catolicos de Santiago de Compostela

Master Matthew, the last architect of the cathedral. He signed the arches above (see next photo).

Pilgrims (and now anyone) can follow a path behind the altar and hug St. James. There was a long line.

More St. James on the altar piece. Unusually, Jesus is nowhere to be found on the altar piece.

The Holy Door – during a Jubilee year, you can obtain a plenary indulgence by crossing the door, attending a mass, confessing, and making a donation. 2010, 2021, 2022 as a covid do-over, then 2027, 2032, and 2039.

Chapel of our Lady of the pillar. Notice the scallops (the symbol of St. James).

6th Century Baptismal font, spared by the Moors. Tradition says that the horse of the leader of the Moors drank from the font and exploded!

Silversmiths’ Square, the traditional exit to the cathedral. Now it’s the entrance.

Nothing in the city can be built higher than the lantern at the top of the Cathedral tower because it was used to guide pilgrims during a holy year.

Monastery of San Martin, the second largest monastery in Spain

Our guide Fernando with his Pilgrimage certificate

We’d been warned that Sunday was a busy day in Santiago de Compostela, so we’d made reservations for lunch at Camino Curry, an Indian restaurant with an interesting story. Kamal, the owner and our waiter, is a British Hindu who did the Camino and was inspired to open the restaurant; it offers free meals for pilgrims and has a Wall of Fame with photos of those who completed the Camino. We didn’t qualify for the wall, but we did take a photo inside!

The food and service was impeccable (and there was no hake on the menu!); I’d go back if I had more time here.

The route back to our hotel took us along the last 500 meters or so of the Camino, which is marked by scallop shells in the pavement.

We rested until the group’s farewell dinner, which was excellent, fun, a bit sad, and also had no hake on the menu. We are hoping to join the MIT Travel tour that Professor Binzel is organizing for the 2028 eclipse in Australia!