Monday, May 13, 2024
Today was a really tough day.
I woke up early and went out to explore the cathedral a bit. I took a couple of photos, and then I went into the church. It was about 7am, and the cathedral was mostly empty. I walked around a bit and then went down into the crypt to see James’s tomb. It’s a very narrow staircase down, a tiny passageway, and a barred doorway behind which lies the stone tomb of the apostle.
When I got there, the only other people there were what appeared to be a mother and her adult daughter there hugging and crying and kissing each other’s cheeks. I stayed back and let them have a moment. Then down the stairs came a man named Jaume, who was with us in the albergue in Reliegos -- where Ian fell out of bed. We shook hands, and then he knelt in front of the tomb and prayed. Again, I stood back.
Finally, I had a few moments alone with the tomb. I’m so grateful for James and all he did for Christ and the early saints. His sacrifice for Christ astounds me. I hope to meet him in person some day and thank him for all that he did.
After that, I went back to the albergue and woke everyone up.
Betty is really not feeling well. She’s weak, and her body aches, and she’s congested. But even still, she wanted to go out and explore with us -- despite the pouring rain.
First, we went out for breakfast. We all felt we had earned some delicious churros and chocolate. It took us a while, but eventually we found the famous Café Iacobus, and we were not disappointed. The chocolate was hot and thick, and the churros were crunchy.
Then, we went to the cathedral to visit the tomb together. By this time, the place was packed. We waited in a long line just to quickly move down the stairs and past the tomb. Then we went up other stairs for the “embrace of the apostle,” in which we were able to pass behind the statue of James that stands behind the altar, and put our hands on his shoulders. I’m sure for each pilgrim the experience is different. For me, it was similar to the kind of thank you I’d shared with him earlier.
After that visit, we explored in the cathedral museum. One of the highlights included some of the tapestries based on the cartoon paintings of Goya. But of course, the most amazing thing to see was the Pórtico da Gloria, which is the original doors of the cathedral -- before the newer Baroque facade was built right over the top of it to protect it. It depicts James and Jesus, Old Testament prophets and New Testament apostles. It’s one of the best-preserved and most beautiful pieces of Romanesque art in the world, and I’ve waited years to see it in person.
When we were done with that, we headed back to our albergue to snag a taxi to take us to the airport to rent our cars and get to Madrid. But apparently it was a really busy day for the taxis (because of the rain), and it took over an hour for us to get our ride.
It was mid-afternoon before we were finally ready to make the almost six hour drive to Madrid, which I’m sure was a challenge for Betty because she was feeling so crummy.
We made just one long stop to eat in a pulpería where the kids -- of their own volition -- ordered octopus. And they liked it!
We ended up getting to the Madrid Temple housing at about 11:30pm, then Betty and I dropped the kids off, and drove the cars to the airport to drop them off, and then took a cab back to the temple.
It has been a totally exhausting day. But we are all looking forward to visiting the temple tomorrow.
