28/06/22 Tuesday
Late up this morning. Down for breakfast at 0740. Coffee was OK. Grabbed ham, cheese, tomatoes and butter. Tried the hotel toast making facilities. After two runs through I had some warm bread. They need to invest in Dualit 4 slice toasters!
Then it was off to the launderette for, hopefully, the last clothes wash before the UK. The place was in darkness as the lighting timer was set wrong. When the lights came on later it was a shock. And somebody is missing a pair of underpants and one sock.

We walked down to the local market. It was housed in a market block arranged in avenues of small stalls inside a larger building. This was like the old market in Chrisp Street in Poplar. But on a larger scale and more upmarket.
There were butchers, fish mongers, cheese mongers, charcuterie and fruit and vegetable stalls.
It was all nicely laid out. There were also small bars and restaurants down one aisle.
We then tried some souvenir shopping and bought some t shirts, badges and socks. Then off for a coffee, then back to the market for lunch. Which was Padron peppers, deep fried squid and langoustines, all excellent. Then we wandered back via a bar. There are some good street musicians here. Then back to the hotel for a siesta.

After the market and launderette, it was off to the Cathedral. They always seem to have a mass going on. This means you're limited in what you can see. I've still got some photos though.

If you ever walk to Santiago, it's worth taking a look at this museum. It is a bit coy about the legend of St. James and infers that there was a bit of power grabbing by a local Bishop and a King, hoping to get some glory by the promotion of Santiago. Check out the history on Wikipedia

That scrum of people in front of the cathedral is, I think, the next crowd for a Pilgrim Mass, which occurs twice a day. But there are different Masses all day.

I like this door knocker. I might have shown a pic of it before. It looks like a prop for a Harry Potter film. I did try it and it works.

We wandered around Parque da Alameda in town and came across these amazing statues.

Ruth is here with Lorca.

And I'm here with some bronze skinny, bearded guy.

This a shared church for Russian and Ukrainian Orthodox, Anglican congregations. It was given for use by the local Roman Catholic Bishop. We met the local Anglican priest or vicar. He had retired to Santiago and had been a vicar at Westminster Abbey. During Covid-19, he was discovered by the Madrid Anglicans or Episcopalians, I'm not sure of the terminology. And now he spends time at Santa Susanna talking to the public and running services. Apparently the locals like the fact that the church is being used again after 40 years of closure.
Views from the park over to the Cathedral.

Some sweet We wandered back to the craft beer bar of last night. We wanted a change from seafood. And this place did pizza, but not tonight. They had pizza delivered from a local restaurant on demand. But tonight it was closed. But we still got pinchos with the drinks, then off to find food.

We found somewhere to eat. I saw scallops on the menu and had to have them - well, we're on the Camino! They were very nice. After that Ruth had a pulled pork burger and I had a Cuban rib burger. No pictures as we were too busy eating. They served some sweet potato crisps which were excellent.

Whilst we were eating, we heard a lot of shouting and singing. Then down the street marched an LGBT+ rally. There were several hundred marching and it was a loud, quite friendly atmosphere.

It was an unexpected ending to the day.
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