I’m now staying at the “youth” hostel in Monte de Gozo, which is the first hill from which the spires of the cathedral in Santiago can be seen. (Hence the name “Mount of Joy.”) There’s quite a complex here, developed originally for the 1993 pilgrimage year. The best part is, the room is only 9€ per night for pilgrims, 12€ for the non-crazy types.

Anyway, my plan now is to stay here for the next four nights so I don’t have to lug my backpack around. It’s a nice 5 km walk into the city centre, or I can hop a bus which runs every 20 minutes and costs 0.90€ — but I think I’ll do the walking anyway.

I will probably make a day trip to Finisterra by bus. It’s 12€ each way, and the last bus leaves the end of the world at 7:00 pm. I’m also planning to do a one day trip to Padrón, where tradition says the boat carrying St. James’ body landed. It’s 20 km from Santiago, so I’ll take the bus there and walk back.

I’ve also located a good internet cafe in the city, which means that probably this evening I’ll be uploading lots of photos. Today I’ll be taking a guided tour of the roof of the cathedral, and it’s a bright sunny day, so there should be lots of photo opportunities.