Where in the world are David and Kate today? Enjoying Sunday in Santiago de Compostela

Today was our third day (well, two and a half-th day) in Santiago de Compostela, and we're now packing and preparing to take a taxi to the airport at about 9.30am tomorrow. My bike has been prepared (handlebars turned, pedals removed, front wheel taped to the back, saddle lowered, etc...) and packed in a bike bag with as many heavy bits as possible fastened to it (tools and spares in the water bottles, and so on. Seeing it standing in the hallway in its cover confirms that this bit of my Camino and this bit of my sabbatical are over, but trying to talk about some of the things that have emerged with Kate today it is obvious I have a lot more processing to do.

However, the last three days have been a wonderful 'buffer' between finishing the ride and coming back to my normal environment, if not my normal way of life. We have barely been outside a square half mile, and we have wandered the same streets repeatedly, but I have enjoyed it without reservation. Perhaps there is a bit of disappointment that we didn't take a bus to the coast, but I can live with that. There has been a lot of adventure in the last few weeks, and slowing down has been good. Just taking things slowly, taking siesta time, having two baths in one day just for the fun of it - all these things have been good. One or two souvenirs have been bought - the Santiago cake won't last long - but we worked hard not to buy anything tacky! A plaque, a fridge magnet, a plain shell, some beautiful coral earrings for Kate, but no stick, no gourd, no tacky t-shirts.

We got moving quite quickly this morning anticipating that there would be queues for the cathedral both for mass and the shrine of St James. We were right on both counts. We queued for the shrine first, and for ages the queue didn't move at all, even though opening time had passed, but when it moved it moved reasonably quickly. It was hard to know what to make of it. For many pilgrims this is the high point - to climb up behind the altar to the back of the statue of St James and embrace and kiss it. Some people put their hat and coat on the statue briefly, even. Kate didn't know what to make of it at all. I found that I wanted to rest my head for a moment and simply let go of the fact that the journey was finished. After that, you climbed back down again and descended into the crypt to file past a silver reliquary containing the supposedly twice-found bones of St James plus two of his disciples, perhaps stopping to pray before it. That, for me, was a non-event, I confess.

We emerged from all of that just in time to walk round to the other end of the cathedral - again - and for Kate to have her bag searched for a third time before going in for mass. Sadly we didn't get a seat, so we had to sit on the floor. Sadly, also, the botafumeiro wasn't in use, so there was none of the high drama of some of the pilgrim masses. Instead, we had a simple, straightforward service with a full sermon that I was sorry not to understand properly. On the other hand, the liturgy was easy to follow and so close to what we are used to that the differences were negligible. What was really wonderful was the singing of the cantor who led much of it - a delicious, sensitive, flowing, deep operatic voice - filled with emotion and meaning - everything a cantor should be. Lovely too was the way the bishop celebrated, very simply. I found that very moving, but the constant flow of tourist pilgrims through the church during the service very difficult. That service, much more than visiting the shrine, rounded the pilgrimage off beautifully.

Then, as we searched for somewhere to have lunch, we came upon the Municipal Band of Santiago de Compostela playing a concert in Rua do Vilar. It is hard to say whether they were a professional band or an amateur band, but whichever they were, the standard was excellent, and they play there twice a week from June to September without repeating a single piece of repertoire. It was a wind band of the type that I used to play in as a teenager when I was in the Durham County Wind Band - some would call it a military band, I suppose, but that makes it sound like a repertoire of marches, which is far from the case. What a wonderful hour that was, and actually quite emotional. I was suddenly taken right back into the sabbatical purpose of revisiting bits of my life, and I realised (Kate too) how much I miss real music making for the joy of it. That thought has been tucked away, and we'll have to see what can be done about it. In fact, music has been a bit of a theme today - the cantor at mass, the band, and then a balalaika and accordion trio this evening. Magic!

Today has been a beautiful way to end this phase of my sabbatical - it will be good to fly home tomorrow. I am looking forward to flying out and looking down on this country, and then flying in to Stansted looking down at my own. I am looking forward to the drive north, as I used to enjoy it on trips home when we lived in Japan. I am looking forward to wandering round the garden, seeing the cats and the chickens, sleeping in my own bed, knowing where everything is and not having to think about how to find the loo in the night, lunch with my parents on Tuesday, dancing at Lindy Jazz tomorrow night, having the bike serviced on Thursday! I'm looking forward to getting my hair cut, phoning friends, attending the ordinations in Durham at the weekend, going to a birthday party, seeing colleagues and friends at the Clergy Summer Gathering next week. And I am looking forward to discovering what is different because of these last few weeks.