THREE DAYS TO SANTIAGO

2 October 2023, Camino 3, Day 33

Palais de Rei to Melide

Today we are walking the Primativo route to Melide where we will rejoin the Frances route. It is the oldest of the routes to Santiago and the route that the king of Spain took to pay homage to the bones of St. James which were discovered in the 9th century by a hermit who had a dream.

Of course all of this is the stuff of legends and folklore. There is no proof that St. James (of the brothers James and John in the Bible) was ever in Spain. The story is that he was be headed in Jerusalem and two of his disciples recovered his bodily parts and set sail for Spain in a stone boat held afloat by scallop shells.

Thus the scallop shell as symbol of the camino.

St. James never walked the Camino de Santiago (Spanish for St. James).

But I’ve been thinking about a lot of other things as my time on the camino draws to a close. Two years ago I really pondered “what do you think when you’re alone with your thoughts”? I had a lot of time to think about that as that was the camino I walked alone.

I think a lot about dreams I had when I was younger like owning a small restaurant. I know that time has passed so I think about how I might live out that dream in another way. I think a lot about my grandchildren and the memories I want to make with them. After all when I’m gone, memories of me are all they will have.

What do you dream about? What do you think when you’re alone with your thoughts. Who do you want to be? Not do…be.

Tell me your dreams and hopes.

Buen Camino