There were all sorts of groups of people. Groups of men being loud, teenagers sitting on the roadside texting, and more. And when I say more I mean something more interesting possibly. There is a group of men traveling in matching shirts. Yesterday they were orange and today they were blue. This evening I noticed they were pink.
The thing I found most curious was the design on their shirts.
Their t-shirts all have St. James on the front in black and white stripes.
I have heard of low level prisoners being given the option of walking the camino instead of prison time because the Camino is a life altering event. I certainly believe it has an impact on my life but never considered it might be used to rehabilitate criminals. Perhaps our own judicial system should consider something like this. Perhaps
It was a beautiful walk today.
Sarria at sunrise
100 kilometers
My friend James
I’ll have to add my stamps tomorrow as I forgot to photograph them 😢
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.
It’s a beautiful day today. The weather is cool, the path shady with bits of mild sunshine, rolling hills, and good traction on the road. About 13 miles to O Pedrouzo. It is the last day before the last day.
I have walked alone much of the morning. My feelings are all jumbled up. I’m sad the walk is almost over. I’m happy the walk is almost over. I’m yearning to return to my home and I’ll miss Spain. It’s like trying to mix oil and vinegar. No matter how much you shake it it will never mesh together. So for now I’ll try to sit with the conflict within me.
Buen Camino
Morning over Arzua
Peaceful cows
Getting closer
There were two nuns on the outskirts of Arzua giving stamps and asking for donations for the Daughters of Santa Maria. My nun was very young and she kept asking where we were from. Someone would say “ Canada” and I said “United States” and she would point and repeat where we were from. It was all very charming.
Glen and I have had a little joke along the camino. When we are close to our destination and need to push through he says, “Let’s finish this thing before it gets out of hand.” Well today we’re going to finish it.
The start of the last day
The day has been cool (really almost cold), misty, and overcast. We ploughed on and the walk was actually easy. I had butterflies in my stomach when I woke up but as the day progressed I felt a peace come over me. I don’t really care for the walk into Santiago. It’s a couple of kilometers to get to the old part of town where the cathedral is.
The entrance to the new part of Santiago de Compostela
The meaning of Santiago de Compostela is St. James under a field of stars because in the 8th century the monk who had a dream about the location of the bones of St. James envisioned them under a starred filled sky. Under a field of stars…such a beautiful image.
A glimpse of the cathedral’s spire
Bagpipes
As you enter the old cathedral square you must pass through an arch. There is almost always someone greeting pilgrims by playing the bagpipes. Bagpipes originated in Africa and migrated into Spain. Later when the Spanish set sail for Northern Europe they landed in Ireland and brought these Celtic traditions with them.
The Cathedral
But we didn’t stop at the cathedral. Our first stop was at the pilgrim’s office. We had heard that each day 1400 pilgrims arrive in Santiago and the majority of them will head to the pilgrim’s office to get their compostellas…the certificate of completion of the camino.
Our fear was that they might tell us to come back in a day or two because the line was so long. That was not the case. There were actually only about 30 pilgrims ahead of us in line so we got in quickly.
My number was 891
I will upload my Compostela and my certificate of distance in another post as I will need to scan them.
There is so much more to our arrival than the bare facts I’ve laid out here. I’m going to need some time to process my feelings more fully. I’ll be taking the next few days off as we travel by train to Madrid and then fly home.
Thank you so much for being part of this journey with me.
Today we enter the last 100 km of the Camino Frances de Santiago. I feel funny about this. A month ago I was saying to myself “OMG! I still have a month of this to do?!” And now it’s the final phase.
A lot of pilgrims only walk the last 100 km. As I said yesterday for some it is a resume requirement, for others who do the camino a week or two each year it’s the final stage, and for some it’s a walking holiday. It’s hard for those of us who have been walking a great distance to merge into this last segment.
These other pilgrims are clean. Many of them carry daypacks as their luggage is sent ahead. And they are so happy. They have a spring in their step and cry out heartily, “buen camino!” while the rest of us are trudging in to Santiago resentful of this intrusion into our private time with God.
I try to remind myself that I was like that when I started out from St. Jean Pied de Port or Pamplona. But I still dislike this boisterous interruption to my communing. I think though that this time has a purpose like other parts of the camino. I think this is God’s way of telling me that I can’t stay in contemplation all the time. I must re-enter the world. And I can still bring all the gifts that have been given to me.
So you can see by the elevation map that today has a major downhill. Well after yesterday…we decided to skip it and take a taxi to Triacastela 😮😁😉. Yup it’s an easy day today 🥳 It’s a nice little town and we have finally crossed over from Castilla & Leon into Galicia.
Image from the terrace where we had lunch
White wine I had during lunch. Not the whole bottle, just 2 glasses. It’s very nice.
So tomorrow we start for Sarria about 100 km from Santiago. In this last stretch we must walking carrying all our worldly possessions and get two stamps per day. In Spain some employers require a certificate of completion for employment to demonstrate the character of the applicant. Of course I hear all kinds of stories of taxis pulling up to a church, people dashing to get a stamp, and then driving off to the next stop. I can’t comment on that. I can only tell you that I will do my best to walk these last 100 km with my pack from Sarria to Santiago.
When they were up, they were up, And when they were down, they were down, And when they were only halfway up, They were neither up nor down.
Pedrafita do Cebriero is about 2 miles off the camino before reaching Ocebriero but make no mistake it’s still uphill…and downhill. In fact we are on a different camino route in Pedrafita. We were on the Camino Frances and now we are on the Camino Norte..
According to the map this “road” has a route number designated to it so we were expecting a small asphalt road at the least a gravel road. Not this…
Me figuring out how to get down this steep hill.
Glen scooting downhill on his bottom.
Despite the difficult passage I feel good about today. 4 years ago I was sick and so took a taxi to our hotel where I was told I discreetly open the taxi door and leaned out before losing my cafe con leche. 2 years ago I decided to ride a horse up to Ocebriero which was a great experience and I met some wonderful people. So even though I have never hiked all the way up to Ocebriero I am very proud of having made this difficult and a little scary passage.
2 years ago
We have at least crossed over from Castilla & Leon into Galicia the province where Santiago is located. It is another small triumph.
Today is a relatively long day, about 12 miles. I’m worried about this since yesterday was a short day and I had a lot of pain in my quads, calves, and hamstrings. Of course silly me hasn’t been stretching like I should. So last night I did about 10 minutes of gentle yoga stretching and this morning I didn’t notice any pain. I’ve walked 6 miles already and am doing well 🤞 🙂
Later…we arrived at our hotel rural with plenty of time to do laundry and have an early dinner.
Sorry there isn’t much to say today. Tomorrow will be a big uphill.
Ten more days after today. Mixed emotions are cropping up. We are stronger for all our walking and yet the walking takes its toll on our endurance. We are longing to enter Santiago and equally yearning to return to the life we know.
The walk was short to Villafranca, only 5-6 miles. It’s a town I know well. 4 years ago we had lunch at Don Nacho and I dined there two years ago. The food is memorable.
The dining room
Red peppers stuffed with cod
I even tried to replicate this dish at home. Not quite the same but a good effort.
It is a bittersweet time. All the goodness and all the hard work of walking are bound together tied by a ribbon of love of home and family. I wish I could express this better and I trust that you know what I mean.
Molinaseca is a beautiful little town and this morning we were privileged to walk through the town and continue on a sidewalk path all the way to Ponferrada. And the sidewalk continued through all the little towns afterwards. It’s just one big town with signs announcing the end of one town and the beginning of the next together.
The local grilled octopus stand
We have walked this for 9 of the 13 miles anticipated. But after this last town of Camponaraya we will return to a more Camino like path.
Under 200 km 😃
Buen Camino
Our hotel tonight
The entry
4 years ago Glen gave me a lecture on poultry husbandry and ever since I’ve been enchanted by roosters 🐓 . I want this one!
One day I decided to go for a walk... 