My Camino (pt. 7) Conclusion...

At the Cathedral in Santiago at noon each day there is a mass held honoring pilgrims. This cathedral has the largest Botafumeiro in the world. The Botafumeiro is the most famous and popular symbol of the Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela. It is a large incense burner that hangs from the ceiling of the Cathedral and swings back and forth during mass. It takes eight men to swing it using ropes four on one side and four on the other. The men pull on the ropes. You can see the fire burning inside of the Botafumeiro.

 

I decided the night before reaching Santiago that I would need to leave by 4:30am if I was going to reach Santiago in time for the pilgrim's mass. The lady I had been walking with didn't think she wanted to get up that early, so a man that I had met several times in the past week said he would like to go with me if I would wait until 5:30. He thought we could make it by noon. It was 12 miles to Santiago and raining. I said okay.  

 

I woke him at 5:00am and we prepared to leave. He was from Budapest, Hungary and had blisters all over his feet. He had to stop walking for three days and that's when I caught up with him. We left the alburgue at 5:30 as planned. It was dark outside and raining. We arrived at the Cathedral in Santiago at 11:00am. I went immediately inside the church and sat  down on the third row, directly in front. I sat there one hour waiting on the mass to start. I sat there and rested and thought about the walk and how I had actually completed it. My journey was over. I took my shoes off and rested my poor feet. When the mass started and we had to stand up I had to put my shoes back on. I couldn't stand on my feet without my shoes on. They hurt so bad.

 

After the mass I hooked back up with my friend from Australia. For the next week we shopped and enjoyed Santiago. We rode the bus to Finnesterre and saw the ocean. I returned home on May 5, 2015. It took me 44 days to complete my walk. I started on March 14th and reached Santiago on April 26th. It was an experience of a life-time.

 

 You can see the steeple of the Cathedral. This is the first glimpse I got of the Cathedral. I had been walking for 44 days and the site of this steeple was something I can't explain. I had to stop and take this picture. The steeple got larger and larger it was awesome.

These two pilgrims had been walking ahead of me for at least 5 miles.

 The back of the Cathedral.

 I sat down on the third row right in front

 

Cafe' con Leche-coffee with milk

Many pilgrims drank this all a long their walk. I didn't drink it until I reached Santiago.

Cafe' con Leche was good, but nothing like Café Americana.

Café Americana was black coffee.

Everytime my friend and I would order a coke or coffee they would bring a snack with it. This was our table after we had sat for a while. Some of the snacks we had already eaten. It was comical. There is no way we could eat all of the snacks they brought us.

We rode the bus to Finnesterre and saw the ocean.

This is the café across from my room where I ate for the week I stayed in Santiago. Most of the cafes, also called bars, were long and narrow like this one.

 Another tuna salad. They were so good.

 The street my room was on.

My room in Santiago where I spent the week.

Looking out the window of my room to the street below.

 

I hope you enjoyed my walk to Santiago.

It is also called the Way of St. James.

It's an adventure of a life-time.

It's a tremendous challenge, but anyone can do it.

I can tell you, determination is more than half the battle.

Have a great life and remember it's never too late to plan an adventure.

 

 

My Camino (pt. 6)

When we left Sarria we had roughly 62 miles to go. The goal for some is Finnesterre and Muxia, these are towns three to five days from Santiago. They are on the ocean, but for me it had always been the cathedral in Santiago. I thought I might ride the bus to the ocean, but I had no desire to walk farther than Santiago.

When I got to Sarria I crossed paths with a lady from Australia that I had met somewhere earlier on the trail. I think it was maybe the night after I left Sarria that she and I actually started walking together. We didn't walk together on the path necessarily, but we kept track of each other the last week by staying in the same alburgues at night. We walked at our own pace, so we would catch up with each other when we stopped for a break, and agree to stay in the same alburgue. She was faster than me. I enjoyed her company. You meet a lot of interesting people along the way, but once your journey is over you don't expect to ever cross paths again. This journey, these people, and experiences become distant memories, and that's okay. That's the way it was meant to be. 

 Here we are one bridge and 57 steps to Portomarin.

If you look closely you can see the stairs at the end of the bridge.

 If my memory serves me correctly I counted 57 steps.

 You were always exhausted when you reached your destination, so when I saw this staircase, I doubted for a moment that I could do it. Counting seemed to help me when I was going uphill, so I just started counting and before long I was at the top. 

 They say, "rain, snow, sleet, or hail cannot stop the U. S. Mail". I thought of that quote several times while walking.

 After leaving Sarria we encountered more and more pilgrims each day. As long as you walk the last 100 km from Sarria you can still get your compostella, so some people will start their walk in Sarria. 

 These giant ants were interesting.

 I didn't see cattle through most of Northern Spain. Finally they started showing up.

This is a stork nest from what I was told. Some of the cities had huge poles erected especially for these nests.

Another stand along the side of the road. It was always refreshing to come upon one of these.

 

NEXT STOP SANTIAGO.

 

TO BE CONTINUED...

My Camino (pt. 3)...

I celebrated my 59th birthday on the Camino. Friends we met the first night cooked spaghetti and we

 had a "party".

They gave me a shell for my present with their names on it. It was a really nice gesture. One of them met me as I was coming into town and carried my backpack the rest of the way. Believe it or not carrying my backpack was the best present I could have received.

I ate mostly frozen pizzas, oranges, and yogurt. When I eat tuna I have to doctor it with lots of  Miracle Whip and apples, so the first time I was given tuna salad I thought I would pick the tuna out and just eat the salad. I was shocked. The tuna was delicious! I ate it every chance I got after that. When I got home my husband looked it up and turns out they eat a different kind of tuna than we do in the United States. We tried to find it, but decided they don't sell it here.

   This stand was on a hill in the middle of nowhere. It was a pleasant surprise to say the least. You took what you wanted and left a donation.

The "Iron Cross" one of the highlights of the walk. You are supposed to bring a small rock from home and leave it at the foot of the cross. Supposedly you are leaving your troubles behind.

 More examples of the pathways.

Miles and miles of roads to walk.

Coming into town. The wisteria was beautiful.

This flower was really gorgeous, but I never found out what it was called.

To be continued...

My Camino (pt. 2)...

The reasons people choose to walk the Camino de Santiago are as varied as the nearly two hundred and fifty thousand souls that walk it each year. Some walk it for spiritual reasons, some walk it for adventure, to prove to themselves they can do it, etc. I think my reasons were a combination these. Most people's reasons are personal and different from the rest. Everyone has to walk their own Camino and the other pilgrims along the way understand this. Some people ask why. I never asked anyone why. Their reasons were their reasons. I felt it was an intrusion to ask.
I am not and never have been athletic. I'm out of shape to say the least, but once I committed I knew I would complete it. I would recommend the walk to anyone who would ask if it was worth it. My advice would be to walk as much as possible before attempting it. The stress on my body was severe. I didn't realize how severe until I returned home. I'm actually still recovering, but feel that I'm almost back to myself. Here are a few more pictures.

 This is the street the walk begins on. The sign on the left is a store that sells Camino gear. I bought my Altus rain poncho here. Across the street is the Official Office where you sign up to walk, get your Pilgrim's Passport (the one the stamps go in), and a shell (the symbol of the Camino) to tie on your backpack. It was raining the day we arrived and continued to rain as we started our walk.

This is an example of the many water fountains along the way where you could fill your water bottles. If the water wasn't potable there would be a sign telling you that. The water was excellent.

This is a Monastery we spent the night at. It was beautiful inside. There was a bridge over running water that we walked over to get to it.

This is one of the symbols to watch for as you walk. This sea shell along with yellow arrows mark the way and let you know you have not strayed from the path. If you haven't seen one of these symbols in awhile then it's time to stop, get your map out, and assess the situation.

An example of the concrete markers that point the way.

Example of another source of water. Wine came out of one spigot and water came out the other.

The roads were long and winding and sometimes took us through tunnels, over bridges, up and down hills and mountains, but always to our destinations.

Notice the yellow arrows.

At home I had 70 second graders following my path and rooting me on.

Knowing that these sweet kids were following me kept me going.

The terrain could be very rough.

A place for pilgrim's to take a short break.



More pictures to come.

To Be Continued...