Santiago de Compostela Sept 13 - 15

We lingered in Santiago for a couple of days after our arrival.  We were staying at the beautiful Hospederia San Martin Pinario, a XVIth century monastery.  Our rooms on the 4th floor were in the monk's lodgings.  Cosy and compact they were perfect at 40 euros a night.

We attended mass on Sunday and saw the huge incense burner, known as the botafumeiro, as priests hoisted it in the air on a pulley system,  and allowed it to swing through the cathedral, a spectacle in itself.

 Interior of Cathedral of Santiago

The year 2014 marked the 800th anniversary of the year St. Francis walked the camino from Assisi, in Italy to Santiago.  As a result a special compostela was being offered at the church of St Francis in Santiago.  This special certificate is only offered once every 100 years on the centenary.  A year ago Cheryl and I were in Assisi  and hiked to St. Francis's hermitage in the surrounding hills, so this had a special meaning for us.

   

One added feature of our walk on the Camino Portugues was having the Spanish cycling race, La Vuelta happening at the same time as our walk.  As some of us are cycling enthusiasts this was of particular interest. One day as we left Caldas de Reis on our way to Padron we veered off course to a small village to watch the race as it came through.  It took 9 seconds for the main body of the race to go by, like sudden tidal wave...

And then, two days after our arrival in Santiago we watched the finish of the race as it ended in front of the cathedral in Santiago this year.  I don't know what arriving pilgrims would have made of the spectacle in front of the cathedral on this day, with the crowds, the stages set up, the trucks, trailers, billboard size tv screens and the music.  I'm sure it was not the arrival they were expecting...

From our position 50 meters from the finish line we were able to watch the overall winner Alberto Contador as he arrived to claim victory...

The next day we left Santiago on Ryanair for Barcelona for a few days before flying home.

Reflections On Our Camino

Now that we are back home we have time to contemplate our Camino and what it meant to us, but it will take us a while longer to fully absorb this trip.

 

We have so many memories of Portugal and Spain that we have brought back with us, among them are: the friendliness of the Portuguese and Spanish people that we met on and off the road and in the cities and villages, who would wish you a "Buen Camino;"  the other pilgrims that we met along the way. like Marit and Lilly from Norway, and Annie from Sweden; the German couple who walked 40 km one day ("It was too much," she said...but he just shrugged it off as if was nothing).  They had already walked more than 2000 km on various caminos; Luis and his friends, who had 7 children between them and offered several times when we saw him if we wanted to buy any of them...

...Lesley Southwick-Trask, a fellow Canadian, who along with her husband, ran Quinta Estrada Romana, an albergue and cafe that they fully renovated themselves.  It is right on the camino in Portugal.  Her personal story is a memorable one and we hope to read it in book form one day...

Lesley Southwick-Trask

Our group at Quinta Estrada Romana (l to r: Dianne, Warren, Glen, Nola, Phil, Linda, Cheryl, Sam, Deborah, George)

...the acres and acres of cornfields (who knew Portugal grew so much corn?); the lady shepherding her sheep through the streets of a village; the Roman bridges we crossed, and cobblestone roads of Portugal...

Crossing a Roman Bridge in Spain

...the widow lady in one little village who stopped me on the street and asked me if I was going to Santiago and when I said I was, asked me to say a prayer to her dear departed husband (at least, that's what I think she was asking),
who was now up in heaven (at least she hoped that's where he was)...






  ...the yellow arrows...drop down anywhere in Spain and all you have to do is follow the yellow arrows to get to Santiago.  All roads lead to Santiago, just follow the yellow arrows...

The waymarkers that lined the route

...the forests of eucalyptus trees, the churches and cathedrals...

Our Pilgrim Passports filling up with stamps as we went...

pasteis de nata

...those delicious portuguese tarts, known as pasteis de nata.  The best ones we had were from Pasteis de Belem in the Belem district of Lisbon.  They've been making pasteis de nata there since 1837...

Cheryl, Nola, and Glen and the pasteis de natas of Belem

...for Cheryl the best cappuccino ever, next door to our hotel in Lisbon...

...the sidewalk cafes, the cafe con leches, tapas, Super Bok,

ham and cheese for breakfast, ham and cheese for lunch;  the family harvesting their ornamental corn, who wanted to give each of us a cob; the avenue of trees as we entered Ponte de Lima...

Avenue of Plane Trees (planted in 1903) entering Ponte de Lima (Cheryl, Linda, Phil)

Ham and cheese for breakfast...

Harvesting corn along the way

...the woman herding a stubborn ox down a street; women washing clothes in riverbanks and at communal washing basins...

His grandmother was pulling and he was pushing, but the ox wasn't going anywhere!

 Sometimes it seemed like we had stepped back in time...

Day 10 Padron to Santiago (22 km) Sept 12

Our last day on the road together and emotions are running high. We are really not in too big a hurry to have this day end. After walking for an hour Deborah and George realized that the hotel had not given them back their passports. They took a taxi back to the hotel and then back to where they left off and managed to catch us where we have stopped for cafe con leche.
Linda is still suffering from her blisters that seem to be getting only worse, but she bravely soldiers on in borrowed sandals, with her head down and not complaining.

Coffee break.

Lunch on the outskirts of Santiago.

Entering Santiago on the Portugues route.
After following yellow arrows and scallop shells all along the way, we enter Santiago and the route markers that we relied on all along are suddenly scarce and hard to find. We feel we have lost our Way. Santiago appears to be to be a busy traffic laden city, not unlike many other European cities, until we reach the medieval streets and run the gauntlet of souvenir shops and cafés that lead to the Cathedral and the end of the trail for us.

We have arrived! I feel both exhilarated and a little let down. Like many journeys it has proven to be more about the journey than the actual destination. I feel a certain sense of accomplishment, but the arrival is a little difficult to process. All of a sudden you are here! Now what?

After ten days of walking we develop a rhythm. Life is reduced to eating, sleeping, and then rising each day and walking. It's all you really have to do. We will miss the camaraderie of the trail that we will be leaving behind, but for now we can relax in Santiago and watch the flow of pilgrims as they come in.

The Cathedral is undergoing restoration work at the moment.

Santiago looks down from atop the spires.

 

We did it!

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Day 9 Caldas de Reis to Padron (20.4 km) Sept 11

This is a bit of an overdue post due to poor or no wifi service:
One of our most enjoyable walks, with the added feature of a half kilometre detour to a small village so that we could watch the Spanish bike race, The Vuelta, as it soared through the street, like a 9 second wave.
Here are a few pictures from the day:

Second day of school for these kindergarteners. We were invited in to get our Pilgrim stamps. 

Linda is still making adjustments to her walking sandals!

Entering Padron and finding out the hotel is still another 2 or 3 kilometres. It always seems the hotel we're looking for is always a few kilometres farther than we think. We should be in Santiago tomorrow.

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