We had two days to explore and enjoy Santiago. Top priority for me was to see if by chance during the 12 o’clock mass specifically for peregrinos (pilgrims), I would get to see that giant incense burner swing again. So, donning our raincoats and umbrellas, we took off for the great cathedral to take our place among our comrades who also made the pilgrimage.

Official stamp from one of our many stops along the Camino:

Posted on pews allocated specifically for those who had their “credential” legitimizing their presence. Pilgrims arrive daily from all over: Spain, France, Italy, great distances, many routes all with the final destination of Santiago. Whether a pilgrim has their credential or not (requirement of walking at least 100km), each day there are over 500 people in the noonday service!

Our completed “credential” qualifying us as official Peregrinos who have completed the Camino de Portugues!

Before leaving home, I, well, actually a friend, sewed a patch with a logo I have come to truly love: NOTW (not of this world). It’s actually a logo for a Christian clothing company, but sometime back if ever I have heard the voice of God it was the time He clearly told me, “I am your home!” It was one of the many, many times that I had been obsessively lamenting “…if only I lived in …; if only my house was …; if only I had …” Ever since that time, my perspective has changed. To what shall I cling to be happy…to be content? This world and what it has to offer or to the One who made the world and all He has to offer?

It’s not always easy, but today I find far more contentment in letting go of illusions of what might bring happiness for the peace and serenity that living simply as a pilgrim, on a journey, traveling lightly through this world in anticipation the next. Instead of Jon Brierly’s Guide to the Camino de Portugues, I carry and look for direction from the Word of God; instead of comforts from hearth and home, I seek solace and assurance from meditation; instead of thoughts of “when I get or have or am this or that,” I believe the when and having is in the final destination, a place of “no more tears” and standing in the all-consuming grace, peace and encompassing loving presence of Almighty God.

In the meantime, when I read several definitions of the word “pilgrim,” my heart resounded, “Yes! This is who I want to be and even am in my heart of hearts.”

Definition of a Pilgrim:
They have a destination in mind, and they look forward to getting there. If they pass through a scenic area, they’ll enjoy the beauty, but they won’t decide to move there. If they stop at a nice hotel, they don’t start hanging pictures on the wall and settling in. They have a transient mentality that affects how they live on the trip.
It is a person who makes a journey, often a long and difficult one, to a special place, often for religious reasons as an act of devotion. A pilgrim is a traveler, a wanderer, in a foreign land.

Hebrews 13:14
For this world is not our permanent home; we are looking forward to a home yet to come.

In miles and miles of walking, day after day, the similarities to our life’s journeys are endless. Here are a just a few that we became keenly aware of:

• When walking, as in real life, we can only take one step at a time.
• If we choose not to read and pay attention and do what the directions say, we get lost.
• The important thing is to complete the journey, not how fast we get there. In trying to keep up with others, we may miss the journey that God has for us.
• People who wished us “Good Camino!” reminded us how important it is to encourage others in their journeys and how encouraged and blessed we are by others who encourage us in ours.
• If we follow someone else instead of listening, reading, and looking for where to go, we may be following someone who is lost or doesn’t know where they are going or perhaps is even headed for a different destination.
• When we get cocky and think we know where we are going without paying attention to the signs and directions, we will surely miss the mark, ending up lost and have to go back, retrace our steps and find out where we got lost.
• Others are there to help; sometimes on the Camino someone would come along and point out which direction to go. God shows us the way in very real practical ways when we get lost. Stop. Wait. Look and listen for his direction.
• The rocks others (and we) left behind as symbols of what they were letting go of (and perhaps asking forgiveness for), most definitely lightened the load.
• Pain has to be discerned. Some pain is part of the journey. Some pain means you are on the wrong journey or doing it the wrong way and need to stop and redirect.
• Sometimes the path isn’t very pretty, but just around the corner, just moments away, the scene is completely different, lush and beautiful.
• Often our physical bodies are telling us something. It’s important to listen to what it is saying.
• Surroundings may be ugly but God is always present and offering a gift even in that moment.
• A backpack overstuffed with “just in cases” makes for a very heavy load. God is able to provide exactly what we need when we need it.
• Rest is an important part of reaching our destination.
• The destination is definitely worth the journey!

Last photos of how we spent our days and why the destination was so worth it!

Markers to show the way and rocks left behind by pilgrims willing to let go and let God.

Orchards, orchards, everywhere!

Horreos once and sometimes still used to store mainly corn can be seen everywhere.

Opportunities to fill up our water bottles often seemingly appeared from nowhere.

…and our destination, Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela

…and the swinging of the Botafumeiro

Pulling the ropes for the giant pulley…

While this nun led worship, her angel-like voice resounded with nothing less than majestic clarity, bouncing off the magnificent acoustics of this old massive stone building. One man from Singapore told me, “I couldn’t help but weep.” And, he was not alone.

Happy to complete this portion of our journey…with renewed hearts and passion and vision, we look forward not only to today but all of our tomorrows as peregrinos de la vida (pilgrims of life).

Teo to Santiago
12 miles

Last day! We really couldn’t believe that it was already the last day of our trek. When doing a long distance walk, life becomes very, very simple. By now we had acclimated to our monastic life; all that we needed was contained in a backpack and the top layer of our suitcases. Our purpose each day was to eat, sleep, dress, and walk. That’s it. Simplicity at its essence.

As an aside, on the dress side of things, I was hoping perhaps Walmart might indulge me in our next venture, since my clothing has been reduced and unintentionally coordinated into a grey and black Dri-More Danskin short-sleeved shirt, topped with the same long sleeved shirt, and then covered with the same zip up jacket…all bought with months, if not years in between at, of course, Walmart. I really felt like a walking advertisement, but then it worked for layers and washing. I couldn’t help but wonder about all the expensive hiking gear I’d been longing for over the years…and so yes, another lesson hopefully learned while walking the Camino…this time about what I think I need and being content with what God has already given.

So…today the culmination of all of our planning and work to get to this adventure’s final destination: the Cathedral de Santiago Compostela. I didn’t know much about the cathedral itself, other than Catholics believe that it holds the relics of James and also an enormous statue of him that some believe holds great peace or comfort or even power in being able to touch and embrace. For me, the great cathedral was all about seeing the huge incense burner (The Botafumeiro) swinging throughout the massive building. It takes six men to make this unique and very moving experience happen. Every single day at noon there is a special mass that takes place specifically for pilgrims. Here, on special occasion, this burner is swung. No one knows when or if this will happen on any given day. Because I had seen a youtube video, I seriously wanted to see this in real life. Interestingly, originally the swinging of this enormous silver burner was used to fumigate the sweaty (and possibly disease ridden) pilgrims!! And, considering the numbers of pilgrims congregated en masse when we were there, many of whom had just arrived from walking long, long distances, as we had, I’m not sure if this isn’t still a good reason to let that baby swing!

So, here’s the thing, we got up early, got started to the threat of 100% chance of rain for our final day. All ready with our gaiters, raincoats, umbrellas, and ponchos we were prepared for anything.

One of our fellow pilgrims…alone, with a purpose…to reach Santiago.

…one of our last pit-stops…

…where we were served a potato pie sandwich with our diet cokes!

Santiago!!

…and, so close, but now what??

We continued to wind our way on and off wooded paths even though Santiago (pop. 100,000) was within a mile of us.

…and then finally, we stepped out of the woods and right into Santiago…

…and we wound our way through the town to the very steps of the historic and long anticipated great Cathedral…

Where, I couldn’t believe it. Running up the steps, we threw our “rucksacks” (not allowed inside) down and slipped into the massive building, where, as it happened, mass was just ending. Standing at the back of the crowd, on tippy toes peering over the tops of hundreds of heads and smart phones held high clicking away…there it was, the huge Botafumeiro swinging literally inches within touching the rafters!! I could not contain myself!!!

And, with the huge organ’s majestic sound bouncing profoundly off the perfect acoustics of the stone walls, the Bontifumeiro was just as impressive, just as stunning, just as glorious as I imagined it might be!

And so we celebrated once again that we had made it!!

As a final accolade, after finding our way to our hotel, it was minutes after we dropped everything, fell on the bed exhausted that we looked out the window and the rain began to fall. On our entire trip of nine days, it had rained one hour. After we reached Santiago, it not only got colder and colder, but rained for our two and half days there. The same thing happened when we reached Bath in England. Ten minutes of rain in 10 days. Reaching our destination of the cathedral in Bath, it poured and poured for our two days there. I’m sure God is speaking very profound truths to us in these “coincidences.” For now, we count it all as Grace! 🙂

Check out the following if you want to see Roger’s video of the Botafumeiro swinging:

Padron to Teo
10 miles

Because we didn’t get to spend any time in Padron, and because it was Sunday morning, market day for Padron, we decided to hang out there for a while. It was startling, however, as right outside of the huge cathedral where there were only a handful of people attending mass, there were literally hundreds of people shopping at the outdoor market. I’m wondering what this says about the state of not only the Catholic faith, but the formal, organized church at large today??

The market is world famous for the Padron peppers and also boiled octopus. Everything was being sold there: clothes, shoes, cooking ware, fruits, vegetables, and flowers. Sadly, we were only able to purchase a new umbrella for Roger, only because we had only our backpacks and 10 miles of walking to do that day.

Don’t ask…it had chocolate on it and looked yummy…even at 9 a.m.!

Very few peregrinos (pilgrims) visit one particular spot in Padron, but for us, it was a must. Since the whole point of a pilgrimage from a Christian perspective in Spain is because of the ministry of the apostle James, we definitely wanted to see the spot where he began his ministry. So, we wound our way through cobbled streets, climbing up a billion stone steps up and beyond a monastery, high up on a hill, where we were led to the spot where legend says that James first preached in Spain.

It was perhaps one of the few times we were completely alone on the Camino, and because we were so high up on a hill above the river, it was easy to imagine James “delivering his message of unconditional love and forgiveness from this remote and peaceful place.” (Brierly) It’s rather sad to think that so many of the pilgrims we are passing each day are perhaps missing the most important part of the Santiago Camino…that of honoring James’ life and teaching, rather than his death and, from our perspective, questionable burial in Santiago.

A very steep climb up the hill behind the monastery…to the place where James first preached in Spain.

…and pictures of the monastery we passed around…

…to the place marked with a cross and statue of James…

It really was very easy to envision James standing up there with people coming to see who and what was going on, clustered in groups, sitting and standing, listening to what this foreigner was saying that was so radically extreme from anything they had heard before. Roger and I were quite moved to think of what it must have been like for James. He knew and walked and talked and lived with Jesus. He knew for fact Jesus was the real deal. He couldn’t keep quiet. He had seen for himself. He knew Jesus was, in fact, the Son of God. He had seen him heal the sick, raise the dead, give freedom and forgiveness when it was not deserved. He saw Jesus dead; he saw him alive again. There was no doubt. He could not keep quiet. He believed and he was passionate about his purpose on earth…and that was that the world would know. Maybe he counted the cost; I don’t know. But I do know the desire to tell was far greater than the desire to sit quiet. Whether James actually stood where we stood or maybe it was five meters to the left or to the right hardly matters. We prayed to have the same passion, excitement, fortitude, and power that 12 had…the world knew because of 12. We pray a few will know today because of 2.

Undoubtedly, today was the highlight of our trip…and worth it all…

Reluctantly, we left the silence and solitude and rest of that place and passed by a small chapel and then a beautiful sculpture of James baptizing a woman using a scallop shell to dip into the water.

Even though a short day, it was hot. The path was steep at times, but then the rewards were, as usual, great.

We stopped for a bottle of cold water and, as is typical, any time we stop at a bar (café) and get anything from a coffee to a soda or water, we are always served bread. Today, we were also served octopus, potatoes and bread!

Can’t even tell you how tempted we were to take off our hot boots, sweaty socks and soak our feet in this lavenderia (place for washing clothes).

Beautiful old stone church with huge cemetery surrounding it. It was quite sad as I saw many elderly men with a handful of fresh flowers winding their way down paths from different directions in town making their way to this cemetery…I imagine placing the flowers on their wives’ graves. They seemed so alone and sad.

I imagined them like these doves I saw later, clustered together seeking comfort from being together having lost their lifelong mates, which only made me more aware and more grateful to have this day, this life, this journey with my beloved Roger.

14 miles
Caldes de Reis to Padron

Our layover in Caldes de Reis turned out to be a “coindental” beforehand decision. It’s hard to know when planning a route just when or if to take a day off, but God had definitely gone before and knew just the right day that would benefit us the most. Roger has been a trooper and pressed on each day in spite of his knee bothering him. As it turned out our day off from walking and giving it a rest turned out to be such great timing. Today he was so much better and really enjoyed the walk relatively pain free!

With a weather forecast of 100% chance of rain, we set off as early as we could and still be able to see. (Daylight savings kicks in for Spain on Sunday.)

We have packed and repacked our backpacks over and over due to the climate not being at all what we had imagined. It’s much warmer than we had thought it would be, so we’ve shoved a couple of layers (jackets) back into our suitcases and focused more on important things like, ponchos, gaitors, bars, oranges, umbrellas, medicinal supplies like blister packs and lip balm, knee braces, gloves, hats and water bottles. Every item counts if you’re not used to carrying a backpack. Roger actually “trained” with his pack on, while I couldn’t be bothered. (Convinced of the benefits, I am now resolved “next time,” though.)

Our training for the Cotswolds took a year of very focused work. We started at ground zero, diligently increasing the difficulty and length each Sunday until we could hike 13 to 15 miles back to back for two days. For that hike we were preparing for 100 miles in 9 days over some pretty steep (in our opinion) terrain. For the Camino, Roger has diligently gone to the gym at least three days a week, walked in the mornings two miles and done increased hiking in the California hills on Sundays for the past 2.5 months. I have been a complete slacker. OK, I hiked with Roger on Sundays, so that was good. Otherwise, I walked a few days a week at home about 3 miles and it seems the gym that I am now eligible to attend for free (being 66) is just too far, too crowded, too…you know what I mean, right? So, basically, the miracle of the Camino for me is that I’m able to walk two days in a row without dying!

Today we woke up to fresh, cool and delightful smells of rain from the night before. I think I already mentioned that often we are walking on one of the roads built during the Roman Empire…for us we are on Via Romana XIX. I’m consistently overwhelmed by the sheer historical significance of places that we walk. Every pilgrim (peregrino) has a copy of Brierley’s guide to the particular route of the Camino he is doing. We have come to appreciate John (Brierly) so much and refer to him often as our constant companion and his precious notes about points of interest or how well he points out the logistics of our path.

Today according to John, our now close friend, it’s going to be a day mostly off the asphalt and into the woods winding in and out of little country neighborhoods…

…where women still collect around the fish monger’s delivery truck to choose the best fish…in this case causing what seemed to be a highly animated dispute over either pricing or product!

…and bread is still delivered daily…

…and chickens or dogs or cats either greet us or warn us away…

Often we can hear the noise of traffic hidden by trees or a silent train swish by above or beneath us…

…and we are forever watchful for our next yellow marker…either a yellow arrow or a scallop shell…

…and finally with feet burning, we made our way into Padron…

…where we passed by, and took advantage, of the first public bathroom we’ve seen on the Camino!

15 miles+

Pontevedra to Caldes de Reis

Up and going early, who knew what an amazing ending our day would have. Today is the long anticipated two night stay at a place that’s supposed to be amazing…according to Trip Advisor reviewers…but we’ve learned that reviews of places to stay are, of course, like reviews of movies: just because someone else just LOVES it, most definitely does not mean that we will…just sayin’! So, we held our expectations at bay and were amply rewarded when we got to our new little home for two days in Caldes de Reis.

The camino each day is pretty typical…some days more wooded pathways and others less, but always lots of old stone churches, bells pealing, asphalt back passageways, crossovers high above train tracks, freeways off in the distance, and lots of people greeting us with, “Bueno Camino!”

During our days of walking we experience so many physical realities that are also spiritual truths…which could, of course, be said about any journey, I would suppose, whether life itself or just “walking” through a day in a life. Today we really had no idea what God had in store for us amidst our trepidations going into such a long day’s walk, especially not knowing the real logistics of the path or through or to what our journey would lead us.

So, we were upp and at it early walking through Pontevedra:

We passed by the Appleseed Ministry Group store! 😉

…the shop window.

Appleseed’s logo.

…and continuing to make our way out of town…

and…you know Roger…forever making new friends…along the way…

Actually, some of our fellow pilgrims, if they happened to start on the same day as we did for Santiago, and if they are on our same schedule for how many miles to walk each day, we will criss-cross paths several times throughout any given day. It all depends on how often and when or where each group might stop for a break. This particular group of four are from Malaga, Spain. The couple were so engaging and I think held hands the entire 100km!

Even with all kinds of prep, we stopped to take stock of our supplies, and this all we had…sad!!!

But as promised in 23rd Psalm…“The Lord is my Shepherd, I have everything I need”…and so we did. And when we had run out, there was a Peregrino Alburgue (Pilgrim’s Rest) with yummy food for us:

I know it looks nasty…but seriously, it was great…pork, potatoes and cabbage, doused with a ton of olive oil, of course!

We wound our way across fields, highways, a few wooded areas…and, of course, vineyards…

The Camino is a very interesting and impressive long distance walk with hundreds of years worth of history. Thousands of people through the centuries have made this journey coming from all over the world to make this pilgrimage…all for many and various different reasons. The walk itself has lots of people and towns and highways to cross and shops and hostels within easy access.

As with any journey there have been highlights and lowlights…Roger has had some disappointment that his knee has been bothering him, as he had worked so hard to get it in good shape. I am somewhat disappointed in the walk itself, as my expectations so often do not meet reality…and yes, I’m working on that! I do love the experience for sure, but it is not restful or peaceful or nourishing to my soul, as I had hoped. Instead I am finding the camino much like life itself…full of interruptions and annoyances where I am constantly trying to find peace in the midst of it all. Perhaps that is the lesson in itself for me. The Camino often takes us off the harsh pavement and chaos of people and cars and city life into the hills providing moments for stillness and silence and reflection throughout the day. The hills are there. The silence is there… God is here…whether I draw nigh or not. The truth remains. They are all there.

…and just when you think you can’t take another step……and before our final descent into Caldes de Reis…there was an awesome word of encouragement:

…where we were very, very happy to take our boots off at the end of this day…

…and climb into this beautiful princess bed!