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.