El destino final

Camino de Santiago--continued

To wrap-up this segment of our Adventures in Europe, let me take you to the final destination of the popular pilgrimage.

These glimpses of what we experienced that day are meant to give you a feel of the massive structures and of the masses that throng the Catedral de Santiago.  I can't imagine what it must have been like last Sunday, the day of St. James, and on Holy Year at that!

There were so many entrances and crowds of people everywhere. Reviewing the photos, I have become very confused as to what was where. No matter, this will give you an onlooker's first impressions.

Is that supposed to be St. James up there, and which one--James the brother of Jesus or James the Greater?

Wikipedia says:

According to legend, the apostle Saint James the Greater brought Christianity to the Celts in the Iberian Peninsula. In 44 AD he was beheaded in Jerusalem. His remains were later brought back to Galicia, Spain

 I have enjoyed this travelogue-of-sorts because it has forced me to research and learn a lot of interesting things.

Did you know that Spain has the second largest number of UNESCO-declared World Heritage sites (41 in all) and Santiago de Compostela is one of the main ones?

For more fascinating facts go to history of el Camino.

Los peregrinos

I mentioned in yesterday's post that I would share about the pilgrims we encountered in our travels.

We saw many the day we visited Santiago de Compostela, all making their way to the final destination--the cathedral built as a shrine to James the Apostle, said to be buried there.

The pilgrims come from around the world for different reasons. The report says: 55% for religious reasons; 5% cultural, and 40% both. Some want time to think and reflect, others seek adventure. 

They carry their gear, a walking stick, and the symbolic scallop shell.

They come on foot, on horseback, on bicycles. If the walkers (Caminantes)100 kilometers (200 km for the bikers or horse riders) and can prove it by getting their passport-of-sorts stamped along the way, when they arrive at their final destination, the Cathedral of St. James, they are awarded the compostela, the document that certifies the completion of the Way for devotionis affectu, voti vel pietatis causa--for devotion, to fulfill a promise, or for piety.

This older man had been walking two months all the way from middle or northern France. He was asking  Alberto about lodging for the night, if there were pilgrim-hostels nearby or whether he could just camp out at a farm house. Our host assured him (in French) that people would be very helpful.

I first saw the old man kneeling in a small chapel on the marked route.

When we first met this lady in the circle of friends, she had just returned from walking the Camino with a friend for eleven days. The aspect they enjoyed the most was the community feel, sharing with the people they met along the way. She had funny stories to tell of enduring terrible snorers, osos (bears) they called them.

We saw a good many more pilgrims, some fellow passengers on the flights coming back. And since then I keep hearing of others who have experienced the Camino or want to in their life time.

My favorite story, written by a woman from Wisconsin, tells what she did and why. She ran and prayed.


Nearly one thousand years ago, Pope Alexander III declared that during a year of jubilee or holy year, i.e. when the day of St. James (July 25th) falls on a Sunday, the faithful could have all their sins forgiven.
I am grateful that long before that, Jesus Christ took the punishment for my sins on the cross so that I could have my sins forgiven and have eternal life!


P.S.:  Our girl Amaia arrived safely as of last night very late.

Arrivals

We said goodbye to our girl on Sunday and she is not home yet! This is the third day, that's THREE days.
Sunday night we heard that the plane out of Chicago had problems, was turned around, but not allowed to land until it had burned up more fuel. They finally flew out  Monday afternoon. Amaia's group, the last one, had a 14 hr. layover in Brussels and should finally be landing about now, Tuesday afternoon, four o'clock our time, ten theirs. We will not rest easy until we hear that they have arrived safely.

Looking back on our own overseas adventure, almost eight weeks ago, I realize how fortunate we were that in spite of a couple delays, our flight schedule was not interrupted and we arrived in Spain as planned.

I remember how new and different everything was. We had to find our way to the car rental place; they didn't have the GPS we'd ordered. We asked for directions to La Coruña, Galicia, on the far western corner of Spain and they gave us three main cities to look for. We stopped and bought a map and were busy following it and reading signs. Oh, and figuring out the car with all its bells and whistles!

We chose to follow the Northern coast. Midway across Northern Spain  we were too tired to continue and decided to spend the night in Gijón, Asturias, the capital of the Costa Verde. Interestingly, one website says,

Visiting the city of Gijón is a great way to begin an adventure into the rural countryside of northern Spain. Gijón is a mid-sized city of about 270,000 people with all the comforts of being modern while displaying a historical taste of the region of Asturias surrounding it.

So, we had done the right thing!
We asked around and found a reasonably priced nice place to stay--Hotel Arena .
I mentioned this briefly here, in the recap of our trip.

Now let me move on to the signs that caught our attention all along the way. They mark the way for the many pilgrims that come from around the world. Read about the famous pilgrimage here. I will write about the peregrinos I met next. Would you like to do this some day? Would the experience make your bucket list?