Last Camino Entry

Hello Camino Companions,

Here's the wrap-up to my Camino experience. I hope you enjoy.

In the last days I found myself in some of the most beautiful parts of the whole trip. Things got a lot greener as I kept walking west to Santiago because it was getting closer to the coast.

This was the last morning. I got up early so I could make it to Santiago for the noon mass.

Here is the momument at the Monte de Gozo (Mt. of Joy). It is the last stop before you enter Santiago. People were singing and laughing as they walked from here into Santiago. You could feel the excitement.

At the monument I learned that Papa Juan Pablo II (Pope John Paul II) was a pilgrim, as was St. Francis of Assisi.

Much to my surprise 10 km before entering Santiago I heard, "Dan, Dan!" and found my old walking buddy Nick. He had pushed ahead when I got sick in Leon and I hadn't seen him in 9 or so days. It was nice to enter the city with a friend.

the Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela - the symbolic end of the Camino

St. James

I hesitate to give you my opinion of arriving in Santiago because I don't want to influence your experience should you ever decide to walk the Camino, but I figure you're reading this so you want to know ... if you don't though, skip the rest of this paragraph. When I arrived there were no overwhelming emotions like some people said there would be. Walking into heart of the city, I was actually quite saddened by the large number of street beggers. I guess I thought everyone would be happy and joyful, but every corner I turned I saw desparate faces hoping for some change. At the mass, besides the fact that I had to stand for the whole thing and I felt like passing out, I found it very impersonal with the hordes of people taking pictures and the alter so far away you had to watch it on the sidewall TV's. I didn't stay there long, but not all was bad. The priest who gave the homily, reminded all the pilgrims that although this journey had come to an end, our pilgrimage of life continues. Away from the cathedral, however, I liked the city of Santiago. For the two evenings that I spent there you couldn't walk far without encountering musicians or entertainers on the street corner.

And I met up with old friends, a definite highlight!

As I mentioned Santiago is the symbolic end of the Camino, but you can continue 90 more kilometers west to the coast to reach the Camino's physical end, a place called Finisterre (or Fisterra in the local Galician language). This was once believed to be the most western point one could go and it had much significance in olden days being that Finisterre roughly translates to "the end of the world."  I didn't have the 3 days it takes to walk there, so I took the bus.

the harbor of Finisterre

Then you walk from the town to the cape (a couple kilometers beyond the city).

the end of the world

"Welcome to Finisterre, the end of the earthly camino below the Milky Way."

no more steps to be taken

I liked it here.

Tradition says that you are suppose to burn your clothes at Finnisterre to symbolize the end of your old self and the beginning of the new.

My Asics had come to "the end of their Camino" so ...

I decided burning them would be appropriate. I soon regretted this for several reasons. I knew this meant walking back down the cape to the bus station barefoot, but like when I stood next to the 790 km sign in Roncesvalles at the beginning of this trip, some things don't sink in at a gut level until you have to "walk it." On top of that a local about my age, who seemed to go barefoot all the time, noticed my barefeet and said, 'ah no shoes uhh?' I informed him that I had just burned them after which he proceeded to tell me how you shouldn't burn large things like shoes because it is bad for the environment and beause it is wasteful. Now feeling like an idiot and with sore feet I returned to Santiago with any hopes of feeling like a hardcore pilgrm completely destroyed. Oh, well, I guess a little ego-check is good once in a while.

Now back home from "the end of the world" I am happy, rejuvenated and seeing things a litte differently. I find myself thinking, "It would take me an hour to walk what I just drove in 10 minutes." T. S. Eliot said it best though - "We shall not cease from exploration. And the end of all our exploring will be to arrive where we started and know the place for the first time."                                                                                                                                                       Thanks for keeping up with my blog and I hope our paths cross sooner than later. Buen Camino.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Camino de Santiago - Entry 3

Another update from across the Atlantic. I´m sure you want to get back to watching the Olympics so I won´t keep you long, but here is a snap shot of my recent past, present and future on the Camino.

First off, here is where I currently am:

(sorry about the presentation ... technical issues)
Basically it´s in a little town just outside of Palas de Rei in the Northwestern region of Spain called Galicia. I have walked about 730 km (450 miles) now and have about 60 km (37 miles) to go. Today is my 26th day of walking, Monday, and I plan to arrive in Santiago on either Wednesday or Thursday. These past days have probably been my favorite so far. I´ll explain why here, but in short, things just keep getting better and better.

In the recent past there has been ...

beautiful towns

new friends (this was an Irish singing group that I joined for half a day ... they had me sing bass)

mountainous landscapes ... it is hard to express how wonderful this is after a week of walking through monotonous plains

quite near the highest point of the entire Camino is a landmark called La Cruz de Ferro (the Iron Cross); the tradition here is to bring a rock from you homeland and leave it there as a symbol of some burden you would like to no longer carry; sunrise here was memorable

solitude has been a big part of my recent walk, which has been great

present ... The solitude has acted as a classroom where I have been learning some lessons such as:

it´s not just about the destination

but about the journey itself as well (i.e. taking time to smell the flowers)

you have to follow your own path ... because that really is the only path there is

I am also learning to trust ... trust that what I need will be provided. You see, as we get closer to Santiago, two things are happening: first, many more people are joining the Camino and hostels fill up extremely quickly. You hear stories of people sleeping outside or in church doorways. You hope it doesn´t happen to you. Second the weather is becoming wetter. It is kinda of like Oregon, rain always seems to be threatening. With this combination, many pilgrims now seem to be rushing from one hostel to the next before the next guy. I haven´t had to sleep outside yet, but have had some close calls: walking in the rain or (quote of the Camino) ¨This is great we got a (hotel) room together, but I don´t even know your names.¨

future ...

The end is near. This is me at the 100 km marker. I have lots of thoughts about the end of the Camino. On one hand I am mentally, physically, emotionally and spitirually feeling great and could probably walk for another 500 miles. It is incredible how your body becomes accustomed to and gets stronger from consistent challenges. Unfortunately my Asics aren´t bouncing back. Maybe it is time to put my feet up for a while.

I also have been wondering what Santiago will be like. For the last month it been the center of the world. All pilgrims have endured blisters, sweat and stress trying to get to Santiago. We have laughed, ate and drank with each other over the days as well as helped each other ¨carry the load.¨ We will be greeted by those who have gone before us and there will be room for all who make it. Maybe I´ve been walking to long, but it sounds like heaven to me.

  

note:  So as not to lead anyone to believe that I should be confused with someone of intelligence :-) I should mention that some of the ideas and terms I used here are not my original thoughts: ¨classroom of solitude¨ - Matthew Kelly, ¨the only path is your own¨ - Lao Tzu, etc., but they resonated with me and so used them. (take that MLA formatting!) 

I hope this finds you well. Peace.