When I begin walking this morning around 7:15 AM, the party was still going on in town!
It was a fairly flat and beautiful 10 kilometer walk through harvested wheat fields and a few vineyards today. The first thing I passed was this little family chapel so I took a peek inside.
There are many brambles full of fruit all along the pathways. In case you didn’t know, the bramble is the genetic parent of our big fat juicy blackberries. The bramble berries are very tiny, about the size of a large pea, but they are very sweet. I managed to get a handful for breakfast.
A pilgrim walking ahead of me
Ruins of an old house
I could see this big huge building at the top of the hill in the distance and I wasn’t sure what it was. Upon enlarging it, it looks like it could be a church. I’m going to ask around and see if anyone knows.
I got into Los Arcos about 11 AM. I had a café con leche with some friends and then checked into my hotel room. It is hot and muggy today and I was hoping to have air conditioning but instead, I have this curious ceiling fan. I’ve never seen anything like it. You can’t see it until you turn it on. It’s hiding underneath the light and when you turn it on the fan blades spread out and go around and the dang thing works pretty good. I think I’ll look for one of these for my bedroom when I get home.
After a shower and a quick change of clothes, I headed to Hotel Monaco, where their restaurant has a nice, although expensive, meal. I haven’t had a full meal in a few days so it was worth the extra euros. I had a beautiful tomato and onion salad, and a nice fat steak!
After dinner, I went over to visit the church and take some photos. Mass was just ending, which explains why no one else was in the restaurant with me because the people poured out and they all headed over to Monaco. Lol!! I was happy to have beaten the rush.
Here are some photos of the inside of the church. If you’re not Catholic, it’s good to remind you that just a couple of generations ago people were not literate and so one of the reasons there are so many evocative statues and paintings in the Catholic churches is because this is how people learned the Bible stories because they could not read. The gold you see is not real gold. It’s gold paint, I imagine to symbolize the richness of heaven.
I have to say it’s very impressive Pay attention to the little men whose mouths open at the bottom of the giant pipe organ.
A sorrowful mother Mary, as she stands over A very realistic deadJesus in his glass casket.
Every corner of this church is painted walls and ceilings.
Slay that dragon!
This is Santiago, or Saint James in English.
Tomorrow, I will take the bus to Logroño for two days. It’s one of our favorite places and I’m looking forward to it.
More from there
Love,
Annie
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