Santiago! and O Sendeiro

Carol was up and gone before Diane and I woke up!  WOW!!  That was a first!

Diane and I took a bus to Santiago and had breakfast at San Martin Pinario while we waited for Carol’s call. We wanted to all walk into Santiago together.

Diane and I found a nice table to sit at but these two ornery guys wanted the table and tried to bully Diane off. It was only about 9 AM and they were already drunk. Diane didn’t budge. I was so proud of her.

Soon we saw a familiar face coming around the corner.

After taking some photos, we all walked to the cathedral together.

There were a few temptations on the way to the Cathedral!

We made it!

We attended the pilgrims mass and got to see the botafumeiro swing. It was pretty cool and probably the last time I will see it. 

That night, Carolyn and Diane took me out to dinner to O Sendeiro, the #2 rated restaurant in Santiago. It was an amazing dinner!

Oh yes!  Galician Gin!

These two gals were a kick in the pants and I had a really good time with them. Thank you Carol and Diane, for making my Camino so memorable.

St. James Scallop

Last night, I was asked to attend the 

"Walking the Camino: Six Ways to Santiago" Documentary 

which was showing in Portland, Oregon and to do a short Q&A afterwards.

I took Annette along and we watched the movie,

then passed out some cards

and answered a few questions.

I was surprised at the number of people in the audience 

who had already WALKED the Camino!

I'm going again tonight,

taking Joe.

People really didn't have too many questions,

but I was actually stumped by one question,

which I'm embarrassed to say

I did not know the answer to.

That is, "What is the symbolism of the Scallop Shell?"

I knew it was a symbol for St. James

but I didn't know why.

I knew you can pick up those scallops 

on many of the beaches.

I also know they're VERY good eating!

But there's much, much more to the story.

(I did know the scallop was a metaphor for the Camino,

but just had a brain-fart when the lady asked the question

and felt pretty stupid 5 minutes later.

You know… 

the moment when you slap your forehead and say,

"Oh, DUH!"

The grooves in the shell all represent the various roads to Santiago,

arriving at the Tomb of St. James. )

There are two versions of story about the origin of the shell. 

According to Spanish legends, 

St. James had spent time preaching the gospel in Spain, 

but returned to Judaea upon seeing a vision 

of the Virgin Mary on the bank of the Ebro River. 

Version 1:

 After James's death, 

his disciples shipped his body to the Iberian Peninsula

 to be buried in what is now Santiago. 

Off the coast of Spain, a heavy storm hit the ship, 

and the body was lost to the ocean. 

After some time, however, 

it washed ashore undamaged, 

covered in scallops.

Version 2: 

After James's death 

his body was mysteriously transported by a crewless ship

 back to the Iberian Peninsula to be buried in what is now Santiago. 

As the ship approached land, 

a wedding was taking place on shore. 

The young groom was on horseback, 

and on seeing the ship approaching,

 his horse got spooked, 

and horse and rider plunged into the sea. 

Through miraculous intervention, 

the horse and rider emerged from the water alive, 

covered in seashells.

I don't know where I've been for the past 8 years 

or why I never heard this story. 

Perhaps I've heard it and just didn't pay attention.

My friend Joe, who has a Jesuit eduction,
says these are fairly recent legends.
He says the scallop is a symbol of having walked the Camino Santiago,
just as the key is the symbol of having walked to Rome
or a bottle of water is a symbol of having been at Lourdes.
He says each pilgrimage has its own symbol.

But there you have it!

And now I know!

Certificate of Distance

Johnnywalker, who works in the Pilgrim Office in Santiago

 recently posted:

In addition to the traditional Compostela
and Certificate of Welcome 

which are still issued on a donativo basis 

the Pilgrims' Office is now offering 

a Certificate of Distance.

This new certificate has been produced 

in response to requests from pilgrims. 

It records the route which the pilgrim walked, 

the starting point, 

the amount of kilometers 

and the date of arrival in Santiago. 

The cost is 3€. 

Day 21 - SANTIAGO!

Joe rests and watches pilgrims arrive

It's busy today!

Blue Skies!

Lon and Katie are happy to be here!

Pam is always so happy!

HOORAY!

 Santiago at Sunset

The albergue at San Martin Pinario was beautiful inside.

The rooms were small but sufficient.

This is the best photo I have of the group at Santiago.

If anyone has a better one,

I'd love to have it!

I can't figure out how to nab Pam's great photo

from the disc she sent.

For many more photos of previous walks on the Camino Frances,
as well as the Aragones and Via de la Plata routes,
see previous posts.

Note:  If you are interested in walking the Camino Santiago, 

but are not quite ready to go it alone, 

consider joining Annie

on one of our small, affordable Camino walks. 

For more information see our website 

at this link: AnnieWalkers Camino

Day 10 and 11: Ruesta to Sanguesa to Pamplona

We have been walking past fields of poppies! 

 The colors or the wildflowers are spectacular 

and the only thing that distracts me from the beauty is the stifling heat. 

We are learning the best time to begin walking is daybreak. 

That way you are safe at your lodging 

by the time the heat falls like a curtain

 (as Rebecca so beautifully stated).

From Ruesta, we walked to Sanguesa.

We stopped in Undues de Lerda for some cold drinks.

 

It's a pretty village,

but very quiet.

There is an albergue there

with a nice bar.

This was not a fun climb in the heat!

 I was very thankful for the shade of this olive tree.

 We checked into the albergue.

The man that was hospitalero 2 years ago was gone,

replaced by a young man who took his job almost too seriously.

Several people left rather than deal with him.

A shame, because it's a nice albergue otherwise.

It was here I experienced another "Camino Miracle" which I will write about 

in a later post.

We are running short on time

and need to meet our walkers for the June Camino trek.

So, the next morning, we walked to the next village,

then took a bus to Pamplona,
skipping the last 3 days of the Aragones.

We are now in Pamplona taking care of some business and waiting for our walkers to arrive. Last night we got the last two beds at Paderborn, a very nice Albergue here. Their doors open at noon and the fill up fast.

Today we will sleep at Pension Sarasate.

 Everything is closed on Sunday so it will be a quiet day. 

Tomorrow we will look into getting phones for those walkers who want them 

Our walkers are probably on their planes flying toward Spain. I hope you have a restful flight and we look forward to seeing you today or tomorrow.

Love,

Annie

For information on Group Walks with Annie:
Anniewalkers Camino