Our Final Destination: The Cathedral of St James (Santiago) (7/8/2016)

For those of you who don't have Facebook, I post this video for you to see.

This is what Rachel posted on Facebook: Today we officially ended our Camino by attending a Pilgrim's Mass at the Catedral de Santiago de Compostela with over 1000 of our closest pilgrim (and tourist) friends. There are no words to express how cool this was to finally see in person. The last stamps have been given, the boots have been put away, the last "Buen Camino" has been said, and the sense pot has swung. What an adventure! 

We got to the cathedral very early and chose our seats (around 10:30 for a noon service). It wasn't until the incense pot was swinging that we realized how excellent our choice was! 

We knew that the Botafumeira (incense pot) is not used at every mass, and I had jokingly said I wasn't leaving until I got to see it. We knew that for sure it would be used at the Friday, 7:30 p.m. mass. And we had heard that, for a donation, it is used at other pilgrim masses. Pilgrims had told us that school trips generally included the cost of the botafumeira in their trip costs to ensure it would be used. So, chances were good that we would see it. We decided that we would attend the Friday noon mass, and if we didn't get to see the botafumeira at that service, we would go back to the evening mass.

For those of you who are not familiar with the liturgical tradition of using incense, I will attempt to explain in layman's terms. (And Eric will tell me if I've screwed it up enough to post a revision. :)

The incense (often frankincense) is placed on hot coals in the pot to create smoke. The incense rising is a symbol of our prayers ascending to heaven.

In medieval times, when pilgrims actually slept on the 2nd floor of the cathedral, the incense was used to fumigate the smelly pilgrims. :)

Here's the video she took:

In the movie "The Way", this was one of the most moving and powerful moments. And it was one of the many things we were looking forward to. Some of these things--the beginning of our journey through the woods, the Alto de Perdon (where the iron sculpture was)--met my expectations. Others--like the Cruz de Ferro (the cross where you drop your rocks)--didn't.

Experiencing the botafumeiro was the highlight of the Camino and a most powerful end to our adventure! It was more moving and awesome than the movie conveys. I didn't have a camera in my hand, so I could just watch, listen, experience. And I am so glad Rachel and Eric were filming. You will see that at some points, Rachel loses the swinging pot. That's because you have to experience the moment not through a lens and so you are tracking with your eyes and not with the camera.

I think you can see in the video, this was a full service. Pilgrim masses are daily at noon and 7:30, with 800-1000 people in attendance. We suspect there were over 1000 people with us. All pews were full and people were standing in the aisles.

We saw a report that there were 40,000 people who completed their Camino in the month of June, just to give you an idea of how many people were on the journey with us.

I'm headed back to Green Bay in a few days!

Buen Camino, Y'all!

The Final Walk (7/3/2016)

Today's walk was gorgeous, peaceful (for the most part...not a lot of traffic), bittersweet and exciting.

We started with a cool morning.

Peaceful Trails.

Sometimes haunting trails.

And another church near the airport.

Past an old church where we stopped nearby for coffee.

Up a high hill over looking the city to a set of statues pointing the way.

Down into the city of Santiago.

Where we crossed the WORST bridge of our journey!

It felt like we trudged FOREVER through the city, finally arriving at the Cathedral!

Next, we head to Finisterre (Fisterre) to view the coast.

The Final Stage Remains (7/02/2016)

So, our walking is almost over, even though our time in Europe isn’t. Tomorrow we will walk the final leg of our journey into Santiago. We will then journey on to Finisterre and come back to Santiago at the end of next week to “officially” complete the Camino. I will then travel back home, while Eric and Rachel continue with travels in Europe since Eric is still on Sabbatical, and Rachel is still enjoying her final summer college break.

As we prepare for our walk into Santiago tomorrow, here are some top 10s that I hope to remember. (That means I have to put them in writing somewhere, or they will leave my brain…)

10 Things I’ll Miss About the Camino

1. I have only one thing to do each day—walk.
2. Slowing down: It has been awesome to not go at a break-neck pace and just walk, and think, and spend time with people I love.
3. Time spent outside: I don’t know when I have ever spent so much time outdoors. And we have been so blessed with temperate weather. Cool mornings, some cloudy days, lots of sun—but not extreme heat, almost no rain.
4. Not having to think about wardrobe much/limited options: Basically, I have about 3 outfit options in my backpack and two pairs of shoes—boots or flip flops.  It doesn’t get much simpler than that.
5. Meeting new people: On the Camino, it has been easy to start a conversation with a simple greeting. You can start a conversation from one table to another at a restaurant, cafe, or hostel. Just jump in!
6. People who really enjoy their jobs: We have mostly met people who really seem to enjoy their jobs. They smile, greet us enthusiastically, offer help. It really makes it apparent when we’ve run across someone who isn’t enjoying what they are doing. It makes me glad that I really, really love the work I do!
7. Expending enough calories to eat what I want: Hours of walking each day justifies that ice cream! (Which, sadly, won’t be the case when I get home!)
8. Greeting people with Buen Camino as we pass: Again, it’s a conversation starter, an encouraging phrase, and a door opener.
9. Greeting people we've met on our journey/opportunities to reconnect: It’s fun to cross paths on numerous occasions.
10. Cafe con leche for 1.30 and napolitano chocolate for breakfast: What can I say— Roughly $1.50 for a cafe con leech?!? What’s better than that? Well, a breakfast danish/donut/crescent sort of thing filled with chocolate! That’s what!

10 Things I Won’t Miss After The Camino

1. European plumbing/toilets: We’ve encountered all sorts—some that won’t shut off; some that smell funny (not haha funny!); some without proper sanitary items…like tp; some without toilet seats
2. Waking up different places: This is particularly concerning in the middle of the night when you need to find the bathroom
3. Living out of baggies: One & Two Gallon baggies are great for packing…for a week of camp! But they can get a little tiresome after 6 weeks. Every day, open the backpack, pull out all the baggies, use what you need. Next morning, get all the air out of each baggy, load it into said backpack, head out the door.
4. Barnyard smells: Yep, love the great outdoors…but there are a variety of inevitable farming smells that are just NOT wonderful. Silage, rotting things, dead things, animal waste. (Did I mention that you can do the Camino on horseback and that there were cows blocking our way one day and fields of sheep?)
5. Washing clothes in the shower/hanging them out to dry: When you basically have 3 outfits, you walk about 10 miles a day and the weather is warm, laundry is a necessity. I’ve never washed so much, yet felt so dirty. :) And, you feel a little red-neck hanging your laundry out the window…of a hotel or hostel…on the main plaza of town. But, what are you gonna do?
6. Strange foods and strange ingredients in common foods: Refer to earlier blogposts and Facebook posts for examples… :)
7. Street noise at night: Lots of rooms in Europe don’t have A/C, which is fine because the weather has been cool at night, so we love having the windows open. But, Spain still has siesta…and apparently they know how to enjoy life…well into the night. And streets are narrow, with no yards, and buildings are several floors high. That means noise carries…right into our open windows….
8. Trying to remember where we did what: 30 days of pilgrimage means you wake up in a different place almost every day. And everything blends together. You can’t remember where things happen, which village you left this morning, which one you are walking to right now. It’s like early onset senility.
9. Trying to communicate in another language: We were so blessed to have people who were very patient with us when we had trouble communicating. And Rachel was a huge help. But, it is exhausting to try to communicate in a foreign language.
10. Bus/taxi travel: The days when we had to take a bus (or ended up needing a taxi) were more difficult and stressful than days that we walked. Mostly it was a communication thing—how much does it cost? Are we on the right bus? Why is it late? Is it coming? Will there be room for us? Stressful!

10 Things I Look Forward To At Home

1. Cooking our own food: Out to eat is lovely; not having to decide what to make, not having to clean up. But I’m ready to have my favorite foods done the way we like them and at the time we want to eat.
2. Sleeping in my own bed: No explanation needed, right?
3. Laundry in a washing machine: See Not Missing #5 above.
4. Clothing choices: LOL! See Things I’ll Miss #4 above. While I love not having to think about my wardrobe, I’ve also missed clothing choices.
5. Getting back into a routine: I miss work! I miss feeling productive, a sense of accomplishment, contributing to the world.
6. Pets: I’ve missed the excitement of the pets when we come home, and the comfort of pets in my bed.
7. Being in a quiet neighborhood: See #7 above.
8. Trying to make some of the new foods we found: We’ve discovered new foods, like tortilla patata, and all sorts of ways to use tuna—who knew!
9. Looking back/sharing memories of the camino: I realize the Camino is a once in a lifetime opportunity, and I look forward to sharing (hopefully, not oversharing) and looking back on this wonderful opportunity and the challenges it presented.
10. Figuring out more lessons from the Camino: The Camino has given me the opportunity to look at life from a slightly different perspective. I suspect that as the Camino becomes a distant memory, there will still be life lessons that we will learn from this time.

Buen Camino, My Friends!