Arrival in Santiago

After 16k of walking we walked into the square in Santiago just after 10am on June 19th. It was an incredible feeling to arrive at the Cathedral. There were hundreds of people already lined up for the 12noon pilgrims mass as well as hundreds lined up to view the tomb of the Apostle.

According to Shiloh, the journey is not complete until the paper work is done. So, we headed towards the pilgrim's office to hand in our credentials and have them validated. On our way we stumbled upon a nice hotel right across the street from the pilgrims office. We decided to try our luck and we were able to get a room with a covered balcony, complete with a sitting area. While we waited for our room to be ready we left our packs and stood in line at the pilgrims office. As the morning went on, the line up got longer and longer; it is hard to comprehend the number of pilgrims that arrive daily until you see the line-ups at the pilgrims office. One of the questions they asked Shiloh was how much of the journey he had walked....and it was a great feeling to respond all 325km from Leon to Santiago.

We both received our Compostellas, they are in Latin. I managed to find an English Translation on-line: This Chapter of this Holy Apostolic Metropolitan Cathedral of St James, custodian of the seal of St. James' Altar, to all faithful and pilgrims who come from everywhere over the world as an act of devotion, under vow or promise to the Apostle's Tomb, our patron and protector of Spain, witness in the sight of all who read this document, that Mr__________ has visited devoutly this Sacred Church. Witness whereof I hand this document over to them, authenticated by the seal of this Sacred Church. Given in St. James de Composetela on the dd-mmm-yyyy A.D.

We attended the 7pm mass and the inside of the Cathedral is just as magnificent as the outside. The mass ended with the swinging of the Botofumerio, a 50kg silver plated censer. It is swung from a 35meter rope accoss the transept of the Cathedral. Shiloh was sitting in the aisle seat right next to the path of the giant censer. Rumor has it that the Botofumerio has twice overshot and ended up outside the Cathedral. I don't know if that tid bit of trivia made Shiloh feel nervous sitting that close.

We overnighted in Santiago, and then flew out to Madrid for two nights.

Christiana and Shiloh

309km complete...16 to go

Hola!

We are pleased to report that we will be arriving in Santiago tomorrow. We spent last night in Arzua, and tonight we are in Amenal. The hotel in Amenal is just steps away from the Camino. We hope to get an early start in the morning and arrive in Santiago mid day.

As we travel closer to Santiago we are noticing the change in relative wealth of the population. The houses are getting larger, as are the yards. And, they have more cows, sheep and chickens. The dogs; however, are getting smaller. Flower gardens are replacing vegetable gardens and the villages are getting closer together,1km to 2km versus 5km to 10km.

The Camino itself has also changed. Our tired muscles are happy to report that the hills are less steep and there times where the path is relatively flat. We are now travelling through many forest paths and in addition to other pilgrims on the path we have also shared the path with the cows. In Pamplona Spain, you can run with the bulls, at this end of the Camino you get to walk with the cows.

Some of you have been asking about photos, we will be posting them to the blog when we get back to Canada. We will also be posting our route including stops and daily kms along with our packing list for those followers who are interested in walking the Camino.

Christiana and Shiloh

55 km to go...

Hola

Today we arrive in Melide. It was a relief to see that we have only a few days of walking left and we will soon be in Santiago. We have slowed down our walking pace and plan on shorter days, the last 55km will be spread out over three days.

Since leaving Tricastela we have journeyed through many small villages. Throughout our pilgrimage we have noted a variety in the size of the different villages. From Manjarin with a population of 1(yes that´s correct a population of one) to villages up to a population of 12,000.

Our stay in Sarria was most enjoyable. We took a break from the Alberges and stayed in a three star hotel. It was such a blessing to be able to enjoy a soak in a bathtub. After leaving Sarria we have noted a huge increase in the number of people on the Camino. Many who are travelling with support vehicles, walking only a few kilometers and then being transported to the next village. We often refer to them as ¨faux pilgrims¨. You can tell ¨faux pilgrims¨ apart from the other pilgrims by their clean shoes and neat and tidy clothing. The red velvet track suit and the straw hat the matched the 3litre backback on one pilgrim was defintely a clue that she had not walked the full route. Some days they test our patience as we continue walking the last kms of our 325km journey. We do however, have a feeling of accomplishment knowing that we have travelled 270km by foot without once having to rely on a bus or taxi....some days it is tempting, but Shiloh is keeping us focused on making it to Santiago entirely on foot.

Other villages we have stayed in include Portomarin, a town that was completely relocated in the 1950s including the Cathedral which was disassembled stone by stone and then reassembled in its new location. You can still see the numbers on the bricks. Yesterday we stayed in Place de Rei.

We are looking forward to our next few days of walking as the rain has stopped and hopefully we will see the sunshine once again.

Christiana and Shiloh