What actually happened! (a short report)

It is good to be back home from Spain. Although I enjoyed my pilgrimage, it was a hard slog! I had the usual problem of blisters and also tendinitis. I met three other pilgrims with tendinitis, so it is a more common complaint than I thought.

The scenery on the north coast was magnificent, but on several days we had damp mornings and evenings. I experienced three thunderstorms, but the one in Gijon was the worst. It was the closest I have ever been to a lightening strike. It came down the street in front of me, as I sheltered from the storm, and took-out the traffic lights at the end of the street! When I turned inland and into the mountains of Galicia, it was cooler but very humid with low cloud. After I crossed over the top, the weather improved and it warmed up again.

I have heard other pilgrims describe an uncanny “guiding hand” while on pilgrimage and I experienced it myself. It is difficult to describe, but you are plodding along, probably thinking of something else, you look up ahead or to the side just in time to see an arrow or a scallop shell pointing the way. Sometimes you are at a junction and there are no arrows or shells and some local person passes by and points you in the right direction.

I met some interesting and friendly people, such as Ermanno from Milan a 74-year old who was on his sixth pilgrimage! We both liked to cook, so at La Isla he did a pasta lunch and I did chicken breast in red wine with cabrales cheese and a salad for our evening meal. There were Antonio and Leticia two 30-year olds, with whom I conversed in a mixture of Spanish and English. An English painter, whom I met going the other way, who had a typical Camino story to tell. He had spent too much time on his paintings, he was late getting to the refuge, and there was a storm brewing. He feared that his paintings would be ruined. Just as he was passing some houses, a woman ran out to him and offered to drive him to the refuge. He very gratefully accepted her offer! James from Galway I met while waiting to get into the refuge at Arzua. It turned out that we had both worked for the same company and knew their offices at Clonmel in Ireland. Finally there was the restaurateur, Xoan (Juan) who recited some of his poetry to us, after we had finished our meal. I liked it, although I am not a poetry fan; I prefer good descriptive prose.

St. James’ day in Santiago was great. There was a superb fireworks display the night before. This was synchronised to a sort of sound and light show, just before midnight, followed by the cathedral bells to welcome in St. James’ day. Then wonderful music in the cathedral at the official Mass on the day and the spectacular sight of the botafumeiro (a very large censer, about 4 feet high) being swung until it was almost horizontal at the top of each swing!

Other churches I will remember were those at Valdedios and Muxía and I attended Mass at both. I visited Valdedios on Sunday July 2nd using the bus from Villaviciosa where I was staying two nights. I joined the tour of the church and found out that the Monastery church was being renovated and that the brothers were using the old church for services. They brought an electronic organ with them and words and music for the congregation, which I joined. It was a beautiful service and somewhat humbling in such an old church, first dedicated in 896! The church at Muxía is old too and very much a seafaring church. There are brackets along the walls from which hang models of old sailing ships and modern fishing vessels, all with their navigation lamps lit up!

It has all been a great experience, which I shall recall with fond memories.

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