Is it still a pilgrimage if you drive?
Trip Start
Jun 19, 2008
1
9
29
Trip End
Oct 11, 2008
Santiago de Compostela,
Galicia,
Spain and Canary Islands
Monday, July 14, 2008
Yesterday Ryan and I made the long drive from Bilbao, SP to Santiago De Compostela. It was pretty uneventful -- lots of books on tape and a shuffle of bad rap music and songs from the 1980s. Also, we have been surprised to find that in many gas stations, attendants still run out to your car when you arrive and pump your gas for you. it makes us feel more important/less poor, and i don't THINK they are charging us for it. haha.
We are staying in a guest house in the middle of the old quarter of Santiago De Compostela. Santiago has been a pilgrimage site for the last 1000+ years. Supposedly, the relics of St. James rest in the main cathedral here (we saw them, i think...) Apparently, it is one of the most popular/important pilgrimage sites in the world, and people walk hundreds of kilometers (some even used to and maybe still do travel from all over the world on foot, bike, and on horseback). We have even read that the pilgrimage is so important, that a jail near here releases one prisoner per year, based on the condition that he/she walks the whole Camino De Santiago with a heavy pack (and a guard). I have a feeling they wouldn't do that in the US. hah.
Anyway, we went to explore the cathedral this morning, and we arrived with many pilgrims who had been hiking for days and had just arrived in Santiago. Ryan and I found ourselves walking down a small alley, surrounded by many people with heavy packs, walking sticks with scallop shells on them (scallop shell= symbol of St. James), and music was playing nearby. We turned the corner with all of those pilgrims, and it was really very moving to see their faces as they caught sight of the beautiful church for the first time. They all seemed to be glowing with excitement and a sense of accomplishment. I guess if you walk hundreds of miles to see anything, it's going to look pretty good... especially if you get to stop walking. Ryan and I walked around the church a little bit, saw the crypt where St. James is supposedly buried, saw the statue of St. James that pilgrims travel to kiss, and even heard some choir songs while we were there. After seeing the cathedral, Ryan and I wandered the small museum, the reliquary, and the cloister connected to the church. Very interesting and ornate.
Later, Ryan and I found lunch. After passing up many of the restaurants displaying fresh seafood (octopi, barnacles, angler-fish, etc....ew) in their windows, we finally found an Asian restaurant with doner kebabs (not the healthiest food, but we know they are edible...delicious even). We booked a lot more of the lodging for our trip, had a nice dinner in the little cafe in the courtyard of our hotel, and now might just say goodnight. Or Buenos Noches. More soon.
