Walking the Camino de Santiago
And then it’s off to the Pilgrim Office. In centuries past, you would receive your Compostela – the paper that proves you’ve walked the pilgrimage – at the sacristy of the Cathedral itself. Nowadays, there’s a whole building for this. You wait in line with the other pilgrims who have walked at least the final 100km. Of course, our distance […]
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When you finally arrive in Santiago, there are a number of time-honoured traditions that pilgrims observe. Some time offering a prayer of thanksgiving in front of the Cathedral comes first. Next, because you aren’t allowed to take backpacks into the Cathedral, you have to find and check into an albergue to drop of your stuff. With this, naturally, comes a […]
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As we walk through the older parts of the city, the spires of Santiago Cathedral hove into view above the rooftops. Date: 02 May 2016 Place: walking into Santiago! (Galicia, Spain) The final walking day, the final map:
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Our doughty band of pilgrims makes its way through the city towards our goal: the Cathedral. On the way, we pass numerous albergues for the hundreds of thousands of pilgrims who come to Santiago every year. On our first Camino, I wanted to stay at the Minor Seminary whose sign you see here. Instead, we’ve stayed at a number of […]
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The Camino crosses over a highway and its onramp, featuring this sign. I have to wonder if horses (and people and bikes) on the highway are really such a problem? Date: 02 May 2016 Place: walking into Santiago! (Galicia, Spain) The final walking day, the final map:
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While I don’t know what this particular piece of public art is meant to represent, I do know that every single time we’ve walked into Santiago, everybody has a go at imitating it. Most times, it’s with the same burst of joy that Rebecca has here. The urban slog through the city to the cathedral seems endless, but there’s a […]
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Monte do Gozo is a large hill crested by the Camino as it comes into Santiago. In centuries past, this is the place where pilgrims would first see the spires of the cathedral. There are records of pilgrims falling to their knees and singing the Te Deum. Nowadays due to urban sprawl, to see the spires you actually have to […]
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As we at last approach the city of Santiago, whose cathedral is the object of our pilgrimage, more and more of our route is suburban. The final wooded sections are on a gravel sidewalk alongside a country road. Breaks in the trees reveal garden plots and homes. We are rapidly leaving behind the villages for the last time. The excitement […]
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This little shrine to Santiago is near to the village of Lavacolla. Tradition has it that Lavacolla was the place where pilgrims would have their bath – apparently in the nearby stream – before pushing on to the Cathedral. I don’t know if this is an actual medieval custom, but each time we’ve passed the nearby stream, I’ve washed my […]
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