Lourdes

24+hours later and I am literally miles (or more appropriately kilometers) away from Hunto, Ste. Jean Pied de Port, and the Camino path. I feel sad, I feel happy. I feel far away. I feel close. I feel not quite complete, yet I am complete with walking.

Today we arrived in Ste. Jean just after 10am. We walked 6 kilometers down hill from Hunto where we stayed last night in a small, private albergue that was also part of the hotel. Delicious dinner and breakfast. Fun meal with 5 Spanish men who were walking over to Pamploma for the next 3 days, and whose religion is "futbol".

Walking into Ste. Jean happened so quickly this morning that I thought there must be another town that we walked through first, and then I saw the Porte d'Espagne and knew that we had arrived. We had completed our Camino from Santiago to Ste. Jean. 25 days of walking across Spain, across the Pyrenees, and into France.

We walked up the main street of the old town to the Pilgrim's Office to receive our final stamp. Along the way, we stepped into a shop where Sharon saw a beautiful wool shawl made from the wool of the local sheep. We walked by so many of these sheep as we crossed the Pyrenees. Sharon raised sheep - she used to have a farm school preschool with sheep and goats. That's when we first met - 17 years ago when I saw her flyer for her preschool and knew that she was the answer to my prayers for Andrew's perfect school. She has since been all of my children's preschool teacher. Now we are sisters of the Camino. And the shawl was Sharon's gift to herself for walking over the Pyrenees. The owners' son spoke English and was very helpful and even let me use his phone to make some very necessary calls to change and confirm our plans now that we are off the Camino,.

The Camino continues to guide and provide. We easily took the bus to Bayonne to rent a car; we rented a car right at the train station, walking in just before it closed; my credit card was denied because of a large amount being charged - not sure what to do, I called Steve who was on his way home before heading up to the mountains and out of cell range. He was able to call the credit card company, get it sorted out, and we now have our little black Renault Clio. We left Bayonne as it was getting dark and started to head toward Toulouse. Seeing signs for Lourdres, we decided spontaneously to come here. We found a wonderful little hotel with a very kind hotelier who welcomed us in and confirmed our decision to stay here. All flowed with ease and grace, and I still feel held, guided and provided for by the Camino. Thank you.

I can't quite believe that I am not getting up and walking tomorrow morning. As right as it feels to have finished the Camino, I also just love to walk the path of the pilgrim. I am still completing internally. The external journey may be complete. We may have arrived at our destination. The days of walking day after day may be over until the next pilgrimage. Yet as Sue Kenney so wisely says, "when the Camino ends, the journey begins."

And so the next leg of journey begins, and it begins here in Lourdes. I wonder what we'll experience by going to the grotto where Bernadette saw 18 visions of Mary and received messages. One step at a time, although at times our steps will be taken in our small little Renault going 20 Kilometers in a few minutes, rather than over a whole day.

The life of a modern pilgrim, or is that when we become a tourist?! And with that question, I will end with another - when is a pilgrimage a pilgrimage and not a travel, a walk or a hike, or an exploration?

What makes a pilgrimage a pilgrimage?

Bonsoir.

Suseya,
Sarah


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Crossing the Pyrenees

Today we climbed from Roncevalles (960 meters in altitude) up to the Col de Lepoeder with an altitude of 1,450 meters in a steep climb through beech forests over about 3 or so kilometers. One of my steepest climbs!

Yesterday had been a picture perfect autumn day with clear skies, golden sunshine, and golden and bronze trees all around us. Lovely for walking up to Roncevalles. Today was breezy from the start with a beautiful red sunrise. "...Red sky at dawn - sailors take warning." This was our first clue that today was going to be a very different day from the past few glorious autumn days. As we neared the tree line, and were at the bottom of the last steep climb, the wind picked up and I was grateful that it was at my back. I kept hearing one of Steve's favorite songs in my head -"You are the wind at my back..."- wish I could remember the name of the group who sings it! I had just put back on my wind jacket and when Sharon put hers on right near the top, we almost got blown over.

And that was the beginning of our windy 5 hour walk over the magnificent open hill and moorland on the Camino over the Pyrenees.

Windy does not give our experience justice. We experienced winds like I have never been out in. When it gets this windy like this at home, I go inside. But when you're on the top of the Pyrenees, you haul ass! So that's what we did.

On top of the wind, Sharon has had a hip pain that flared up in the past few days. While it was okay going up, something tweeked it (it may have been the massive, knee high pile of leaves we played in while walking through a high altitude beech forest) and every step became excruciatingly painful. Sharon has an admittedly very high threshold of pain, and this was clearly pushing Sharon's limits. Imagine walking and getting blown so hard by the wind that you have to brace yourself with your leg that is farthest from the wind, and that leg is the one that is sending shooting pain up your body. This was Sharon's experience.

We must have walked for 3 to 4 hours like this. At times I was just asking for help from the Camino to keep us safe and bring us down the mountain safely. I never really felt fear. I was with Sharon and she is an experienced mountaineer, and I knew that the Camino would guide and provide for us. And, I will say, it was a very intense experience.

Sharon thinks we may have experienced this today because I had said what I was quite anxious about was strong winds blowing me off the face of the mountain! Yet when I was up in it, I often experienced myself laughing at the craziness of it all, and even at the notion that this is what I had been really scared of and here I was experiencing it!

I kept thinking I would see the albergue at Orisson down the mountain as we would walk around the next curve. I knew we, and especially Sharon, would be okay if we could just get there. We had just rounded another curve with still no sign of the albergue when a car was coming down the hill. I immediately flagged the driver and asked for a ride to the albergue. He had been hunting pigeons up in the mountains with his dog who was asleep in the back of the car. I knew we had to give up walking and give Sharon's leg a rest. Turns out the albergue was closed so our "ange" (angel) took us to the village of Hunto and waited while we made sure we could stay here. In the less than 10 minutes we were in his car, we drove steeply down to well below the treeline, back to pastures and meadows with sheep and trees and farms, a distance that would have easily taken us another couple of hours. Just before he picked us up, I had been praying to the Mary's for their help since we had just walked by the statue of the Virgin Mary, Vierge d'Orisson moments before. She answered our prayers immediately. The man who picked us up was delighted to help us.

We have showered, lit a fire in the fireplace, had tea with our one apple, little piece of cheese and some figs, and warmed ourselves up. Tomorrow we will walk the final 6 kms into Ste. Jean. It may be in the wind, and rain, or not. However it is, it will be our completion walk of this initial leg of the Celtic Camino.

One last sharing. I realized today on top of the mountain with the winds purifying and cleansing me and my soul is that the Celtic Camino is actually an ancient and sacred Druidic pilgrimage of initiation. It is the Druid Camino. It is so obvious, so clear, that I laughed hard and loud at myself that it took walking several hundred kilometers to have the "eyes to see and the ears to hear" that this is a Druidic pilgrimage. Sharon and I have talked many times about the Druids - experiencing them in the woods and forests as we have walked. We have met pilgrims along the wqy who have seemed like Druids. The trees have held us, given us shelter and strength as we've walked in all the elements. The Earth has guided us letting us know when we were not on the Path. The rain, the sunshine, and yes, even the wind, have been our friends and our guides. We have begun the Druid Camino. We are just about to complete its first leg. And every step of the way I have been walking home into the truth of who I am and the awareness of that Truth. I have been walking home to wholeness.
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Alto del Pardon - Hill of Forgiveness

Sleeping behind a monastery tonight in a building that has served the pilgrims since the 11th century. We even had to come throught the church and walk by the altar to get to the albergue. The rooms are cold and we are already in our sleeping bags to keep warm.

Today we walked through the Arga River valley and up and over the "Alto del Perdon" - the Hill of Forgiveness. It was a tough and steep climb up, yet what was the most challenging was the cold wind. I couldn't believe how cold and windy it was. I had my face wrapped, and several layers on as I climbed for 2 to 3 kilometers up to the top of this 750 meter "hill" that also served as a ridge for many giant white windmills. The windmills sounded like airplanes as the roters moved consistently around.

Perdon. Forgiveness. What does it mean to forgive? To forgive implies that wrong was done. But what if that is a belief that in and of itself keeps us in a certain limited mindset? What if what is more true is that everything occurs for a reason, an opportunity for each of us to learn and grow, to become more conscious and loving. What if it's not about forgiveness, but more about compassion - compassionate understanding for ourselves and each other, and perhaps even gratitude, for the opportunities to expand, learn,grow evolve?

The wind and the climb was the perfect experience for me to reflect on forgiveness and compassion, both for myself and for others. I have only briefly touched on this topic here because of today's climb, but it is a subject worth exploring much more deeply,.
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A full rainbow as we entered Lorca! A great day of ponchos on - ponchos off. In Puenta la Reina for tea - now we walk to the Eunate Church.

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Miracles on the Camino

I am sitting here on my bed in the dark in our hotel room in Los Arcos. Today we left the albergue in Atapuerca at 7:30 while it was still dark out and the nearly full moon lit our way from behind. It was a magical time to start walking - quiet, dark, and undisturbed by the activities of the day.

We walked about 19 kilometers today to the small town of Villafranca. We walked though magical oak and pine woods, up and over 3 "mountains" - at this point, they really seem quite easy to walk up and over. There was one point when we questioned which way to go, and we chose to stay on the gravel road which took us down to a very old "ermitage" church by the busy road. It was very unclear how to proceed from there - Sharon went up and I followed guidance first to pee and then to go back down and ask for help. I first asked a Spanish man who didn't know anything, and then asked an older couple who had been picnicking at the ermitage. I saw their French license plates and so asked in French if they knew which way was the Camino al contrairio. The man asked me if I was from Colorado! I was so surprised by the question, and then he said that he was one of the French "chanseurs" - singers. Of course, we met him several days ago just outside of Boadilla, when he and two other women were lying down enjoying the sunshine on a slope off the path. We started talking to them, and found out that they walk sections of the Camino each year and sing Visigoth and some other influence songs in the cathedrals and churches as they walk. They said that so many of the Spanish churches are closed, whereas the French churches are always open. From our request, they then sang us the most beautiful, ancient song. I was so moved by their singing, the music, and their generosity to sing for us. My heart opened, and I knew that we had been sung to by the angels.

To meet two of them again today was truly a gift of serendipity. I knew that was why I was guided to go back down. We hugged and laughed, rejoicing in our connection through the Camino. I walked up the steep hill to meet Sharon (who had come part way back down to tell me that it was the correct way) with such love in my heart and a lightness in my feet and body. I was overjoyed at seeing them again. It felt like magic and another one of my Camino miracles.

I fully expected that we would stay in Villafranca tonight. We had heard about a wonderful albergue that was at the back of a very expensive hotel. The owner walked the Camino years ago and created the albergue as a way to give back to the Camino and to support the pilgrims.

The owner's son was standing at the door and welcomed us in with his delightful English. Turns out that he had lived in Kentucky and Michigan for a year working in the auto industry. Because he spoke English, we could more easily ask him questions about buses. One thing led to another, and after a delicious meal in a wonderful dining room, we found ourselves on a bus, not just to Belagrado but to Logrono, 80 kilometers away.

We have been looking at how far we have to walk and how many days we have to walk, given that we have become very clear that we need to head home much sooner than the original 7 weeks. Since Tami and Amy left yesterday, we have been exploring how to walk to Ste. Jean by Sunday, October 31st,and preferably even Saturday the 30th. Part of this is because the church I want to see in Toulouse is only open on Saturday late afternoons and Sunday mornings, when it is open for mass. It would be so wonderful if we could get to Toulouse Saturday evening and then have the day in Toulouse on Sunday. Plus, then we could fly home the following weekend after several days in southern France, exploring the auspicious sites connected to the Mary's, and three days in Paris, which will include a day trip to Chartres.

To meet this new timetable, we have had to give up some days walking, give up walking the Camino Aragones and the Via Toulasana to Toulouse, and even give up walking about 100 kilometers of the eastern section of the Camino Frances. In some ways, this has been challenging for me to do because of my expectations of walking the entire way to Toulouse, and certainly not skipping entire sections.

This Camino has offered many opportunities for me to choose to remain attached to an idea or listen to, honor, and allow the Camino to guide and provide. The lesson I have been learning is to ask not "what do I have to give up?" but to ask "what do I have to gain?" Every time I choose to allow, I flow with the magic of the Camino and the path unfolds with love, grace, ease and joy.

So, in my allowing the Camino to guide and provide, I am now in Los Arcos, and get to walk for the next 6 or 7 days without getting in a taxi or bus. I just get to walk and to complete this leg of the journey with my own two feet, and experience the magic of simply being a pilgrim who walks because the path is there, and calls on me to walk it.

This year I will go to Toulouse by train. My intention is to still walk the Celtic Camino one stage at a time, and it may take longer than I originally thought it would. We will see. I trust that the Camino will continue to guide and provide every step of the way. I just have to get out of the way and allow the magic to flow.

Buen Camino!

Suseya,
Sarah

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Retorne Arrow is back to guide us! Knew deeply within this morning that this journey is about my returning HOME - I am walking home to wholeness. Muchas gracias.

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The "Palencia Camino" with Amy and Tami

We have just arrived in Burgos. Tonight is our celebration with Tami and Amy of their completion of their Camino, the Palencia Camino. They joined us in Leon last Saturday and we started walking the Camino together in Sahagun, just west of the border of the provence of Palencia. We then walked just over 85 kilometers over the next 5 days to Castrojeriz, a quiet town just east of the border of the next provence, Burgos, and perched under a hill that we entered by a 2000 year old Roman road.

Amy and Tami completed their Camino by climbing up a steep hill to the mesa (table) of Alto Mostelares, to an alititude of 900 meters. From the top, we could see back on the beautiful meseta we had walked, the windmill farms, the Palencia mountains to the north, and the endless ploughed fields that were ready for winter and to be planted in the spring. Only a few fields had any signs of the previous season's crop - a few alfalfa and dried sunflowers here and there as we walked by.

We have experienced frosty mornings, radiant sunshine, cool breezes, and long autumn afternoons. We usually got out the door about 8am to enjoy our morning tea and tostada and started walking by 9 or so. We walked until 4 or 5, depending on the day, and although tired and sore at the end of the day, we found the energy to go out for a fun and lively meal with vino tinto or if we were really lucky, vino riojo. We have found out that vino tinto is pilgrim's wine that is more often than not watered down. The good stuff is vino riojo - red wine, not pink!

We mostly walked on paths off the road, sometimes the ancient Roman roads that were made from stone that had been imported to make these roads 2000 years ago. They were straight, raised, flat, and level. On Monday we walked for 12 kilometers through wide open space on such a road. I often wondered how many people, Roman soldiers and Camino pilgrims alike, have walked this road over the past 2000 years. My favorite path was from Villlcazar to Poblacion when we got to walk by a river. They cottonwood trees were golden. The bushes and grasses were in their full autumn splendor and Nature held and nourished me from her very roots in the soil of the Earth. I felt loved, inspired, nurtured, and moved - during this part of the walk, I connected to my Soul and my truth.

We ended the walking today with a final Pilgrim's Lunch at La Taberna in Castrojeriz, sitting outside in the shade enjoying lentil soup, ensalada, beef or fish with patates (fries) and flan for dessert (postre), all with some great wine, lots of laughter and gratitude. The taxi arrived to take us to Burgos as Tami and Amy leave tomorrow for Madrid to fly home on Saturday.

The timing of their visit, and their Camino, has been perfect. Sharon and I walked through our transition with them walking with us. Another blog for the internal journey that occurred simultaneously to the external one, but suffice it for now to say that every step with Tami and Amy has all been a gift of grace and now I am preparing for the next leg of this auspicious journey.

Buen Camino!

Suseya,
Sarah
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Meant to send this picture. I was behind them enjoying the quiet of the Meseta.

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Tami, Amy and Sharon walking on the 12km ancient Roman road across the Meseta to Carrion de Los Condes.

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A pilgrimage often takes unexpected turns. Just like today we ended up taking a taxi to Sahagun. Sometimes it's challenging to listen to the Camino, but we are always perfectly guided and provided for.

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Amy just shared a great definition of pilgrimage: the course of life on Earth. I love it!

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A sweet labyrinth right beside the path before Terradillos des Templarios. We took a taxi out of Leon to Sahagun so that Amy and Tami, and Sharon and I still get to experience the Meseta but also get to Burgos in the 5 days they have to walk.

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Resting in Leon

I wrote a blog in Astorga the other night only to have the computer freeze up and lose everything that I wrote. Sigh.

We decided to take the bus to Leon from Astorga, so early yesterday morning we hopped on the bus which took an hour to drive what would have taken us two days to walk! Gives a different perspective on things doesn't it?

Anothper choice offered by La Camina and received by Sharon and me.

I have been experiencing a major transition since leaving Galicia and entering the Camino that I had not walked before. From where I sit right now, I realize that Galicia represents the known and familiar. This is the area of the Camino I had walked last year; its Celtic culture, history and landscape felt so familiar and magical to me; I resonated with it with every cell of my being. I have also been realizing that last year's Camino was a very romantic experience for me. I loved the landscape; the people, the food. I loved the pilgrim group that I walked with. I had no problems with my feet or legs. I just got to walk, and marvel, and love my experience.

This Camino is a different experience. While I am still loving the experience and feel so grateful and blessed to be back here walking as a pilgrim, it is more than a romantic experience. Last year I got to fall in love with the Camino. This year I get to develop my relationship with it. I get to get to know it in a more real way. I get to have blisters and painfully sore legs. I get to walk on asphalt paths next to roads for many kilometers. I get to keep walking and choosing to walk every day.

Every day the Camino offers choices and opportunities. Every day the Camino guides and provides. Every day.

Part of what this transition offers is the opportunity to clarify what this journey is really all about for us. When we pass the many pilgrims on their way to Santiago, some of them will ask us what we're doing. Most often, our short and simple response is "Camino al contrairio." This means we are walking back to Ste. Jean from Santiago - going back. This is not true, but it suffices people's curiosity without us having to go into a full explanation. It was also a more satisfactory explanation at the beginning of our journey when I was still stepping into the full expression of this pilgrimage. Now, as I sit and write this blog in the same hotel I stayed in last year to begin the journey, and recognize that this is the last taste of familiarity, I know and honor that I am fully stepping into the unknown when I leave Leon on Sunday.

As I continue to travel this Celtic Camino, and walk the first leg to Toulouse, I am aware of something shifting and changing within me, and with the Camino itself. I can feel the feminine emerging from the path more and more. It is becoming less about the destination and more about the process of getting there, who I choose to be on the path,and how I choose to be awake and listen to the choices and the opportunities that the Camino offers.

I had written in the blog that got lost about the many wonderful conversations that we have had with other pilgrims at the perfect times. There has been this quality of simultaneous giving and receiving that has been an experience of grace. As we offer them something of value to their journey, so these pilgrims and people along the way, from albergue owners, to taxi drivers, to shop owners, have offered us gifts of such value that they have changed the course of our journey and given us choices that have profoundly contributed to our pilgrimage. Lorraine, from California, mentions to us about having her "mochila" or backpack transported from albergue to albergue; we then choose to do the same thing, only to find out that the service doesn't operate al contrairio. So the albergue owner in Molinaseca offers to take our bag over to Rabanal and visit with their friends there so that we can walk the mountain pass with less weight. The Camino guides and provides.

Every day in every way, we get to experience this beauty and magic.

I am so grateful.

Will finish up now to shower and take that extra stuff to the post office! And to enjoy Leon. More later.

Suseya!
Sarah

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Stepping into the Mystery

Today I walked on a new path for the first time.  By this I mean that we came to the Albergue Brazil where I started my Camino a year ago.  We came down the rest of the mountain first thing this morning, and stopped by the Albergue Brazil to say hello from Sue Kenney to the owners of the albergue.  At this point, the sun came out and I could feel that I was stepping into something new and unknown.  I was no longer in Galicia, I was down off the Cebreiro mountain, there were no longer the familiar Galician Camino kilometer markers, the yellow arrows became fewer and fewer, and I had not walked the Valcarce Valley before.

Also, Chris, a pergrina from Victoria, B.C., shared a story with me that she had met a woman who walked the Camino each day for a different person.  I loved this idea, so today walked the Camino for my family.  With every step I walked, I walked for my children and my husband. 

The 13 or so kilometers from Vega del Valcarce to Villafranca are mostly on an asphalt road.  The valley is steep and narrow, carved out by the beautiful rambling Rio Valcarce.  There was not room for path and road, so the peregrinos share the road with the cars.  There is, however, a highway, or autovia as it is called in Spain.  It is a new road that is often propped up by large concrete pillars where the highway crosses over the valley high above the valley floor.  There are also areas where the sides of the mountains have been carved away to make room for the road.  The blessing is that the lower road is now much quieter without all of the trucks and traffic.  The downside is man´s attacking nature to make way for such a road.

It took Sharon and I about 4 hours to walk down the valley and into Villafranca.  We still have not had a day without rain.  This time we could feel the clouds becoming heavy, so  had all of rain gear on and ready for when the rains came.  We actually welcomed the rains as our friend.  We now know it well, and it gives us a quiet, meditative time to walk.  Sometimes I think that I actually prefer it to the hot sun.

This day seemed to hold magical qualities.  The sound of the river as it rolled down the valley was soothing as my feet could rarely find the soft earth.  We walked on  asphalt most of the time, separated from the main road by concrete barriers.  The town of Tribaldo came just when I needed a lunch break.  I say "I" because Sharon eats very differently from me.  At the beginning of the Camino, I tried to match my meals and eating habits to match hers.  This was not a good idea.  I do much better when I eat real food and enjoy the local cuisine.  For some reason, I can eat wheat when I walking the Camino, and I enjoy the "boccolino" sandwiches - fresh hunks of bread with cheese and ham.  Nothing like I would eat at home, but when I am walking hours each day, I love to really eat.  Also, my other treat has become to drink a Coca-Cola - something else I never do at home but so appreciate when I am walking!

The highlight of today was seeing a man in a kilt approaching me about 4 or so kilometers from Villafranca.  We talked for a short while.  His name is David, and this is the second time he is walking the Camino this year!  He was so high from the first time he wanted to walk it again!  He also told me that he spent the past 8 years working and living at Findhorn up in Scotland and recently made Dunblaine his base which has easier access for traveling back and forth to the Camino.  I felt so uplifted by meeting him.  His Scottish accent, his sparkling eyes, the kilt, and his radiance touched me very deeply.  I felt as though I met my Celtic Angel as I entered into this new phase of the Celtic Camino.  I stepped deeply into the unknown today and I met a Celtic Angel.  We hugged, and kissed check to check back and forth and we both just laughed.  Such a chance encounter and such a blessing.  The Camino continually guides and provides, every step of the way.

We are at a lovely albergue on the western edge of town.  Our laundry is being cleaned and dried for us for €5, we are showered, and tonight I am looking forward to putting my feet up, reading and writing and falling asleep.  They have breakfast here for us so we will start the day with a simple, and delicious meal, and be on our way to Pontferrada and beyond. 

Buen Camino!
Suseya,
Sarah

Day 8 - La Faba

We walked 17 kms today up and over Cebreiro mountain. We left Angela's albergue in Fonfria at around 9 or so in the drizzling rain but no wind. It was so wonderful to see Angela again. Since I saw her last May a year ago, she met Pedro salsa dancing in Ponferrada (she said that dancing is her passion) and two months ago, they got married. She seems so happy. In her words, she goes to sleep dancing and wakes up dancing.

Today was a great day of walking. After taking an easy day yesterday that included a taxi from Samos to Triacastela and only walking 9 kms up to Fonfria, both my legs and feet (blisters on my right foot pinky toe) as well as Sharon's left leg and right knee are starting to feel a lot better. It turns out that my skin rash on my shins was a sign of overwalking, not enough cushion in my boots, and needing to use poles. Since buying poles in Sarria and using them for the past 50 or so kms, plus making sure that I was taking ibuprofen, my legs have been feeling better and better. I am still a little swollen after walking, but I am learning to put my legs up whenever I can.

Already this Camino is so different from my first one, on so many levels. Last time, no blisters, no leg issues and warm sunshine after getting out of the mountains. This time, blisters, leg issues, lots of rain and cloudy overcast skies everyday. I expected it to be different, of course, but you really never know exactly how.

Today is also the last full day of walking "Al contrairio" of what I walked last year. Tomorrow our plan is to get up and finish walking down the mountain and have tea at Vega del Valcarce, where I stepped onto the Camino a year ago. I am both excited and nervous to step completely into the new and unknown.

Even with having walked this part of the path before, it can still be challenging to walk in this direction. In the little villages, it can be unclear which path is the Camino. Two days ago, our intention was to walk from Sarria to Samos. Somehow (and I still don't understand quite what happened) we ended up on the path that went directly to Triacastela, without going via Samos. In the little village of Montan, we asked which was the path to Samos. An older woman carrying a homemade bottle of "vino tinto" (red wine) took us down the hill, with tears in her eyes as she talked to us about the convent in Samos. She pointed us in the direction of Samos and watched us as we walked up the hill. Only when we walked a kilometer or two did I put it all together and realize that we had actually been on the path to Triacastela and not on the road to Samos at all. No wonder I didn't remember the 9th century pre-Romanesque church we walked by. I had never seen it before!

We ended up walking a quiet cross road to Samos for at least 6 or 7 kilometers. Beautiful, but not the Camino and it was all walking on asphalt. It was so hard on our feet and legs. This was when my leg hurt the most and it took everything I had to just keep walking. I sang "joyfully, easily, lovingly and gracefully" in a random order for many kilometers. We wanted to go to Samos to stay at the monastery, but ended staying in the hotel across the street with our own private bathroom and room. After our expedition, we both just needed to quietly regroup and tend to our feet and legs.

This is why we ended up taking a taxi to Triacastela!
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Arzua

A long wet and rainy day from Arca to Arzua. We walked about 20 kilometers today, pretty much in rain the entire time. Pilgrims heading toward Santiago are saying that this is their first day of rain on their whole Camino. Day 2 and we already have pouring rain! I have been told that one experiences exactly what one needs to experience on the Camino, including the weather. These pilgrims are getting their first rain with only 2 days to go; so it's different experiences for everyone.

We walked through small villages, eucalyptus and oak tree woods, and fields of autumn corn. It felt like we walked down into several river valleys and then climbed back up again. Tomorrow I believe we walk up and down 6 river valleys on our way to Casa Dominga, this side of Palais de Rei.

One of the challenges of walking "Al Contrairio" is that it is not always as obvious which is the right way to go. Twice today we took a wrong turn. One took us along a flat road and we realized quite quickly that we had made a wrong turn. As we found our way back to the Camino, an older woman was very insistent that we were going the wrong way! With our limited Spanish, we were able to communicate to her that we wanted to go the "wrong" way.

Second time we went down a big hill, which meant we had to climb back up the big hill to find the right turn off. That was hard as it was near the end of the day, we were tired, and it was raining quite hard at the time.

Sharon and I are creating a nice walking rhythm together, and also an evening rhythm. The past 2 nights we have eaten dinner early, and then come back to the albergue, showered, done laundry, taken time for writing, and then gone to bed early. I am still adjusting to the time change so last night didn't sleep deeply until after midnight, even though I was exhausted and my legs ached from walking all day.

The most poignant part of today's experience was walking in all day in the rain. If we had been at home, we probably would have put off our walk until a nicer day. As a pilgrim, all there is to do is to walk, no matter what the weather.

Buen Camino!

Suseya,
Sarah
Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

We are here in Santiago!

We are home in our hotel room having spent a wonderful, rainy day in Santiago.  We didn´t wake up until 11:30 after sleeping 12 hours!  Guess the night of not sleeping because of traveling over here caught up with us!  The sad part was missing meeting with Ivar of the Camino Travel Center at 11am.  I was really looking forward to meeting with him over a cup of coffee. Because I thought I had lost my sunglasses (which it turns out I had not - I had just not looked for them in the right place) we received the blessing of going through these powerful doors and just getting to be with the Black Madonna.  I realized that this was truly the reason that I wanted to come back to the Cathedral, to be with this particular statue, and to re-confirm the true intention for my walking the Celtic Camino, and to give thanks for her blessings and guidance along the way.

The other reason was to experience the swinging of the Botafumeiro at the end of the Mass in the Cathedral.  Thinking that we had slept through this Mass, I had completely let it go, only to go back to the Cathedral later in the afternoon and realize a Mass was in session.  Lots of school aged kids were there, and the songs were joyous and light hearted.  When the priest mentioned the Botafumeiro, everyne got very excited and even clapped.  Imagine a three foot silver cannister filled with lit incense that was held down from a massive ceiling by a ten inch in diameter rope.  It takes half a dozen monks to pull the rope so that the heavy cannister starts to swing across the transcept ultimately from ceiling to ceiling.  Sharon and I were standing under the spot where the Butafumeiro swept up from the crowd into the air.  It was exhilarating and powerful to be standing just under it.  I felt it sweep up my body as it lifted in to the air, cleansing me as it whooshed by my body.  Just as powerful I felt it sweep down my body as it came back to the center of the church.  Again, I felt so grateful that we just happened to go to the Church at this time and that we both got to experience the powerful swinging of the giant incense burner originally used to fumigate the sweaty and smelly pilgrims.

One last sharing before I finish here to shower and  pack.  Yesterday I had to pee very badly and public toilets are hard to find.  Directed to go behind the Paza de Roxio, now a government building, I discovered a small church, Igrexa de San Frustucso.  I am intrigued to find out more about this church as it felt very feminine and ¨hidden in plain sight¨. It was so close to the Cathedral, yet separated by the government building, yet right there facing the massive cathedral.  So easily not noticed, yet so beautiful in its own right.  A wide and round  ¨tower in the middle of the church with a relatively new facade on the front.  I am intrigued, and I realized tonight that this is where I want to begin our pilgrimage of the Celtic Camino tomorrow morning. 

I will write again in the next few days. 

Suseya!
Sarah