Camino email the 5th (from Santiago on July 25th)
We're here!! Happy Day of Saint James to all!!
We got into Santiago de Compostella two days ago, on July 23rd, exactly according to plan. We managed to find a fairly inexpensive pension, and so have been enjoying the luxury of not having to pack up and move out every morning, as well as a shower with hot water (that is still hot at the end of the shower), the ability to stay out as late as we want, and a private room to boot. It has been serious decadence indeed.
The walking since last you heard from us (and especially since Sarria) has not been particularly great, but this is to be expected. The last 100km of Camino (from Sarria on) are what is needed to get a compostelano, the certificate that verifies that you have completed the pilgrimage (and is presumably redeemable for time off purgatory). The result is that many people walk just that last stretch, starting either at O Cebreiro or in Sarria. In many parts of Spain, highschoolers can get course credit for a compostelano, so lots of highschoolers start to clog the road, along with tons of youth groups or groups of teenage friends, as well as boy scout troops, toursits who are doing a bit of everything and wanted to try out the Camino, etc etc. The result is that albergues are crowded and loud, the path is crowded and loud, and many people who don't respect the Camino very much are kicking around being rude, taking up space, and apparently also doing a lot of graffiti. Pilgrims who have started earlier just tolerate the last 100 km, and it leaves a pretty bad taste in most folks' mouths (we are no exception). We read one note on the message board in Santiago saying (in Spanish), "The Camino ends in O Cebreiro and begins again in Santiago until Finisterre" (more on the Santiago to Finisterre segment later).
Santiago itself has, however, been wonderful, in a totally non-pilgrimagey sort of way. The whole city is one giant fiesta at this time of year. The feast day of St James is today, and the whole town has been in festival mode since (long before) we arrived. There are street performers everywhere and concerts every night in the plazas.
Although the day is the 25th, the big event of the festival for most people is the fireworks on the night of the 24th. We, along with the group of our camino friends, camped out a place in the cathedral square starting at 5:00 for 11:30 fireworks, to be sure we would see them and have a good view.
Friends, the fireworks show that happens in Santiago de Compostella on July 24th every year is certainly the most amazing display of pyrotechnics I have ever seen. Throughout the Camino, people (including Sylvia) have been trying to explain to me how amazing it is, and I have believed them, but still my expectations were far exceeded. The fireworks are shot off the face of the cathedral, as well as from behind and on top of it, lighting up the cathedral and all the saints and apostles thereon. There are also lights projecting images onto the cathedral from the building across the square. All the fireworks and lights are done in time to music, and tell a beautifully choreographed story of Spanish history, art, and culture. The choreography is amazing; an intricate and beautiful dance of light and colour. The fireworks are shot in such a way that they meet in the air and hit each other, making beautiful patterns as they affect each other's paths in perfectly choreographed ways. At one point, the entire front of the cathedral is lit up in hundreds of multicoloured sparklers which have been painstakingly affixed to each part of the facade. There are also fans expertly set up to blow away the smoke so that no part of the show is blurred by the smoke from the previous part. I spent the entire time wondering why anyone ever chooses to be in any other part of the world on the night of the 24th--I have never in my life seen anything like it.
Now that I have wasted all this space trying to describe the indescribable to you all, I have only a bit more time to tell you all about Santiago. I think other than the festival and all the attendant concerts, performances, and fireworks, the really remarkable thing about Santiago has been the way we have run into everyone we have met along the road, even people we were sure we would never see again. It reminds me of a traditional idea of what heaven is like--seeing so many people whose paths have crossed ours but with whom we have lost touch many weeks ago. One way or another, we have run into them all again here in Santiago for the festival. We even saw one girl who we thought had already flown home (it turned out that she had had troubles with her flights and had come back to Santiago for the feast since she couldn´t get home). This is also a phenomenon that experienced pilgrims are always talking about ("Oh, no need for goodbyes, we´ll see each other again in Santiago"), but one doesn´t really realize how true it is until one experiences it.
Anyway, Santiago has been grand, but tomorrow we leave again to walk three more days--the tacked-on post-pilgrimage to Finisterre, the end of the world. Finisterre is the westernmost point in Spain, and the traditional final leg of pilgrims' journeys. Pilgrims often walk to the end of the world and then burn their walking clothes/backpacks/shoes or throw them into the Atlantic, symbolizing the completion of their journey. The walk is also reportedly free of the giant crush of toursit-type pilgrims we have been dealing with in the last week of walking, so it servesas a way for many longer-term pilgrims to cleanse the palate from the unpleasant taste that the last 100k can leave in one's mouth. The way is not quite as clearly marked, and the hostels are fewer and farther between, so we'll be paying closer attention to our guide and watching carefully for waymarkers, but we are very much looking forward to what we hope will be a return to the feel of our first weeks of walking.
When we are finished walking to Finisterre, we have a few days in Venice and a few days in Paris before flying back to DC on the 9th. We may send out one more email to all of you before we head back, but we hope to see many of you in person comparatively soon now as well. We are very much looking forward to seeing you all again, to being at home with our kitties, and to church services in English (I am also especially looking forward to seeing Lilah, Clara, and Rekha again--don't grow up too much without me, girls, I want to still be able to recognize you when I get back). Also, if you want a postcard from the Camino, from Venice, from Paris, or whatever else, email me and tell me your address now, because postcard buying opportunities are drawing to a close.
Much love to all,
Carolina (and Sylvia)
PS to geographers:
Alto de Poyo (15th)
Triacastela (16th)
Sarria (17th)
Portomarin (18th)
Ligonde (19th)
Melide (20th)
Ribadiso (21st)
Santa Irene (22nd)
Santiago (23rd-present)
We got into Santiago de Compostella two days ago, on July 23rd, exactly according to plan. We managed to find a fairly inexpensive pension, and so have been enjoying the luxury of not having to pack up and move out every morning, as well as a shower with hot water (that is still hot at the end of the shower), the ability to stay out as late as we want, and a private room to boot. It has been serious decadence indeed.
The walking since last you heard from us (and especially since Sarria) has not been particularly great, but this is to be expected. The last 100km of Camino (from Sarria on) are what is needed to get a compostelano, the certificate that verifies that you have completed the pilgrimage (and is presumably redeemable for time off purgatory). The result is that many people walk just that last stretch, starting either at O Cebreiro or in Sarria. In many parts of Spain, highschoolers can get course credit for a compostelano, so lots of highschoolers start to clog the road, along with tons of youth groups or groups of teenage friends, as well as boy scout troops, toursits who are doing a bit of everything and wanted to try out the Camino, etc etc. The result is that albergues are crowded and loud, the path is crowded and loud, and many people who don't respect the Camino very much are kicking around being rude, taking up space, and apparently also doing a lot of graffiti. Pilgrims who have started earlier just tolerate the last 100 km, and it leaves a pretty bad taste in most folks' mouths (we are no exception). We read one note on the message board in Santiago saying (in Spanish), "The Camino ends in O Cebreiro and begins again in Santiago until Finisterre" (more on the Santiago to Finisterre segment later).
Santiago itself has, however, been wonderful, in a totally non-pilgrimagey sort of way. The whole city is one giant fiesta at this time of year. The feast day of St James is today, and the whole town has been in festival mode since (long before) we arrived. There are street performers everywhere and concerts every night in the plazas.
Although the day is the 25th, the big event of the festival for most people is the fireworks on the night of the 24th. We, along with the group of our camino friends, camped out a place in the cathedral square starting at 5:00 for 11:30 fireworks, to be sure we would see them and have a good view.
Friends, the fireworks show that happens in Santiago de Compostella on July 24th every year is certainly the most amazing display of pyrotechnics I have ever seen. Throughout the Camino, people (including Sylvia) have been trying to explain to me how amazing it is, and I have believed them, but still my expectations were far exceeded. The fireworks are shot off the face of the cathedral, as well as from behind and on top of it, lighting up the cathedral and all the saints and apostles thereon. There are also lights projecting images onto the cathedral from the building across the square. All the fireworks and lights are done in time to music, and tell a beautifully choreographed story of Spanish history, art, and culture. The choreography is amazing; an intricate and beautiful dance of light and colour. The fireworks are shot in such a way that they meet in the air and hit each other, making beautiful patterns as they affect each other's paths in perfectly choreographed ways. At one point, the entire front of the cathedral is lit up in hundreds of multicoloured sparklers which have been painstakingly affixed to each part of the facade. There are also fans expertly set up to blow away the smoke so that no part of the show is blurred by the smoke from the previous part. I spent the entire time wondering why anyone ever chooses to be in any other part of the world on the night of the 24th--I have never in my life seen anything like it.
Now that I have wasted all this space trying to describe the indescribable to you all, I have only a bit more time to tell you all about Santiago. I think other than the festival and all the attendant concerts, performances, and fireworks, the really remarkable thing about Santiago has been the way we have run into everyone we have met along the road, even people we were sure we would never see again. It reminds me of a traditional idea of what heaven is like--seeing so many people whose paths have crossed ours but with whom we have lost touch many weeks ago. One way or another, we have run into them all again here in Santiago for the festival. We even saw one girl who we thought had already flown home (it turned out that she had had troubles with her flights and had come back to Santiago for the feast since she couldn´t get home). This is also a phenomenon that experienced pilgrims are always talking about ("Oh, no need for goodbyes, we´ll see each other again in Santiago"), but one doesn´t really realize how true it is until one experiences it.
Anyway, Santiago has been grand, but tomorrow we leave again to walk three more days--the tacked-on post-pilgrimage to Finisterre, the end of the world. Finisterre is the westernmost point in Spain, and the traditional final leg of pilgrims' journeys. Pilgrims often walk to the end of the world and then burn their walking clothes/backpacks/shoes or throw them into the Atlantic, symbolizing the completion of their journey. The walk is also reportedly free of the giant crush of toursit-type pilgrims we have been dealing with in the last week of walking, so it servesas a way for many longer-term pilgrims to cleanse the palate from the unpleasant taste that the last 100k can leave in one's mouth. The way is not quite as clearly marked, and the hostels are fewer and farther between, so we'll be paying closer attention to our guide and watching carefully for waymarkers, but we are very much looking forward to what we hope will be a return to the feel of our first weeks of walking.
When we are finished walking to Finisterre, we have a few days in Venice and a few days in Paris before flying back to DC on the 9th. We may send out one more email to all of you before we head back, but we hope to see many of you in person comparatively soon now as well. We are very much looking forward to seeing you all again, to being at home with our kitties, and to church services in English (I am also especially looking forward to seeing Lilah, Clara, and Rekha again--don't grow up too much without me, girls, I want to still be able to recognize you when I get back). Also, if you want a postcard from the Camino, from Venice, from Paris, or whatever else, email me and tell me your address now, because postcard buying opportunities are drawing to a close.
Much love to all,
Carolina (and Sylvia)
PS to geographers:
Alto de Poyo (15th)
Triacastela (16th)
Sarria (17th)
Portomarin (18th)
Ligonde (19th)
Melide (20th)
Ribadiso (21st)
Santa Irene (22nd)
Santiago (23rd-present)