https://www.dropbox.com/sc/ovrdg0w70zyj7gp/AADxszREKIzc95otKg-t9_vRa
First, there is beauty, yes, and I'm not yawning. The world, as you may have noticed, is a very beautiful place, and the Camino gives you a lot of time with it. So on the Camino we walked with beauty--rustic, old, natural--starting with the sky in Cebreiro, pictured and the first steps we took on road from Cebreiro.
We also saw the famous scallop shells leading the way to Santiago de Compostela, although if you click on the photo showing a closeup of those shells at our starting point, Cebreiro, you'll see that they lead right into the gift shop!
Notice, too, that once you leave town (see the Cebreiro sign), the town ceases to exist, disappearing less romantically than Brigadoon.
The paths are lovely, and the REI poles (once the pilgrim's staff) can be used not only to take weight off knees and feet but to reach the blackberries that grow along the path, as Bill is illustrating here.
You can see, too, that Jesus was my roommate at one place of shelter, at Casa David in Triacastela. Are those the keys to the Kingdom I'm holding in my hand?
I regret that I am the one you see in rain gear. I didn't have my camera for four days and missed what would have been incredible photos of people in black garbage bags over what looked like grand pianos. Other people looked so elaborately mounted that they resembled floats in Macy's big parade (or pasos during Semana Santa?) --engineering and architectural feats. I saw a man in what looked like fluffy blue bedroom slippers, but of course they turned out to be blue cellophane over his shoes. (So disappointing!) Some people were covered with what looked like white table cloths--all ready for a picnic when the rain stopped.
I was almost never lost, but if I had been, I'd have been quickly identified as "The woman with the funny hat." And it was from REI, which I never thought had a sense of humor. I think it's my tiny head that creates comedy even with REI merchandise.
I don't know why all those things were hanging from trees.
But I do know that one of the most memorable hours on the Camino was one in a laundry room at Hotel Villajardin in Portomarin while we were waiting for a dryer. There was Yasmin from Australia, a woman from Denmark, John Charles, an actor from New York, another John, who'd recently participated in a bicycle run to raise funds for cancer. (His wife had died of pancreatic cancer eight years ago.) Fernando from Spain told us he was on the Camino with his teen-age son Alberto.
Bill and I later spotted Fernando with his son Alberto, who was wearing a Grease tee-shirt, something close to my heart because a close friend of mine was in the original cast of that musical. Alberto, Fernando, and I started to sing together from Grease and other musicals we knew.
We met again just before reaching Santiago, when I saw the signs on the pavement for the Walk to End Alzheimer's, something of special significance to me too because I walk that walk every year--usually in San Francisco--and I felt my last steps towards Santiago were in memory of my mother.
Then, once again, Bill and I were waiting in line for our certification, and John Charles The Actor wanted to know the Spanish words for "Tomorrow" from the musical Annie. I spotted Fernando and Alberto in another part of the line and went over to ask Albert.
Mañana mañana te quiero mañana Pues, eres un dia mas!
And mañana I'll reflect on Santiago itself and that famous botafumeiro!
https://www.dropbox.com/sc/ovrdg0w70zyj7gp/AADxszREKIzc95otKg-t9_vRa
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