The Camino de Santiago de Compostela

Here are the pictures in case you want to read no further.
    
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

Pilgrims' People Back Home

Before I share pictures of the Camino from Cebreiro to Santiago and caminos from table to table and--best of all--from reunion to reunion, I want to express my gratitude to the friends back home.

 My trip was extraordinary because I was reunited with wonderful friends, but I also carried the warmth of the friends back in San Francisco.  I'm grateful that I can make a "pilgrimage" to friends just a few miles--or even a few blocks--away.

Tom made an extraordinary vegan paella for a pre-Camino dinner back in May.

Bill and Janet took walks in San Francisco with me.

Valerie and Leo, who'd walked the Camino before us with Chemin de France,  gave Bill and me each a copy of the book The Art of Pilgrimage, which I read every day before departure.

 I got socks and a beautiful card from Jana,  and Elma, who'd walked the Camino on the spur of the moment--walking 20 miles in San Francisco in one day to make sure she could and then carrying her own backpack and sleeping in Albergues, also gave me socks.  Just back from the Camino, a niece's wedding, and three months in France with her husband Alex, she even came over to help me pack!

The wonderful Chew and View group welcomed her and Alex back and toasted to my upcoming Camino.

To tell you the truth, I was so happy at home in San Francisco that I was looking forward to returning before I ever left.

Pre-Camino Spain

It may seem strange that I'm using my San Francisco Vistas blog spot for pre-Camino Spain, but it's all set up, and after all, I'm now looking at Spain from San Francisco, so here it goes!

When I thought of walking the Camino de Santiago de Compostela (called in English The Way of St. James), I thought of roughing it the way Mary O'Hara Wyman does in Grandma's on the Camino, a book I highly recommend.  I thought I'd be staying in the Albergues, which resemble places in San Francisco for getting the homeless off the streets or army barracks--bunk beds with  scores of people jammed together in a room.

 But I had a walking partner who had another vision of the Way of Saint James--the Way of Bill Shoaf--and I soon realized that the Way of Bill Shoaf suited me just fine!  We had private reserved rooms and our luggage was sent ahead from each hotel, which meant that we weren't carrying the equivalent of a grand piano on our backs.  We weren't, really, roughing it.  We were just walking, which is my favorite sport and the only one I'm at all good at, though I wasn't all that good.

I am also grateful to The Way of Bill Shoaf because my walking partner nixed my idea of arriving in northern Spain just in time for the Camino.  He said that would leave me with jet lag, so we allowed 10 days to get over jet lag, and in the process we stayed in Bilbao, San Sebastian,  Oviedo, and Leon (accent over the second syllable)--all beautiful places and ones I'd never seen before. 

Bill rented a car, which is something he's bravely done in several countries:  Switzerland, Portugal, the Netherlands, Denmark, Sweden, Germany, Austria, France, England, Belgium, Italy, Germany, Costa Rica, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Thailand! 

You may know that there is a pilgrim's certificate, sort of like a passport,  and when we soi-disant pilgrims pass through a tavern in a town, we get it stamped.

  I thought there should be a driver's passport, so Bill could get stamped by Avis in Spain, Hertz in Italy, or whatever.  Imagine having a passport that looks like this:

Of course you'd have to add the date and town.

 (In a later blog post I'll tell you about the passport I created for my own true pilgrimage.)

Bill quipped that his way of traveling was from Michelin-starred restaurant to Michelin-starred restaurant, so he was really interested in a comment a former boyfriend made back in the 1970's when he saw my collection of matchbooks and matchboxes from restaurants:  "Tina, you shouldn't be collecting  matches!  You should be collecting waiters." 

When I commented that going from Michelin-starred restaurant to Michelin starred restaurant would keep us from ever meeting the people in the country (who couldn't afford to eat in such places), Bill said, "We'll meet the waiters!  They're the people of the country."

We did meet the people--even beyond servers--because we asked directions a lot, and the people of the country were always very kind about helping us out.  Here are some of the places their directions helped us get to in Bilbao, San Sebastian, Oviedo, and Leon.

https://www.dropbox.com/sc/v80ajdqzgd00c0w/AADgRdI2exmyrI8MQEWyz3Y4a

Pre-Camino SPAIN

It may seem strange that I'm using my San Francisco Vistas blog spot for pre-Camino Spain, but it's all set up, and after all, I'm now looking at Spain from San Francisco, so here it goes!

When I thought of walking the Camino de Santiago de Compostela (called in English The Way of St. James), I thought of roughing it the way Mary O'Hara Wyman does in Grandma's on the Camino, a book I highly recommend.  I thought I'd be staying in the Albergues, which resemble places in San Francisco for getting the homeless off the streets or army barracks--bunk beds with  scores of people jammed together in a room.

 But I had a walking partner who had another vision of the Way of Saint James--the Way of Bill Shoaf--and I soon realized that the Way of Bill Shoaf suited me just fine!  We had private reserved rooms and our luggage was sent ahead from each hotel, which meant that we weren't carrying the equivalent of a grand piano on our backs.  We weren't, really, roughing it.  We were just walking, which is my favorite sport and the only one I'm at all good at, though I wasn't all that good.

I am also grateful to The Way of Bill Shoaf because my walking partner nixed my idea of arriving in northern Spain just in time for the Camino.  He said that would leave me with jet lag, so we allowed 10 days to get over jet lag, and in the process we stayed in Bilbao, San Sebastian,  Oviedo, and Leon (accent over the second syllable)--all beautiful places and ones I'd never seen before. 

Bill rented a car, which is something he's bravely done in several countries:  Switzerland, Portugal, the Netherlands, Denmark, Sweden, Germany, Austria, France, England, Belgium, Italy, Germany, Costa Rica, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Thailand! 

You may know that there is a pilgrim's certificate, sort of like a passport,  and when we soi-disant pilgrims pass through a tavern in a town, we get it stamped.

  I thought there should be a driver's passport, so Bill could get stamped by Avis in Spain, Hertz in Italy, or whatever.  Imagine having a passport that looks like this:

Of course you'd have to add the date and town.

 (In a later blog post I'll tell you about the passport I created for my own true pilgrimage.)

Bill quipped that his way of traveling was from Michelin-starred restaurant to Michelin-starred restaurant, so he was really interested in a comment a former boyfriend made back in the 1970's when he saw my collection of matchbooks and matchboxes from restaurants:  "Tina, you shouldn't be collecting  matches!  You should be collecting waiters." 

When I commented that going from Michelin-starred restaurant to Michelin starred restaurant would keep us from ever meeting the people in the country (who couldn't afford to eat in such places), Bill said, "We'll meet the waiters!  They're the people of the country."

We did meet the people--even beyond servers--because we asked directions a lot, and the people of the country were always very kind about helping us out.  Here are some of the places their directions helped us get to in Bilbao, San Sebastian, Oviedo, and Leon.

https://www.dropbox.com/sc/v80ajdqzgd00c0w/AADgRdI2exmyrI8MQEWyz3Y4a