Into the Journey

2 September 2021

On the day before our flight to Spain, the European Union recommended that Americans be kept out of Europe due to increasing COVID-19 cases. Did that mean the trip was off? On the day of our flight, we still didn't know if we would be able to leave. But a last-minute check with the Spanish Ministry of Health website confirmed they would let us in, so we took the chance and flew to Madrid, ready for this big adventure.

We flew from Albuquerque to Dallas and then on to Spain. Once reaching Madrid, we bought train tickets at the airport to get to Pamplona, but we ended up missing our intended train due to some flooded tracks from rain the previous night. But the 3-hour delay before the next train gave us a window to get lunch outside the Atocha Station downtown and still make it to Pamplona for the night. 

The lunch of doner kebabs outdoors at a Turkish restaurant in Madrid while awaiting our train to Pamplona was much needed. The 3-hour delay after missing our original train was a blessing in disguise as we got to enjoy some of our favorite Middle Eastern comfort food.

After lunch, we returned to the station and took a quick selfie of us and our train from the platform. We were now set to board the bullet train to Pamplona - a quick 3-1/2 hour trip to the far northwest of Spain. European trains are such an easy way to travel!

Once in Pamplona, we walked through the city, carrying our backpacks the 2 miles to our hotel. The bus to France didn't leave until the day, giving us time to recover from the jet lag.

We passed the ancient fortified entrance to Pamplona as we walked to our hotel from the train station.

After our night in Pamplona, we roamed all around the city (we ended up walking 8 miles) and thankfully bought some super lightweight jackets (which neither of us had brought due to weight concerns). We decided that throwing on these extra items wouldn't hurt us, especially since our pack's weights were really good when we left home. Sandy's was 12 lbs., mine was 13 lbs., much less than the 20 lbs. which each of our packs weighed on our first Camino 3 years ago. It was our last 'free' day roaming the city before catching our bus into France where our official Camino would begin.

The Gothic central neighborhood of old Pamplona has many narrow, winding streets lined with tall medieval apartment buildings. We enjoyed roaming the city on this last day before the official start day in France. After our start in France, we would eventually return days later to Pamplona, which sits on the Camino route.

We boarded our bus the next day and crossed over the Pyrenees Mountains into France on a twisty, turning 2-hour journey through the mountains that we would hike over the next few days.

The small town of Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Porte on the French side of the border is the traditional starting point for pilgrims. We joined the many other pilgrims in the town anticipating the rough mountain journey that would start the next day. 

One of the first things we did was go to the Pilgrim Office to get our 'credential', the document that identifies us as pilgrims and which we would get stamped in cities along the way.

We bought picnic supplies and had our dinner outdoors in a park while ominous clouds billowed overhead, and we sensed we were in for a wet first Camino day to come.

We were now ready for our journey to Santiago de Compostela . Just 500 miles separates us from our intended destination 5 weeks away!

Our Second Camino - The Journey Continues

29 August 2021

After waiting 3 long years, we are now returning to complete another Camino de Santiago pilgrimage. Our anticipation is coming to life in just a few days as we return this time to complete the entire 500-mile journey (we completed 220 miles in 2018 and prayed we would be able to return one day to complete the entire route). We start in France at the medieval city of Saint Jean Pied de Port, and we'll have about 5 weeks to reach the city of Santiago de Compostela. 

During our journey we will carry scallop shells on our backpacks (same as last time) that indicate we are on this pilgrimage trek. We will be on the pilgrimage route with thousands of other pilgrims from around the world. In recent years over 300,000 pilgrims finished a portion of the pilgrimage, so we are never alone on this journey.

Our last 2 months of training has been intense, especially given the summer heat here in Albuquerque. We are averaging 45 miles of walking per week, and our feet are doing well through all the miles. As part of our final training, we hiked the La Luz trail to the tram house of the Sandia Mountains in Albuquerque (10,300 ft elevation). We also hiked the Pino Trail to the crest (about 9,000 ft elevation), and we are feeling more confident in our ability to tackle crossing the Pyrenees Mountains on the French/Spanish border.

Training hike in the Sandia Mountains to 10,300 ft. elevation.

Completing our hikes into the Sandia Mountains confirmed that our 45-miles per week of training walks has prepared us for our upcoming 500-mile pilgrimage trek. Last week we did two back-to-back 15-mile walks with our fully loaded packs (and survived), so I think we are ready for this adventure

This is a map of the French route of the Camino de Santiago, which runs over the Pyrenees Mountains from France and crosses Spain to end in Santiago de Compostela. We plan to walk 200 miles to Burgos, bike 100 miles to León, then walk the remaining 200 miles to Santiago.

This 500-mile pilgrimage route starts in France and runs across Spain.

Sandy and I learned a lot on our first Camino in 2018. We were anxious and nervous, like most first-time pilgrims. We tried to keep the weight in our backpacks down, but on the day we flew to Spain, each of our packs ended up weighing 20 pounds (somehow a bunch of 'might need' items magically climbed aboard). This time we have reduced the weight in our packs to no more than 12 pound each (not including the water), so the packs should be pleasantly lighter.

One thing that is different for this Camino is that we have had to book all up our hotels in advance. The worldwide COVID-19 pandemic has closed down a number of the pilgrim 'albergues' (dormitories), so the overflow of pilgrims have booked places that now puts hotels in shorter supply.

Like our last Camino, scallop shell markers throughout the cities and countryside will guide us and keep us on the right course.

The waymarkers show the scallop shell, a symbol that many people claim represents the various pilgrimage routes that all lead to Santiago de Compostela, the supposed burial spot of St. James the Apostle.

So why are we doing another Camino de Santiago pilgrimage? Perhaps, in part, we hope to again enjoy a profoundly spiritual experience like we had on our last pilgrimage.

The Camino calls, so again we march forward on "the way" and pray for a journey as joyous as last time.

Day 17 - Final Walk - to Finesterre

5 October 2018

18.8 miles in 7 hours 35 minutes (including breaks)

Today was our final walk of the Camino de Santiago.

Progress Map

We left before daybreak from Muxía and hiked through dense fog, over mountains and through thick coastal forests. We finally reached Finesterre, the place the Romans called the 'end of the earth'. Heading out to sea west from here presents nothing but ocean for thousands of miles.

Our Camino is now done - 220 miles total (355 kilometers). We'll never forget this awesome experience!

After today, we return to Santiago de Compostela for a day of sightseeing, then onto Paris for a day. We then fly to Romania, Moldova, Serbia, and Albania to explore our next possible humanitarian service in managing clean-water well projects.

The Camino de Santiago will live within us for the rest of our lives. What an amazing opportunity we had to experience this pilgrimage firsthand!

Our walk started before daybreak. This is a shot across the bay from our hotel as we walked into the cold to start the walk.

After an hour we had climbed the first mountain. We noticed that thick clouds were blowing over from the other side. Soon we were in fog so thick that we couldn't even see the nearby wind generators, eventhough we could hear their blades spinning.

The fog was so thick at times that I could hardly see Sandy down the road.

We dropped in elevation, and as the day went on, the fog eventually melted away and showed that we were next to gigantic eucalyptus forests.

You meet all kinds of people on the Camino de Santiago. This was a German couple that we ran across who were wearing their traditional outfits for their hike today.

Once the fog lifted, the forest exploded with color.

The walk took us along the rugged seacoast. Occasionally we would pop out of the forest and see the beautiful blue ocean.

Even the ferns were changing color as we moved further into autumn.

We stopped in a little village called Lires to get some hot chocolate and pastry for a late breakfast.

Finally, after many hours of hiking, we reached Finisterre and its cute little bay.

We had to take a photo of our shoes that had carried us so far on the Camino to the 'end of the earth'.

We took one last parting shot from Finisterre before leaving by bus and returning to Muxía.

Once back in Muxía, we went to the pilgrim office and picked up our certificates stating that we had completed the final walk of the Camino. (They are written in Gallego, the half-Spanish and half-Portuguese language of Galicia.)

We were starved, so we picked up a delicious Galician dinner: calamari (squid), raxo (pork), roasted chili peppers, fries and bread. This filled us back up after our final hike of the Camino. 

After dinner, we returned to our favorite place on the edge of town. We could sit for hours watching the breakers on the boulders.

One last moment on the ocean was never enough.

The sun was setting as we walked away from a last view of the church on the rocky coast.

As the sun set one final time over the city of Muxía, we gave thanks for this chance we had to come to Spain and participate in this pilgrimage.

We returned to the rocky point at sunset to watch as the sun dipped below the horizon.

And so our Camino de Santiago is now completed. This was an experience we will never forget. 

(Given that this was such an incredible adventure, we may return again and complete the first part of Camino de Santiago from France to León that we missed this time around!)

Day 16 - Rest day in Muxía by the Sea

4 October 2018

Muxía sits next to the Atlantic coast in a very beautiful and rugged region. We took a bus here from Santiago so we could complete one more stage of the Camino, the portion between Muxía and Finesterre that runs along the coast. (We didn't have the 3 extra days it would have taken to walk the 45 miles to get here, so the bus was the next best option).

With huge waves crashing into giant boulders along its coast, Muxía is one of the most beautiful areas in all of Spain. We were glad we had a day to catch up here and enjoy the beauty of this place. Because we didn't arrive in Muxía until 11 a.m., we took the day as a rest day and will complete the final leg tomorrow.

Muxia was made famous in the final scene of the movie "The Way" because it is the place where Tom scatters the last ashes of his son who died on the Camino de Santiago. It is a heartrending part of the movie that always brings a tear to my eye.

This is the view of the harbor from our hotel. What a sunny, cheery place Muxía is (at least the locals describe it as such when it is not raining).

We walked across the street from the hotel to wet our feet in the Atlantic Ocean and gather a few seashells.

We climbed the hill that overlooks the town and harbor. This is such a picturesque city! 

Waves constantly crash into the rocks at the base of the lighthouse. We sat here for an hour watching the waves crashing into the rocks along this rugged coast.

Near the lighthouse sits this church, Nuestra Señora del Barco. The church is a huge pilgrimage site for a yearly event that takes place here every September.  (The church is also well known from its appearance in the final scene of the movie "The Way").

Unfortunately, the church was struck by lightning on Christmas Day 2013 (photo from town archives). After 5 years of reconstruction, the church is mostly rebuilt, but the altarpiece is still missing.

People gathered on the hilltop overlooking the Atlantic Ocean to watch as the sun set. It was almost a mystical event! It's easy to see why the Romans called this place the 'end of the world'. You could sail away from here for thousands of miles to the west without hitting land.

And so tomorrow is our final day on the Camino de Santiago as we hike the last 18 miles from Muxía to Finesterre. We're sad the journey is now coming to an end.

Day 15 - Arrival in Santiago de Compostela

3 October 2018

15.0 miles in 6 hours 18 minutes (with breaks)

After 2 weeks of walking almost 200 miles from León, we finally arrived in Santiago de Compostela.

What a beautiful city with incredible architecture. The cathedral was even more magnificent than any of the photos we had seen.

We walked through the dense forests for half of today's walk until coming to the edge of the city. After a few more hours of walking, we finally reached the center of this densely packed medieval city. Santiago de Compostela is a UNESCO World Heritage Site due to its ancient and historical significance.

After lunch, we went to the Pilgrim Office and waited in line for 1-1/2 hours with all the other pilgrims in order to receive our 'Compostela', the document that proves we completed the pilgrimage. We had to show our 'Credenciales' (or pilgrim passports) with stamps we received along the way to prove where we had been.

We then visited the huge Santiago Cathedral and went to a Pilgrim Mass in the evening. Later we returned to the monastery (now a hotel) where we are spending the night.

Tomorrow, we head to the Atlantic coast to do one last walk - between Finesterre (called the 'End of the World' by ancient people) and Muxía. This will be 18 miles and it will be the last of our long walks on this trip.

Ah, it is all coming to an end too soon.

The gigantic trees of the forest made our early walk a little eerie. We walked through the forest for some time before the sun came up.

At one point, the trail dipped into a gully and we then hiked below the surface of the surrounding ground for about half a mile. It was like being in an underground tunnel.

As twilight lifted, visibility improved. The signs always pointed the way, including into this highway underpass. 

The sun finally peaked out and lit up the forest. This was our last forest sunrise. How glorious!

Shortly after sunrise we came to the edge of Santiago. We took this shot with our shadows on the stone that showed we were in Santiago.

We came to a place that ancient pilgrims called the Monte de Gozo (or Mount of Joy). After walking many months, this was the spot where the pilgrims caught their first view of Santiago and its cathedral. This statue was erected to commemorate the joy that ancient pilgrims must have felt after surviving their journey. 

After 2 weeks of walking about 200 miles, I felt like celebrating, also.

Shortly after the Mount  of Joy, we crossed this freeway before entering the main part of the city. Seeing this freeway was a shock for us because it had been a few weeks since we had seen civilization on this scale. 

As we approached the oldest part of Santiago, we were struck by how narrow the streets are in this medieval part of town. 

Before approaching the main cathedral, we entered a tunnel with a Galician piper playing for the arriving pilgrims. You could hear his music for a long distance due to the echo from the tunnel. 

We walked into the plaza to visit the Santiago Cathedral. The cathedral was truly massive. This church has stood here for around 800 years. Millions of pilgrims have traveled here since the middle ages, and now it was our turn.

Inside, the cathedral alterpiece was a mass of gold and silver. A life-size statue of St. James sits in the center as shown here. We walked up a staircase behind the statue and gave it a hug, just like all the other pilgrims. We later attended a special pilgrim mass in the cathedral in the evening.

In the basement is where they keep the bones they say are those of St. James. The bones are in a gold and silver coffin.

Next we went to the Pilgrim Office to claim our Compostelas (our proof of completing the journey). We waited in line with a few hundred other pilgrims for 1-1/2 hours.

We presented our 'Credenciales' (or pilgrim passports) with all the stamps we picked up along the way, proving we were actually on the Camino. 

After reviewing our Credenciales, the Pilgrim Office issued our Compostelas (written in Latin).

After completing this pilgrimage, we walked by this statue of St. James outside the cathedral. He actually seemed to be smiling his approval on us!

So our journey is not quite over yet. Tomorrow we travel by bus to the west coast for a few days to hike beyween the cities of Muxía and Fisterra (orFinesterre asthey call it in Spanish). Ancient peoples of this region believed the world ended at that point because they couldn't go any further west (hence Finesterre meant 'finished with earth'). This should be a fun 18-mile coastal hike.