2:30 PM
84 degrees
Costa Vela Hotel - again
We have arrived in Santiago.
How to describe? I find the words less accessible this year. Perhaps I've said what needs to be said last year? It is not a rerun but every bit as deeply experienced and joyous and satisfying and... Oh all those adjectives!!
To our surprise, the walk in was not crowded. In fact, the folks at the Compostela office said that this week showed a lull. Instead of the usual 1500 more or less walking in every day, there we're less than 1,000. Unbelievable none the less. We didn't photograph much since we have this part from last year. Just took it all in. I felt stong and energetic. For the first 7 miles. And then I commented about this to Craig and how I could see how people walk thousands. You get in shape and then simply keep walking. And then. Literally and just then I began to struggle. My feet hurt, I was hot, my thighs burned, my knee spoke. There are no coincidences.
This body and mind is ready for a rest and knows it is coming. So very interesting how that works.
In any event we made it. Craig was his usual forge ahead self but just to show his regular human side, he is still sleeping as I write this on Wednesday morning sitting outside in the garden sipping a cafe con leche grande! In a few minutes we will wander to the square and find a seat in the cathedral for the pilgrim's mass.
Having a destination. Is crucial. Making it all the way here, regardless of where one started is integral to the experience regardless of whether one believes in the story or not. Sacred exists , even I. The ordinary. That so many people from all over, all ages, all walks of life gather together is a force unto itself.
Last night as we ate dinner (Tuesday night. I write this on Wednesday), we chatted with a woman, a young woman, single mom with her 9 year old daughter who works in a restaurant serving peregrinos. She put it well. She moved here because she loves the atmosphere here. Pilgrims arrive. They meet people they have met along the way. Embrace with the warmth of old friends. Share food and drink, sitting together. Communicating in all languages, with the Camino's common focus overriding all differences. That suspended judgment magic. For the time being.
The reset button. Time out of mind as B. Dylan would say. Craig and I realize how helpful this walk is for our relationship. And as I write this, he appears so off we go to celebrate mass and see if any of our pals show up!!
More later.
El Camino
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