Welcome to Davids-Camino

I decided to take tour outside of Santiago as I was churched out. It was perfect, one has more of a feeling of spain as a tourist then a pilgrim. The trip consisted of a bus trip to some old towns then a boat tour which focused on aquaculture of mussels, oysters and scallops, learned why the former are cheap and the latter are expensive. You throw a rope in the sea and you have a mussel farm, oysters and scallops are much more work.

After the aquaculture talk everyone danced, club med style zumba. It was fueled by the usual- all the wine you could drink. The only casualty on the camino was a german who fell off an upper bunk drunk and dislocated his shoulder.

We then went to a seaside resort and I had anouther meal which I did not need and more great wine. I love visiting Europe. My guide suggested I do the camino again in 2021 which is a Jubali year when the special entrance to the cathedral is open, all I could think was ins-allah, god-willing. at my age you can’t assume good health. It is a blessing that can disappear in a minute.

1 a wall covered in scallop shells, they are all the same size because they are cultivated.

2 The party on the boat, this wouldnt happen at home, these aren’t kids.

3 A corn crib used to store grain and vegetables. According to our guide the spire on the left is a pagan symbol. I wonder how many decorative elements are actually pagan symbols.

I dont know when to stop blogging, my camino is over but the rest of life has begun. I guess I will stop when I lose interest. Since I dont know who is reading this I cant stop when you lose interest. I miss the daily routine and the easy familiarity. A few

pictures from santiago

This last is the mother of all eucalyptus trees. They are

weeds

in california, maybe not here.

Well I am here, didn’t do any sightseeing today but there is alot to see. Got the luggage I had sent ahead, took a cab to my hotel(I could have walked) got my certificate, suitable for framing, looked unsuccessfully for shoes(My feet are to big) so I guess I need to wear these boots for anouther week. I am finally really alone. I will miss the social nature of the camino, I will miss it all. Time for the Journey home

A parade of pilgrims come into town.

The main square the end of the camino

The final selfie

This is the last stop before Santiago, It is my last stop before I am transformed from a pilgrim to a tourist. In a way I am not looking forward to it. As a pilgrim, if you see some people seated at a table in a restaurant and there is a spare seat, you can say can I join you and you have new friends, As a tourist that isn’t acceptable. I

mau get lonely. I also have to begin eating and drinking less. The trail is very nice but very crowded and the towns are modern. It is scenic but it lacks the midieval towns. There are many more young people who started at Sarria or other towns.

I found Beth again, a very nice lady who I met 20 days ago but then lost when she left Leon the day before I did. The women with the dog ,benjy, has camped every night because they dont allow dogs in the Auberques.

It is also more commercial, this place advertises itself as a beer garden. Those are empty beer bottles

This is a very small town chosen by me so that I did not have to walk too far. Had an intesting discussion with a Columbian lived in spain who had some african ancestry. We talked about racism. I realized that I had never had a frank discussion about racism with anyone of color in the US, but I also didn’t ask him the question of how did it feel to be person of color, so it wasn’t really that frank. I talk too much to have enough time to listen.He indicated that spain was quite racist. He is gay and asked about the UU position on this. People talk about religion a lot because it is all about us. The couple from Texas I talked to are Baptist, from a megachurch that has a lot of African American members.

Not many pictures, this is a chuch graveyard, people are interred above ground.

An old bridge, air dropped to me by anouther.

Only three days more walking. As we get closer it becomes more and more of a moving party.

You know more and more people

from the trail I finish walking by one, shower, hand wash my underwear, maybe nap, then go out and look for people I know to have a drink a snack and dinner.

The towns here are more modern but the countryside is beautiful.

The walk here was magical, the trail lined with trees planted ages ago and going beside ancient walls.

I finally saw a donkey but it wasnt offering a ride to this pilgrim

in the afternoon I discussed philosophy and religion with a German university student and ate dinner with my friends who are Christian Brothers from the Philippines.

Sarria is dissappointing, according to the guideboooit would be hopping with new pilgrims just starting out and would be crowded. I was looking forward to new people. Instead it is a ghost town, where are they?

Here it is in the distance.

Todays 20k felt easy, the walk in the early morning was magical. Yesterday I walked all day with Edmondo, and although I really like him, I tend not to see things when I walk and talk.

The spiritual nature of this journey comes not from the pilgrims intentions but the intentions of the people along the way with a message. The spirituality takes three forms, catholic spirituality, religious spirituality that isn’t catholic and modern spirituality. Today I experienced that kind, after a hard climb I entered a tiny town. I hoped beyond hope for a place to rest and have some refreshment. At the top of the hill someone had built a pilgrims oasis

A young lady came up and asked me what kind of coffee I wanted. She gave me coffee and homemade cake. All around were messages from other pilgrams or from those who sposored this oasis.

I am in Sarria this is a starting point for pilgrims who only have a week. I expected a lot of people but the town is really sleepy.

I survived the night of no blankets by wearing everything I owned. I have decided to book ahead

for the rest of the trip as things are beginning to be full and the private aubergues are much nicer

than the first come first serve public ones which dont provide blankets. This one is gorgeous, The owner took an old run down 500+ year old house and made it into a work of art, that invites relaxation after walking 12 miles in the rain and hail.

Much nicer than the crowded institutional municipal aubergue

One wonderful aspect of this trip is how the scenery keeps changing, but slowely as you walk. Sometimes the scenery is the same for a day or

two but then it slowely changes. A walk is the right pace to see the world.