Oct 12
Two nights ago we were in Sarria, Spain, on our way to Santiago de Compostela , walking the Camino Frances. and the atmosphere changed a LOT. We, along with many others, have walked over 700 km (420 miles), with less than 100 km remaining.
Getting a ‘Compostela Certificate’ has not been our primary motivation, but we will proudly display it when we return to Boulder.
However, because everyone doesn’t have the time, health or resources to walk the Camino Frances, walkers can be credited with walking a Camino if their journey is at least 100 km (60 miles). So we saw a LARGE increase in peregrinos (pilgrims) in Sarria.
A large proportion of the new walkers are from Spain, since they are close enough to travel back and forth and finish the shorter walk within a week.
It appears that many of them have come to make the Camino part of their faith journey. Last night at the Mass the church was packed- standing room only. And nearly every church now has most of their devotional candles lit.
The last two days our steps have taken us through dairy country. Most of the farmers appear to chop their corn/maize and store it as silage in large plastic bags-usually white. One farmer’s line of silage bags were pink- perhaps a breast cancer survivor? We were reminded of people who are special to us who successfully defeated the big C (as well as those who fought brave battles but didn’t win).
Also commonly seen on the farms are small, rat-proof brick cribs that traditionally stored grain or other farm products.
With the increased foot traffic on the path, we are seeing more entrepreneurs- even a bagpipe player!
Three more days of walking and we will celebrate in Santiago de Compostela!!
