We met up with F (South Africa) in Ponte Ulla. Since we first met F in 0guillena, our first night on the camino, and have shared many experiences over the past 5 weeks, it seemed apropos to enter Santiago with her.
Again, Stacy, young, strong (and a fast walker) leaps ahead. I think she also just needs more time to think, to be alone.
F and I are chatting, walking slow. Excited, but reluctant. We enter a cafe on what I am sure is the outskirts of Santiago, trying to delay the end of the camino. And then we see it. Though neither of us have actually seen a photo of the cathedral in Santiago, there is no mistaking the spires that pierce the blue sky. But as we climb the last hill in to the city we can no longer see the spires and become disoriented. 'Is this it?' we ask, disappointed, as we stand, underwhelmed in front of 3 different buildings, before a young woman hears us, and offers to guide us to the Cathedral Santiago de Compestella. Lucila then becomes our impromptu tour guide and takes us the last few meters to our destination. As we turned the corner in to the Plaza and the Cathedral loomed overhead the first person I saw was Stacy, smiling, waiting. Then A from Milan, M, from France, E from Australia and 2 of the 3 Musketeers from Paris...a reunion and a shared feeling of 'wow! Okay, what next?'
F, Stacy and I enter the Cathedral and stand in awe. There is talk of showers, but I am anxious. I want to go report to the pilgrim office that minute and receive the congratulations and fanfare that has so far been missing. Where is the band to announce our arrival? Where is the red carpet? Where is the paparazzi?
We stand in line, each taking our turn. We make the suggested donation and receive our credentials. A piece of paper that states we walked the Via del la plata and arrived in Santiago on October 23, 2012. Our first names have been written in latin. I kind of wanted my last name in latin as I was sure it would be Santiago. F suggests I change my name to St. James anyway; my nom de plume.
Outside the Cathedral we realize we are all a bit numb...what was this about anyway?...
F is restless. Within 2 hours of arriving in Santiago we wave farewell. She is on her way to Finnesterre, the end of the world. She is walking.
And Stacy and I?... Give me a day or two...I will return and report...
Blog Title: so what does it
all mean anyway?
A week ago today, after walking for 5 weeks, covering a distance of over 1000 km, we arrived in Santiago de Compostela and entered a bit of a fog.
This general malaise seemed to permeate all whom we had met over the time we walked from Sevilla to Santiago. I wondered, what was this about? Where was the 'aha' moment that I was so certain would happen as I stood before the Cathedral in Santiago.
Quiet, contemplative, we both thought about what this walk had meant to us personally. Some of my own thoughts are still too private to share, but I'm going to try and explain.
The 'Aha' moment in Santiago did not come in the way that I anticipated. What I realized is that my own growth and transition had been gradual over the duration of the journey. The 'aha' was realizing the truth (for me) in the statement 'it is not the destination but the journey that is important'.
On the journey we came to see how little one needed in terms of temporal belongings. A change of clothes, some soap to wash. Perfect!
I, whom am never without a book (in my past life) spent 5 weeks without any books. This, in some ways, made me more present. I listened to the stories that were around me. I created stories from what I saw and experienced. I lived the story I was in...
Life can be very simple but we tend towards making it complicated. I'm not sure why. And maybe, as F (South Africa) suggested to me one day as we walked, it is not necessary to know the 'why'. F thought, perhaps, it is unnecessary to have the answers at all. For what is an answer except one person or another's perspective? Few things in life have definitive answers. Maybe it is as my dear friend M (Ottawa) suggests, that there is great beauty in the mystery, in the not knowing, in this great adventure we call life?
Tired (more emotional than physical), we traveled by bus to Fisterre, 'end of the earth.' Stacy had already tossed her hiking boots and was wearing high-heeled boots as we walked the 4 km from the bus-stop to the light-house. I was amazed as I watched Stacy march uphill never once stopping to complain that her feet hurt. She continues to impress me!!
I tossed a rock that I had carried on the camino in to the sea and then placed rocks on the base of a cross for both Stacy and I. A symbolic gesture recognizing a new life beginning as the camino ends.
M, from France told me that the real camino begins now. It is what you carry inside you as you go forward. For isn't all life, all journeys, a camino of sorts?
Does the real camino begin now?
I suppose that is a decision made by the person who walks.
Anastasian + Iuliam
(Our names, as written on our Camino Credentials, in Latin)
A week ago today, after walking for 5 weeks, covering a distance of over 1000 km, we arrived in Santiago de Compostela and entered a bit of a fog.
This general malaise seemed to permeate all whom we had met over the time we walked from Sevilla to Santiago. I wondered, what was this about? Where was the 'aha' moment that I was so certain would happen as I stood before the Cathedral in Santiago.
Quiet, contemplative, we both thought about what this walk had meant to us personally. Some of my own thoughts are still too private to share, but I'm going to try and explain.
The 'Aha' moment in Santiago did not come in the way that I anticipated. What I realized is that my own growth and transition had been gradual over the duration of the journey. The 'aha' was realizing the truth (for me) in the statement 'it is not the destination but the journey that is important'.
On the journey we came to see how little one needed in terms of temporal belongings. A change of clothes, some soap to wash. Perfect!
I, whom am never without a book (in my past life) spent 5 weeks without any books. This, in some ways, made me more present. I listened to the stories that were around me. I created stories from what I saw and experienced. I lived the story I was in...
Life can be very simple but we tend towards making it complicated. I'm not sure why. And maybe, as F (South Africa) suggested to me one day as we walked, it is not necessary to know the 'why'. F thought, perhaps, it is unnecessary to have the answers at all. For what is an answer except one person or another's perspective? Few things in life have definitive answers. Maybe it is as my dear friend M (Ottawa) suggests, that there is great beauty in the mystery, in the not knowing, in this great adventure we call life?
Tired (more emotional than physical), we traveled by bus to Fisterre, 'end of the earth.' Stacy had already tossed her hiking boots and was wearing high-heeled boots as we walked the 4 km from the bus-stop to the light-house. I was amazed as I watched Stacy march uphill never once stopping to complain that her feet hurt. She continues to impress me!!
I tossed a rock that I had carried on the camino in to the sea and then placed rocks on the base of a cross for both Stacy and I. A symbolic gesture recognizing a new life beginning as the camino ends.
M, from France told me that the real camino begins now. It is what you carry inside you as you go forward. For isn't all life, all journeys, a camino of sorts?
Does the real camino begin now?
I suppose that is a decision made by the person who walks.
Anastasian + Iuliam
(Our names, as written on our Camino Credentials, in Latin)
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