{"id":12834,"date":"2022-05-24T08:47:38","date_gmt":"2022-05-24T15:47:38","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.thomryng.com\/camino\/?p=12834"},"modified":"2023-02-06T11:24:45","modified_gmt":"2023-02-06T19:24:45","slug":"camino-primitivo-a-santiago","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.thomryng.com\/camino\/camino-primitivo-a-santiago\/","title":{"rendered":"Camino Primitivo a Santiago"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

T<\/span>oday we arrived in Santiago de Compostela! But first: how we got there. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Great conversations last night at the cozy Santa Irene albergue, and a communal dinner featuring the local fish speciality, hake. Spoke with Raffaell from Germany, who is studying medicine in Vienna. Also a fellow from Andorra, a French couple and an Italian couple from Verona. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

A 7 o\u2019clock start from Santa Irene. Misty Galician morning, and we immediately set off to find a caf\u00e9 for breakfast, and more importantly, caf\u00e9 con leche. It was 2 km before we found an open bar.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The walk was a mixture of dirt road and paved road, ducking in and out of farmsteads, small villages, and forests. Very much the typical Galician terrain we\u2019ve come to expect over the past several days. The air was cool, and the mist hung low over the hills. It\u2019s just a beautiful, verdant country.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Second breakfast – caf\u00e9 con leche and a Napoletan – at a place called Kilometro 15. Needless to say, it\u2019s not actually 15 km from Santiago, more like 16 1\/2. But what\u2019s the first rule of the Camino? \u201cAll distances are lies.\u201c<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A bit of a drizzle in the late morning caused us to put our ponchos on out of an abundance of caution. We\u2019ve seen how fast the skies can just open up here in Galicia.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

With about 11 km to go before the Cathedral, we entered Santiago\u2019s suburban zone. Probably these were technically still villages, but they had a distinctly suburban feel to them. There was a small patch of forest after Lavacolla, the traditional place where medieval pilgrims washed themselves before making the final entrance into the city. One last farmstead. A long stretch of tree farms on either side of the road. Then, increasingly, industrial zones. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

At about the 5 km marker, we came to Monte do Gozo. From here, you can see the spires of the cathedral through the fog in the distance. It\u2019s an amazing moment, and my heart leapt for joy. There are stories from the 16th century of pilgrims coming to the spot and spontaneously singing the \u201cTe Deum\u201d before descending into the valley where the city lies. I know that feeling exactly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So it was that we descended the hill into the city in the rain with weary feet but light hearts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Soon, we crossed a massive freeway bridge, and we were in the urban part of the city proper. Our feet certainly grew weary here as they padded along the sidewalks on the long urban slog through the city.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We arrived in the cathedral plaza and just sort of collapsed in joy and relief. After spending some time there in prayer and thanksgiving and photos (of course!) we found the AirBnB we\u2019ve rented for the next few days. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Next on the agenda: showers! Then probably our initial visit to the cathedral. We are planning on attending Mass tomorrow at 9:30 AM, but we will probably go in to visit the tomb of the apostle tonight.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tomorrow we will also go to the Cathedral office to validate our credencials and receive our Compostelas. 
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