Tramping to New Zealand.

We leave tonight for New Zealand after spending 4 nights in San Fran visiting Jenny, Josh, Nick and Mallory.
I'll be in touch!
Mary & Sam

Day 20: ok, ok. One more Dog With A Blog

Can Cooper get any closer to Bailey?

"I love you, Bailey!  Please hide in my house when they want to take you back to Colorado for the winter."

I'm looking forward to seeing both cute puppies on Wednesday when we get back to Gladwin. 

 

Day 20: Last day in Santiago.

We toured the cathedral today. Here are some photos. Remembering that the church was originally built 800 years ago in 1211 with many years of additions added throughout the ages, is pretty awesome. It's definitely not the prettiest cathedral in Spain (we think Burgos is) since it is mainly Gothic and Baroque period architecture. 

This is a self portrait of the main architect, Mateo. Pilgrims have been touching his head, because he was known as a genius for 800 years so now he has a big barrier around him. 

This cathedral was one of the first to use monuments in the entryways. They tell a story, religious and political. 

The columns also have intricate stone carvings from 1211. 

We are headed to the airport in a couple hours so this concludes Mary and Sam On The Way. We hope you have enjoyed our blog and we thank you for following us on our 300 mile pilgrimage. It's been a lot of fun writing to you.   Have a great summer!

Adios amigos!

Happy Birthday, Dan!

My son, Dan, turns 28 today. Happy Birthday!

Dan and his girlfriend, Courtney. 

We visited them in Chicago just before leaving for Spain. 

Day 19. More pictures of Santiago.

Sam likes this picture because his shadow is in the picture, too. 

Saint James the martyr and moorslayer. Seems like an oxymoron to me. 

Streets of Santiago this morning before the crowds came through. Another pretty day. 80 degrees and sunny. 

Our hotel tonight.  Its called The San Francisco monumental hotel.  It's a converted 13 th century convent/Abby of San Franciscan nuns. Rooms are very nice.

Side view of the cathedral. 

Tomorrow, Monday May 19,  we are going to take the tour of the cathedral and see some more sites around here. We leave for the airport at 8:30 pm to fly from Santiago to Madrid arriving at 11:45 pm. Then we have an airport hotel because we fly out Tuesday, May 20, back to the good old USA. 

Buenas noches. 

Day #19: Santiago. We made it!

I am holding up our Compostelas in front of the cathedral of St. James in Santiago de Compostella. 

At the noon pilgrims mass today they did perform the incense ritual from medieval times. I video taped it but the blog doesn't allow me to load it. :(

The choir was singing throughout the mass and it was pretty amazing. If you want me to send you the video just email me and I'll send it to you. 

The cathedral is going through major renovation of one tower. 

We just checked into a nice hotel near the center of town. It was a great day!  We were very happy to get here safely and accomplish our goal of completing the 300 mile pilgrimage; even if it took two trips to Spain.  The pilgrim's mass was truly a spiritual experience that welcomed us into the city. 

Day 18: Last night on the Camino.

We walked 8 miles today in 4.5 hours. We have a very nice hotel in a small village 6 miles from Santiago...our final destination! (I'm doing the happy dance). 

We are sending BOTH packs on the taxi bag express tomorrow. Sam has finally agreed to send his forward because the cathedral in Santiago doesn't allow packs or poles. So we are planning on going to the 12:00 noon pilgrims mass so we have to stow the packs early. We are hoping that the noon mass does the ceremony of the swinging of the giant incense burner called "Botafumeiro". This ceremony was done in medieval times to fumigate the sweaty, stinky (and possibly disease-ridden) pilgrims. The ritual requires 6 attendants to perform it. It was shown in the movie "The Way". It looks cool. 

Resting by a stream today. Last quiet time before Santiago. Another gorgeous day. 

We are expecting large crowds as we enter the city tomorrow based on what we read in the guide book. Tour buses, tourists and pilgrims. The trail was the busiest that we have ever seen it. 

We are both excited and thankful that we have made it this far on the Camino safely and in good health. No blisters or limping!   We have seen so many walking wounded. Tonight's restaurant had a sign that said in 4 languages:  "Please Do Not Take Off Your Shoes!"  

Thanks for sending your positive energy to help us finish this Camino. We are very excited and happy!