RTW ’23: Week 4

Week 4 began with pure excitement and joy as we took our final steps into Santiago! After weeks of hiking, exploring, and meeting new friends along the way, Pam and I walked into Santiago feeling accomplished and proud. It’s hard to believe that I’ve already been on my journey for an entire month– something that feels like both a blip in time and a lifetime. I’ve learned a lot about the world around me, and in turn, even more about myself.

Wednesday was a day of triumph and reflection– Pam and I really did it! We completed the Camino de Santiago, and planted our feet proudly on the earth. We took our time walking the last few miles to Santiago, even stopping to pick wild flowers along the path to make ourselves a corsage– one for Pam’s hand, and one for my pack strap. We took one last variant path to linger in the woods, taking in the peace it offered us. We wanted to absorb as much as we could on the last day of the camino, and every chance we got, we took it. As we got closer to the ancient medieval city center, we passed a high school at the start of their day, where we spotted a group of girls hanging out together. We watched them help each other apply their makeup before the start of their school day, surely sharing the latest gossip. Watching them, giddy and excited, perfecting their look of the day, made me pause for a moment and reminisce about the days when I was their age, preparing for a promising new school day. We also saw people rushing to start their work day or deliver parcels to the stores. We’ve been in the “Camino Bubble” the last few weeks, but the world continued, and every day life goes on for everyone else. As we walked back into civilization, there were other excited pilgrims walking with us to the cathedral. We approached the cathedral from the south entrance this time, offering us a different perspective from the last time Pam and I did this 7 years ago when we walked from the north entrance on the French Way. This time, we could see the cathedral spires a few blocks away. I started to get emotional and teary to actually see the cathedral and know that we were going to, finally, reach our goal. We had been following yellow arrows and scallop shell markings for weeks, but at this point, the markings weren’t there anymore. We were close enough to see the destination and follow the overflowing energy of St. James! We had been taking foot pictures and videos along the way, and as we got within a few 100 feet, Pam took a video of both of our feet together. We were walking in perfect harmony, step by step. We didn’t look up until we got to the center, and then we paused and looked around. I let out an excited “we did it!”, shed a few tears, and we hugged. The last time we were here, 7 years ago, the cathedral was being renovated and there was scaffolding on the outside, preventing us from seeing a full picture. Today, we saw it in all its beauty– the stones of the cathedral, a warm, inviting cream color, a stark contrast to the many churches along the way of gray and dark stones. Santiago, St. James, was inviting us like an old friend– with warmth and love. It was almost as if St. James himself was saying “Come in, sit down. Rest, and tell me about your journey. Lay down your burdens. You’re home!” We arrived too early to check into our hotel, so we had to store our packs at the store nearby in order to get into the cathedral for noon Mass where there are no packs allowed inside. Once we got inside, there were so many tourists and pilgrims, easily over one thousand, and we were lucky enough to find a place to sit. Our seats were right in the path of the botafumeiro, a huge incense swinging container. It doesn’t always get used in every Mass, but luckily for us, it was in full swing this day, filling the cathedral with beautiful notes of warmth and belonging. The Mass was mostly in Spanish, but there was a group of priests from other countries that each said prayers in their language during the part of the Mass when people say “Lord, hear our prayer”. The two bible readings were read by two young women, and in the homily, the priest spoke about the Camino. The parts that Pam could pick out referred to the people that we had to leave behind to do the pilgrimage, and the things that we packed in our backpacks. He explained that what we thought we needed turned out to not be the most important– what is most important are the things we learn along the way, and the people we return to after the pilgrimage is done. I couldn’t agree with the message more! I felt a deep sense of gratitude to be there with Pam, to be healthy, to have my faith, and to fully participate in the Mass. I also kept thinking of how St. James wasn’t the most accomplished apostle during his life, but his legacy was so far beyond anyone’s imagination. Seeing the magnificent cathedral and thousands of people who visit every day tells the message that a person’s life can have such a bigger impact than they could have ever imagined. There will be more time to reflect on this day, as we’re staying in Santiago for a few days, but for now I’m just filled with gratitude and peace. The overwhelming feeling of being in this holy place will keep feeding my soul and filling my heart, and I will pour it all out to you!

Since we have completed the Camino de Santiago, Pam and I are staying in Santiago for a few days. During this time, we will explore Santiago, plan the next leg of RTW ’23, and reflect on the time spent so far. On Thursday, I felt a little out of whack because we weren’t walking from point A to point B all day. Our schedule certainly looked different than prior days, and I found my body growing a bit tired, perhaps because it was being given an opportunity to rest. It was a strange feeling knowing that we didn’t have anywhere in particular to be! The only scheduled event Pam and I did was the walking tour that was recommended to us prior. Betty, our tour guide from Santiago, was very knowledgeable about the history of the city as well as all of the buildings, to include architectural periods (baroque, romantic, ancient, etc.). The tour lasted for over 2 hours and she gave us some tips about which museums were worth paying for. The Master Mateo Museum was one of the places she recommended for us to see. Master Mateo was the master of much of the baroque facade of the present day cathedral. We learned that there are churches within the present day cathedral that Mateo built around to make the current cathedral the style of his era and a much larger church. One of the interesting places during the tour that stood out to me was the chapel of Maria Salome, mother of St. James. In front of the church there is a statue of Mary, pregnant with Jesus. The Catholic Church stopped allowing pregnant Mary to be displayed many centuries ago, but this statue has remained. It was something about emphasizing the immaculate conception that forbid seeing her pregnant. I never thought about that before, so it was interesting how the institution of the Catholic church made decisions to emphasize their agenda, all the while depersonalizing a woman’s experience. Obviously, this struck me quite heavily, as much of my RTW ’23 trip is in support of empowering women, not giving in to an agenda that silences or dehumanizes their experience. It weighed a bit heavily on my heart as I went through the day, so I carried the image of a very pregnant Mary in my heart.

On Friday morning, Pam and I took a trip to the local Decathlon, the sports authority of Europe. I found a much better travel backpack, and Pam bought a few new clothing items. I’m hoping that the new pack will help alleviate some of the tension in my back, along with making packing and overall travel much easier. After that, we rented a car, which we’ll have for the next two days to explore the area before Pam leaves Santiago on Sunday to start her trek home. The car we rented, a manual 6 speed fiat sport, was small enough to zip around the narrow cobblestone streets of Santiago. It’s also a convertible, so tomorrow, Pam and I will put the top down once we have our hats to tame our hair. Driving the car, with its sporty features and ease of navigating tight turning radiuses, was so much fun! Our first adventure in the fiat was to A Coruna, the second largest city in the Galicia province of Spain. It was larger than I expected and very metropolitan with many beautiful beaches. I’ve never been to Buenos Aries, but it reminded me of the pictures I’ve seen of that city. We walked on the beach road and had a wonderful lunch around 2 p.m. Typically, that has been the “no food time” for restaurants, but thankfully, that’s not the case in A Coruna. After lunch, we explored a park out on the tip of the peninsula called Menhires Pola Paz. It was really nice to get out and walk again, especially on the beach. I also spoke to the cycling company which left me feeling much better about my upcoming trip and where I’m going. I’ve changed the plan slightly– I’ll be doing a loop instead of riding out and not returning to Santiago. I’m really loving the energy and overall vibe, here, and am looking forward to having more time. Part of what’s so cool about the Camino is entering an ancient city to finish the walk or ride, but if I ride in reverse I won’t get that. So, I’ve found a loop to ride that still brings me to the coast. Stay tuned for more details as next Thursday approaches!

The more time I spend in Spain, the more comfortable I am. I am really digging the overall vibe, the people, and all that there is to do here! On Saturday, Pam and I spent the day at the beach. We had so much fun driving the Fiat to the beach with the top down along the windy coast roads! Once we got to the beach, we realized that there were no changing areas, so we changed right there on the beach! There were a lot of women topless– it’s really interesting to see people just doing what worked for them. Seeing women of all shapes and sizes wearing two-piece suits– some with tops, some without– made me realize that I need to let go of my perfectionist attitude towards my body, starting with which bathing suit I wear. I decided right then and there that I will be shopping for a two-piece bathing suit the first chance I get. Not only is it more practical with more options and will take up less space in my pack, but it will feel so freeing to wear it, and I am embracing that freedom as well as my body. We went swimming in the Atlantic, which featured warm sea temperatures, and was extremely clean. The beach had no rocks or shells, which made it easy to walk in the water and cool off. After our swim, we had a really nice lunch at a cafe on the waterfront– Zamburinas (scallops, Galician style), Pam’s favorite. It was a very fitting pilgrims last day meal! On the way back, we found where the locals store their dinghy’s and moorings for their boats. It was a really cool find! On our way back to Santiago after dropping the car off, we went out for dinner, and then Pam spent the remainder of the evening packing to leave on Sunday. It’s bittersweet to say goodbye to Pam after being together every day for a month. But, it’s time for her to get back to her life, and it’s time for me to begin the next chapter of my RTW journey. I will really miss having a friend, but at the same time I am looking forward to a few days to unwind without agendas, or feeling like I’m in “vacation mode”, before I start the next part of my trip. Santiago is starting to feel like home, and I love being here. There’s a positive energy and unsurpassed hospitality that’s so warm and welcoming. People gather here from all over the world– walking down the narrow medieval streets I hear Spanish, French, English, German, and even Italian on just a short walk. The diversity of the area is unparalleled, and I feel warm and peaceful, here. A home away from home, which is exactly what my spirit needed to find.

Sunday morning marked Pam’s departure from this part of my journey, and it was difficult to say goodbye to her after having such a wonderful adventure together. Pam and I are very compatible and complementary to one another– we are exactly what each other needed for this journey. Her Spanish skills made a lot of interactions, especially at restaurants, go smoothly. She finds the smallest details, whether it’s a snail on a leaf in the woods, or beautiful tiny purple wildflowers, or finding the most obscure arrow or sign post while traveling, which helps me remember to pause and embrace the small moments. She is so much better at striking up a conversation with a complete stranger than I am, and I am thankful for the connections that we have made with others because of her. We both love nature, exploring, hiking (surprise!), and understanding new cultures. We travel extremely well together, and I will greatly miss my “travel sista amiga”. I am so thankful for all of the time that we have been able to spend together over the past month– it is truly etched into my heart. After a heartfelt goodbye, I went to my new accommodations for the next 4 days, the Pension Santa Cruz, just a few blocks from the previous hotel. I have a twin bed in a dorm room of three beds, and my bed is tucked next to a window. One man is from Columbia and speaks little English and the other is from Spain and doesn’t speak any English at all. It should make for an interesting few evenings, for sure! I found myself missing Pam’s translation skills all too soon. After getting settled, I hung out at the Plaza Obradioro, a place where all the entering pilgrims come to get the first view of the cathedral. There’s such a great vibe and energy there, and it quickly calmed my soul. I found a shady bench, which was a wonderful reprieve from the blazing sun. I overheard conversations of reunions where people unexpectedly found each other and watched a few groups of rowdy pilgrims run through the square, excitedly shouting. There were a lot of selfies, hugs, tears, and people just sitting in the plaza, full gear on, resting their weary bodies. As I walked around to get familiar with my new neighborhood, I noticed quite a few pilgrims with bandaged feet, arms, legs and eyes– and even a few on crutches. Quick historical sidebar: Santiago has had a pilgrim hospital for hundreds of years– an umbrella term for the diverse array of institutions that arose in the Middle Ages that accommodated poor travelers and pilgrims. By the thirteenth century, “hospital” referred to a group of houses of various types of aid. A few of them provided medical treatment, but the majority were welfare institutions, offering food, shelter, and spiritual or physical care for those in need. Some supported only a handful of people, while others supported hundreds, with many adhering to an apostolic twelve or thirteen. Meanwhile, for reference, the pilgrimage to Santiago was in full swing. The word hospital changed its meaning over time, and later morphed into the hospital that we think of today– a place to receive medical care. A great example of this evolution is the large building in Santiago right next to the cathedral, founded as the Gran Hospital Real de Santiago de Galicia towards the end of the Middle Ages. It did serve as a place for pilgrims to briefly stay, but the larger part was dedicated to medical care for pilgrims and locals alike. It even included an orphanage and accommodation for the priests. Eventually, it turned into a modern hospital, but was later repurposed into a hotel once it was no longer fit for medical use. As I looked around at the smorgasbord of pilgrims and reflected on all of the history of the buildings around me, it struck me: some things change (cellphones, hiking tech, clothing, etc.) while others are timeless, like the excitement of entering the square to see the cathedral for the first time. The journey certainly comes with struggles– physical, emotional and mental alike. You may get here wounded or tired, but you’ve made it nonetheless, just as millions of people before you have. There’s a community of people that have been taking this journey for centuries, each for their own reasons, and they all end up here, successful in their own right. Speaking of success, I ended the evening with a phone call from my son, Mike. As always, it was wonderful to hear from him and get updates on how he is doing and where life is taking him. His wonderful girlfriend, Brittany, lives in D.C., so Mike has been working on getting a new job that places them closer together. During the call, he told me that he is taking a job in D.C., so his Texas journey is coming to a close and he will live in D.C. fulltime– exactly where he wants to be! I am so excited for him to start his own new journey, especially with someone so special in his life. I can’t wait to see how his journey continues to unfold!

On Monday, I spent the day as a resident of Santiago, not as a tourist at all. I went to the Frais (grocery store here) right around the corner from the pension and picked up some necessary groceries. Then, I went to the pilgrim information office to get information about cycling the Finisterre Circuit and got a cello booklet to get pilgrim stamps while cycling. I also spent some time on my laptop taking care of normal business– paying bills, calling my bank to verify ATM fees (or lack thereof), and read through my mail on IPostal1, the place where my snail mail is scanned into. After I took care of business, I was able to take a call with a very good friend of mine, Erika. She is a fellow yoga lover with extensive travel experience, so it was nice to connect and share travel tips and tricks, and receive some advice as I move forward on my journey. Having a support network, even from afar, is so important. I am so thankful to have so many amazing people in my life! Once we said our goodbyes, I stepped out of my “office” and went into Santiago. I went to visit Ivar’s office, a pilgrim’s best friend when you need to ship things ahead or get advice on all things Camino. I had been receiving his newsletters and watching his videos on YouTube prior to the trip, so it was really nice to get to meet him in person. I made arrangements to store my big pack there when I start biking in a few days, as Pam and I utilized this service here 7 years ago, so I knew what I was getting. With that squared away, I was able to take a deep breath in, exhale all that I had accomplished, and walk about town, feeling accomplished and prepared. I got some cheese and an empanada, and ate at one of the squares surrounding the cathedral, Quinta de Mortos (place of death), a place where they used to bury the dead. Now, however, it’s a beautiful square with cafes and a long granite bench. People watching has quickly become one of my favorite things to do, here. It’s always so rich! I noticed two women carrying green tubes (compestello certificate), so I knew they had completed a Camino walk. They had long cotton dresses and mesh caps on their heads. I assumed they were Mennonite as they walked up to a cafe table with two men drinking water, not the typical beer. I did see one of the men looking at a cell phone, and then watched as another man joined the group. He had a long beard, and before I knew it, he was juggling hacky sacks! It took me by pleasant surprise, and I watched in awe as he tossed hacky after hacky. Watching this spectacle, I wondered how they found their way to walking the Camino– curious of what their unique story is. I could over hear one of the men speaking American English, so my Mennonite guess is probably accurate. On any given hour, you can see a number of different people crowding the square, making their way through the sea of people: locals talking, cyclists speeding by, a tour guide with an umbrella leading a group of eager tourists, one or two beggars with their cups, or people in hiking clothes entering the church for Mass. Then, on the hour, every hour, the cathedral bells chime, reminding us all that we’re in the presence of something universally spiritual and timeless.

Planning the first cycling stage of my journey is really special to me because, as many of you know, I’ve chosen to support the World Bicycle Relief organization during my trip around the world. This organization helps empower people, mainly women and girls, by providing them with sustainable transportation to improve their lives and gain access to vital services. I am very excited about the amount of fundraising that has been accomplished so far, and with every donation, I am getting closer and closer to my goal. If you feel led to help and would like to make a donation, or just learn more about this amazing foundation, please follow this link: https://www.powerofbicycles.org/fundraisers/sharonelder.

Tuesday marked the end of my fourth week on my RTW ’23 journey. It’s so hard to believe that it’s already been an entire month since I left my everyday “normal” behind. In the morning I did some more people watching in Obradorio square. There was a group of eight 20-somethings that arrived, including a guy in a full on skirt, not a kilt, which brought me a good chuckle and smile. The rest were in shorts with the tell-tale tanned legs on all sides, and they all assembled for a group photo. I also noticed “gear guy”, from Tennessee, walking in the French way from St. JP. He used a high tech camera and tripod to take some time shots. Finally, I saw a group of four women holding up a flag, smiling from ear to ear. People watching in the square never gets old to me. There’s always a new wave of people completing the Camino to observe, with the locals dispersed throughout. It’s really quite beautiful to see how it all works together to form the amazing energy and tenacious spirit that lives in the square at every hour. One of my favorite finds of the day was coming across the “accidental pilgrim shadow” under a clock tower, cast against the cathedral, in Plaza de la Quintana. Interestingly enough, the shadowy figure itself was not an intentional creation in the square. Rather, it was a happy little accident that happens when the time is just right– a pilgrim traveler shadow appears because of the way the light hits a lightning rod pillar and support column. The two shadows merge together, creating the image of what legend claims is a local priest who fell deeply in love with a nun from a nearby covenant. Legend says that they met nightly, traveling in secret tunnels to meet one another in secret. They had a plan to run away and elope, and on a specific night, the priest told her that he would be waiting for her, right there in that square, disguised as a pilgrim traveler. Much to his dismay, she never showed. To this day, his shadow rests there, waiting for the love of his life to return to him so they can run off together, as planned. It’s quite the remarkable love story, indeed. In the afternoon, I went to the pilgrims companion meeting. The Irish Camino Society volunteers lead these sessions and, thankfully, they were in English so it was easy to follow along and participate. Sister Mary led a contemplative sharing with myself and two other pilgrims– Mark, from Tennessee, and Karen, from Australia. The sharing and discussion was about what brought each of us to the Camino and, conversely, what we felt led to do moving forward. It was a very heartfelt and open sharing experience, and I felt like I was back on the Camino, which was really nice. Personally, what I felt led to do is to surrender and trust in my faith that everything that happens, happens for a reason, even if it wasn’t what I originally planned. As they say: we plan, God laughs, and then we are given what we need! I felt really supported after the gathering and plan to attend an English Mass later on that Sister Mary assists with. Until then, I will rest in the comfort that I found.

WIth week 4 completed, I feel such a huge sense of accomplishment. Not only did I complete the Camino de Santiago, I reconnected with myself in meaningful and beautiful ways. I spent a lot of time reflecting on my journey up to this point, and I am mostly feeling overwhelmed by all of the miles I’ve put under my feet, the nourishment I’ve given my soul, and the continued connections I have made with perfect strangers around me. This past month has truly been a gift, one that I am incredibly grateful for. Walking the Camino led me to a place that feels like coming home. Until next time, dear friends: stay safe, stay healthy, and always remember to make space for what brings you joy.

Use the guides and maps to lead you to Santiago;
use the lessons learned on the Camino to find your way.
-Jane V. Blanchard