DAY 1 OF CAMINO WAY TOUR

When our son was about to turn 1 year old, we left life in the UK & headed for Australia. En route we had planned to do the whole Camino Way by car, stopping at interesting places along the way. However, our GP suggested that it wasn't a good idea with such a small child as health care facilities weren't in abundance in this part of the world, so we cancelled that plan!  Never the less, it has been a pilgrimage of fascination for me over the years & I REALLY wanted to at least sample a little of the famous way of St James. This tour is supposedly easy walking (about 2 hours per day) with coach travel in between, & excursions to historic places of interest.

We started in Leon with a tour of the Leon cathedral & all it's wonderful leadlight.

This being the one that gets the first rays of light in the morning!

We also saw a building designed & built by Gaudi (of Barcelona fame) before heading to Astorga where we saw another Cathedral ...

...and  another building designed by Gaudi.  This one we were actually able to go inside & appreciate his influences from nature & the buildings he admired. This was designed to be a Bishops Palace, but alas, the Bishop it was designed for died before completion! It is now a museum relating the spiritual side of the Camino pilgrimage.  One of it's most precious treasures is a small iron cross, the replacement of which we were to encounter later in the day!!

Up until this point, we had had blue skies & sunshine, but as soon as we got out of the bus to begin our walk...it started pelting down! Within seconds what was not covered by our rain jackets, were drenched. Even our so-called waterproof walking boots were saturated! The rain was driving at us horizontally & threatening to become hail...and we had to walk uphill on loose rubble paths with no shelter from the storm. It was tough going & the whole time, I was very aware that we were doing this pilgrimage the EASY way. Most serious pilgrims walk 25 km per day from the start in the Pyrenees & carry everything on their backs. I tried to keep this perspective in mind when feeling a little woeful!!!!!

We had started at Rabanal del Camino, walked through Foncebadon (a little tumble-down hamlet that once was the site of a hospital for pilgrims) & on to Cruz de Ferro. That's what you can vaguely see in the background of the photo above.  This cross is special, because for centuries pilgrims have carried with them, to this point, a stone, representing their burdens which they lay at the base of the Cruz de Ferro.

I brought my stone with me from Australia. It was given to me as a symbol of hope & encouragement when I was having significant health issues last year & with the blessing of the giver & a group of friends, I brought it with me to place at the foot of the cross.  As you can imagine it was quite emotional & overwhelming to be here, especially after such a hard walk.

To my delight there was another rainbow placed at the foot of the cross, so it seemed right to put mine with it. In doing so I said a prayer for those I know are going through similar health issues at the moment & took a time to comprehend the place itself.

Whilst there were plain stones, there were also those with a single name written on them, some with prayers & hopes adorning them.  Then there were the other reminders that this is a place of hope & renewal, the T-Shirt commemorating a young boy who lost his life to some illness, photos of loved ones now departed, & the scallop shells, symbol of those who have followed St James on this pilgrims journey.

Not the prettiest of crosses, but very powerful & moving. It also made sense as to why the original simple iron cross is such a treasure in Astorga's museum.
 

This walk had had a lot of climbing up hill...NOT my thing, so I had a great sense of achievement to have made it to the cross & laid down my little burden!  Then to top the day off, enroute to our hotel was the most amazing, full arch rainbow in the sky!  I felt blessed indeed!