Day 0 Santiago de Compostela

Walking the Camino

We achieved our first objective today, coffee and breakfast, at around 11am. Strong start to our post-arrival rest. We decided to make today our Spain day.

For the past two weeks we have been working against the grain of Spanish and Portuguese Iberian rhythms. We often left before coffee shops were open and arrived when cafes and restaurants were closed for the afternoon. Today was our day to go with the fiesta siesta flow. We had a slow lunch at 2:00, then a long rest at 4:00. We lingered over a glass of wine at 7:00, what we call "pre-tapas" hour. When we went for tapas at 8:00, we were told that we could have a table but would need to be out by 10:00 for a reservation.

Apparently two hours is not enough for tapas in Spanish time. We realized at that moment that, despite our best efforts, we'd never be able to fully live out a Spanish night out. We did our best.

In the afternoon, we visited the Museo das Peregrinacions de Santiago (Pilgrim's Museum). There we took in the history of the Camino and the city, as well as the curious mix of history, myth and legend, combined with religious and political forces, that formed the mystique of St. James and the pilgrimage that follows him.

The fascination with religious relics and the deification of human characters of the Bible narrative are not for me. It makes the divine something magical and unapproachable. Jesus and those like James who followed him did just the opposite. They brought God near.

None of the apostles sought to be worshipped. In fact, they fiercely and publicly resisted that tendency.

‭"As Peter entered the house, Cornelius met him and fell at his feet in reverence. But Peter made him get up. 'Stand up,' he said, 'I am only a man myself.'" Acts 10:25-26‬‬‬

Biblically, all Christians are saints. I love that about Jesus and the New Testament message. It's so simple, relational, accessible. Holiness through our human-ness. We don't need to build elevated places and mythologies.

Buen Caminio simply means "Good Way." It's a journey of life, of faith lived in everyday moments. I relate to the dirt path of the pilgrimage, not the adornments of the cathedral.

What stood out to me at the Pilgrim Museum wasn't the religious story. It was the chronicle of people taking this same journey for 1,000 years. We saw 16th C paintings and statues that depict pilgrims carrying or wearing a scallop shell, just as we and others did. We shared the path with all of them.

Today again is Day 0, just as it was in Lisbon. That means there's a new Day 1 before us. I like that.