In case you haven’t heard, I will be on pilgrimage this summer for about six weeks, walking the Camino de Santiago which is an ancient pilgrimage route in Spain. All in all the hope is that I will walk about 500 miles across Spain starting in a small town called Saint Jean Pied de Port in France and ending in Santiago de Compostela in northwest Spain. There are several routes that end in Santiago, but we will be following the Camino Frances or the French Way. It was featured in the Martin Sheen movie “The Way.”
I will be traveling with three other pilgrims who are friends of mine. To get us started we have all gathered in Bilbao which is in northern Spain. We have spent a couple days getting acclimated to European time before we head out on the Camino. So we were able to explore the town of Bilbao and begin taking in the sights, the sounds, and of course the tastes that Spain has to offer. Here are just a few snippets from the pre- adventure. Buen Camino!
Scenes from Bilbao including a concert in the plaza and some refreshment on a warm day.
On Sunday we attended mass at the Cathedral de Santiago, that is the Cathedral of Saint James. That was appropriate since the Camino is really a pilgrimage to the church Where the relics of Saint James are reportedly kept. They were also celebrating First Communions.
After mass we walked around the city seeing the “Puppy” in front of the Guggenheim Museum and stumbling across Our Lady of the Pillar in the church of Saint Joseph. Now it’s time to pack and get ready to travel to France tomorrow.
Buen camino!
Bob
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