Day Two: From Ambasmestras to O'Cebreiro

I am starting at the end of day 2 with the above picture. Luke, John, myself, and Peggy are sitting on wall in the town of O'Cebreiro, a town we climbed about 2,000 meters to reach. I don't know if it was because of the exhilaration of the upward hike or the fact that our legs are still fairly fresh, but it wasn't too hard of a walk.

We left for our about 8 mile walk and the first town we came to had a castle overlooking it.

A bridge constructed by the Romans spans the Valcarce river. Those Romans knew how to build bridges and roads.

We are now in the Galicia region of Spain, which is lush and green.

Lots of interesting looking windows.

A cow strolling through town with her sisters, like they are beauty pageant contestants.

Climbing the beautiful hills.

                   

We are headed the right direction.

Luke is hanging tough.

And so is Peggy. We are almost there.

We had Mass at St. Maria of the Real. A miracle took place at this church. A terrible snowstorm was raging outside and the tired priest thought he would be able to cancel Mass when in walked one peasant who had battled the elements to be there. The priest grudgingly celebrated Mass and at the Consecration, the host and wine turned into actual flesh and blood. 

Apparently, there was another such miracle more recently in Buenos Aires and the presiding archbishop had the flesh sent to a lab for analysis. The tissue was heart tissue. The archbishop was Jorge Mario Bergoglio (AKA Pope Francis).

We will think about the persistence of that peasant pilgrim and miracles as we continue through the days.

First Day on the Camino: From Villafranca del Bierzo to Ambasmestas

On our pilgrimage, we have Mass each evening. Above is the altar at the church in Villafranca del Bierzo, our starting point on the Camino. The Franca part of the village's name is due to its French heritage; many pilgrims from France never returned home, but stayed on the Camino route, offering hospitality to those who came after them. On the eve of our pilgrimage, we prayed for strength to make the journey and discernment of God's voice to us on the Camino. 

Here is the first part of a Camino prayer:

O God, who brought Your servant Abraham 

Out of the land of the Chaldeans,

Protecting him in his wanderings,

Who guided the Hebrew people

Across the dessert, we ask that You

Watch over us, Your servants,

As we walk in the love of Your Name

To Santiago de Compostela.

As we leave the town of Villafranca del Bierzo, we pass by the Door of Pardon in the Church of Santiago. In past times, pilgrims who made it this far but because of illness or injury could not carry on to Santiago would receive full credit for the pilgrimage when they passed through this door.
Thinking of the miles that lie before us, a few pilgrims joke about wishing the door was open.

And we're off! Here's a pic of me with Peggy Arizzi, who was the person God used to invite us on the pilgrimage. We are very grateful to her!

The yellow arrow or scallop shell or some combination, like above, will help guide us.

Our guide Jeffrey, above, leads us to the first town. Jeffrey has been with us the past couple of days, explaining much about Spanish and Camino history and culture to us. He is bidding us adieu here.

Luke is displaying the scallop shell marked with the red cross of St James, indicating he is a pilgrim on the Camino.

Our first day is a relatively easy, short 8 mile hike on flat terrain.

We pass beautiful flowers.

Rustic-looking windows.

And cows, lots of cows. Galician cows that Jeffrey has warned us we will take photos of. We will soon be coming to the province of Galicia, and the Galicians are proud of their cows and the delicious cheese their milk makes.

Above, some of our group stops at a cafe for a bite to eat. All pilgrims carry a special pilgrim passport. We must collect two stamps for each day we are on the Camino to present in Santiago for a special certificate, the Compostela, which shows we completed the pilgrimage. Pilgrims must walk 100 kilometers to be eligible. We will be walking about 200 kilometers. These stamps are very easy to collect, as most cafes, churches, restaurants, and hotels have them. 

Luke pretending to knock on a door on the Camino route. "I've had enough!' Actually, on this first day, we are surprised how fast the journey went. But we were warned repeatedly by our guide Jeffrey that tomorrow, Day 2, will be the hardest day, as much of the route is uphill.

 So we pray at the end of the day in the church at Ambasmestas. We pray in thanksgiving and ask God for his forgiveness and to be with us on the Camino. Here is the second part of a Camino Prayer.

Be for us our Companion on the walk,

Our Guide at the crossroads,

Our Breath in our weariness,

Our Protection in danger, 

Our Albergue on the Camino,

Our Shade in the heat,

Our Light in the darkness,

Our Consolation in our discouragements,

And our Strength in our intentions.

So that with Your Guidance we may arrive safe

And sound at the end of the road

And enriched with grace and virtue

We return safely to our homes filled with joy.

In the Name of Jesus our Lord,

Amen.

Apostle Santiago, Pray for us.

Santa Maria, Pray for us.

St. Ignatius, Pray for us.

Loyola

The first stop on our Camino trip was Loyola, home of St. Ignatius the founder of the Society of Jesus (AKA the Jesuits). Loyola is not part of the Camino de Santiago, but our trip is being led by Fr. Michael Sparough, a Jesuit, and so to Loyola we went. I really like the Jesuits and their philosophy of finding God in all things.

Loyola is in the Basque region of Spain, a very green, lush part of the country.

The Basques are a tough, independent minded people. They speak a language that is not related to the other Romance languages; no one knows where it comes from. It uses a lot of X's, Z's and Q's.

Ignatius came from a wealthy, noble family. Above is a photo of the interior of their home. The little window on the left is a lookout from which they could also shoot arrows if needed.

Ignatius's brother, Martin, sailed with Christopher Columbus on his second voyage to the New World. Martin married Maria Magdalena, a friend of Queen Isabella and King Ferdinand. They gave the couple the above altar as a wedding gift.

Above is a photo of Fr. Michael, our tour leader, next to a statue of St. Ignatius in the room in the house where Ignatius had his conversion. Here's what happened: Ignatius was a  fierce soldier. ladies man, and nominal Catholic. He was in a battle with some rich, noble soldiers from France when his leg was badly injured by a cannonball. During his recovery, he was bored so he asked his sister-in-law, Magdalena, for some books to read. At first he read some tales of chivalrous knights and when he finished those, she brought him some books on the life of Jesus and lives of the saints to read. Ignatius noticed that after he finished reading the stories of the knights, he felt flat and discontented. But after he read the life of Jesus and the saints, he felt uplifted and positive. He began to realize how far he had grown from God. He decided that he wanted to move to the Holy Land and follow Jesus in all ways. It was the first step toward the establishment of the Jesuit order.

A Basilica to Ignatius was constructed next to his family home.

The Basilica is in the baroque style, which someone described as looking like a wedding cake. There is a lot of movement in the design. Above is the gorgeous altar.

Above is a statue of St. Peter Fabar, one of Ignatius's earliest associates. 

Loyola was a place where we could have happily spent a lot more time.

Madrid!

We only spent about 24 hours in Madrid, but it was a very positive experience. We asked our bus driver to recommend place to grab a bite to eat. He said to go left about 200 meters and we would come upon a good restaurant.

So we headed off. But there didn't appear to be much of a sidewalk and we had to cross a highway. We weren't sure if we were headed in the right direction, but we double checked with a taxi driver and he said, "Si."

It was a pretty walk.

With flowers.

There was a hill to climb.

It helped us to work up an appetite.

At the restaurant, Luke got leg of suckling lamb. Yes, he did. He gobbled it all down.

The waiter brought us a delicious free dessert and some free after dinner drinks. The above Orujo is a very strong brandy made in the Galicia area of Spain, where we will be walking the Camino. This stuff will give you a buzz on a full stomach.

I had the delicious and less potent Crema version. After dinner, a grandma at the table behind us told Luke he was handsome and then her cute (4-year-old) granddaughter gave Luke a candy bar. It was a very warm welcome to Spain.

Bidding Adieu to France

Can you stand the mention of one more French Gothic church? Because we finally went to Mass at one, St. Jacob's in Beauvais, which is near Paris.

Many of these big old churches are chilly inside. But the acoustics in this one were very good.

I think this might be St. Peter crucified upside down.

So no more photos and descriptions of churches. . . until Spain!

Luke and I in front of a huge hotel in Beauvais. We are mainly in Beauvais because it is where we will catch our flight to Madrid.

                            

We had a great time in France. The countryside is beautiful. We are looking forward to turning in the rental cars. I should have taken a photo of the two we rented, a Skoda Octavia made in the Czeck republic that we drove in Ireland and a French-made Citreon C-3 in France. Both cute cars that got fabulous gas mileage. Driving got easier with each passing day, but it was a challenge. We would have been lost, literally and figuratively, without Google Maps.

This was Luke's favorite bed so far in the trip, in Bayeux.

Sacre Bleu! We committed the cultural crime of going to a McDonald's in France. But only once. They had an interesting set up where you place your order at a kiosk and then they bring the food to your table. The food itself? Exactly the same, which is what you are looking for when you go to McDonalds.

This is as close as Luke got to the Eiffel Tower, at DeGaulle airport. We would have love to have gotten to Paris on this trip, but we didn't have time. Good lesson: not to try to cram too much in.

We've been getting from country to country on Europe's budget airlines. Here John and Luke are boarding our Ryanair flight to Madrid. These airline tickets were cheaper than train fare and get you to your destination quicker. We had very good experiences with these airlines. They are very serious about leaving on time.

Up, up and away!

Looking forward to the adventures Spain will hold!