We got an early start from our pensione outside Arzua.
We are about 25 miles from Santiago, and we have two more days of walking.
We started out today by walking about half a mile from our pensione into the center of Arzua.
Once we got though Azura, we were back in the countryside on a crowded Camino.
We fell in with a couple of Australians, a man and a woman who first met when they signed up with a tour company to walk the Camino. They have been walking together from Leon. Talking with them, the time and the miles passed quickly, maybe too quickly. After a few hours of walking that went by almost unnoticed, we found ourselves near our hostel in Pedrouzo.
At one point in the conversation, the Australian asked whether I would be happy to finally finish the walk. I told him no, that I was sad that the walk was ending. I told him that I had enjoyed every second that I have been here. I wake up early every morning because I am too excited to sleep. I can’t wait to see what the day will bring, what we will see, who we will meet. I have to lie in bed quietly until it is time to get up so that I won’t disturb Anne.
I dreamed several nights ago that I was at the end of the walk. In my dream I was sobbing.
Last night we went to Mass in Pedrouza.
Here is the inside of the church.
Just inside the entrance of the church was a picture of Pope John Paul II. We have seen his picture in a lot of churches. We have never seen, however, a picture of Pope Francis. Maybe is is due to the troubles between the Spanish and the Jesuits. Or maybe it is because the first Spanish speaking Pope in 600 years is from Latin America. Or maybe it’s just because the people running the churches here haven’t gotten around to swapping out the pictures of the old Pope.
At Mass last night the pilgrims vastly outnumbered the parishioners. Although most of the Mass was in Spanish, the priest celebrating the Mass had a few words in English for the pilgrims. He thanked the pilgrims for coming to the Camino. He said that the faith of the pilgrims strengthened that of the parishioners. He asked the pilgrims to pray for the parishioners as they prayed for the pilgrims.
Here is a watercolor of a baptismal font that Anne painted.
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