Our first 'pilgrim stamp' from Chartres Cathedral
We didn't have our passports then, so we got the stamp put on the back of a long 1 euro postcard of Saint Jacques who is one of the saints featured in the doorway of Chartres Cathedral.
When we arrived at St. Jean Pied de Port, we were able to go to the pilgrims office and receive our pilgrims passport and shell. We waited until volunteers who manned the pilgrim office were available to talk to us! It was really exciting !!
The passport folds up, here is the front.
My friend Lynne translated the French for me! Here is the translation of the above French.
On behalf of Saint James, I am sending you a call, old Europe: a call of love. Find yourself, be yourself, discover your origins, bring your roots back to life, live again in these authentic values which will make your history glorious and your presence in other continents
beneficial. Rebuild your spiritual unity
in a climate of total respect for other
religions and true freedoms.
Pope John-Paul II
The President of the Association is honoured to recommend to all religious and secular bodies, as well as to the military authorities and the police force, this pilgrim who is undertaking the traditional pilgrimage of old, and request that they stand ready to lend
them aid and assistance in case of
need. (Signed by the President of the
Association of the Friends of the Way of
Saint James).
...and a stamp from St.Jean Pied de a Port to start us off!
We collected our stamps seriously once we started walking. The criteria was that we had to collect two a day to enable us to collect our Compostela in Santiago. One had to be from where we had stayed the night, and another a church, but every time we stopped for a coffee, lunch or an icecream, there was a passport stamp opportunity! This proved very practical when David had left his camera bag and binoculars at a
cafe en route, as we were able to
retrace our stops, and best of all the
cafe had a telephone number on the
stamp! We were able to ring them, and
the camera and binoculars were returned to us via a taxi!
cafe had a telephone number on the
stamp! We were able to ring them, and
the camera and binoculars were returned to us via a taxi!
Our Compestela's ! The certificate issued in Santiago on completion of our walk. A proof of pilgrimage!
Here is a link to translate the Latin!
Lucas Van Leyden, The Pilgrims, 1508 engraving. 15 x 12 cm. British Museum, London
Arriving at the church of Saint James in Santiago!! We did it!!!
Mileage /Kilometres walked!
We've had a round up of the miles we
walked while we were walking the Camino! We had expected to walk 115 kilometres over 5 days, that's 69
miles. In fact we actually walked
nearer 85 miles which is about 137
kilometres!
We've also added up our practice walks we had started in January, prior to our pilgrimage, and discovered we had walked 264.29 miles that's 425.33 kilometres.
St Jean Pied de Port to Santiago is approximately 800 Kms. Just for fun
we thought that if we took our 425.33 kilometres and started from St. Jean
Pied de Port we would have reached
approximately half way! That would be
approximately at Hermanillos about 43
kilometres short of the city of Leon!
If we add our local walks of 425.33 Kms to our Camino walk of 137 Kms that's a total of 562.33 Kms (350 miles ) walked since January! Quite pleased with that! :)
Praise for My Sticks! My Hat! My Boots! My water camel!! It was very
hot temperatures 26 - 30 degrees, but
at least we didn't get the rain and mud!
Discovered that changing socks midday was definitely a good idea! I was lucky! no blisters! Well, just one on my thumb where my stick rubbed! My walking clothes all worked well! I used my sandals but not my trainers, if I did something like this again I wouldn't take them, and didn't need my anorak, but not sure I would leave a good waterproof behind!!!
Below a few YouTube links I've enjoyed! There are loads on the net on the Camino! The one entitled 'Camino' is around 45 mins but I enjoyed it, and wanted to keep it, so I've pasted the link in here! The others are just short vids.
Camino from a helicopter.
Youtube video of Camino
YouTube video link of the Botafumeiro.
YouTube video link Camino in Words
