It's all music, whether played by the wind or played on strings.
Saturday Sept 7, 2019
Fromista to Carrion de Los Condes
20.5 km, 31,000 steps, walking day #17
The walk itself today was much of a repeat of yesterday. It started off cold and windy, and ended up warm and windy.
We got into the town of Carrion de Los Condes. My goal for this town was to one of the last remaining places in Spain still named for Generalissimo Francisco Franco (according to my guidebook). They are slowly but surely erasing the memory of him here.
I went to the square named after him - Plaza del Gereralissimo - but I couldn't find the plaque with the name of the square on it. I had a snack at a patio cafe on the square, and asked the waitress "where was the plaque"? She told me that they had renamed the square two years ago. It was now named Plaza Mayor (Main Square). But they hadn't changed the map posted in town.
You can see Plaza del Generalissimo by looking at the centre of the picture then moving your gaze towards 11:00.
There are church services in every town at either 6:00 pm, 6:30 pm or 7:00 pm, and at the end of services there is a special blessing for pilgrims. Although I am not of that faith I decided to go for the experience. It turns out church is the place to meet people. All the pilgrims I knew were there, and I was able to connect with a few people that I hadn't seen for days.
The service took place in the Church of Santa Maria del Camino, built in the 12th century. It was Saturday evening and there was a very large turnout of people from the community.
After the service proper, the community people left and the pilgrims were called to the front of the church. There was a special blessing for us all and then the Padre gave an individual blessing to each pilgrim. We were also all gifted with a paper star. The Padre explained to us that each star was hand-made by an Augustinian nun, hand-coloured and hand-cut.
The star was given to us to help light the way for us in the Camino and in our lives. It was a six pointed star so as far as I was concerned, the whole thing was kosher!
After the service there was a free guitar concert in the church. This concert was part of an ongoing series of concerts that are being put on all across Spain. In the last 10 years, there have been over 600 free concerts given in churches and other public spaces by world class and often world famous performers. We were treated to a classical guitarist from Norway who has been studying Spanish music. It was very special and very enjoyable.
There was just enough time for a bite of dinner before a well-deserved sleep.
Pilgrim Crossing
I love how the pictogram is complete with staff and gourd - the ancient water bottle!Saturday Sept 7, 2019
Fromista to Carrion de Los Condes
20.5 km, 31,000 steps, walking day #17
The walk itself today was much of a repeat of yesterday. It started off cold and windy, and ended up warm and windy.
We got into the town of Carrion de Los Condes. My goal for this town was to one of the last remaining places in Spain still named for Generalissimo Francisco Franco (according to my guidebook). They are slowly but surely erasing the memory of him here.
You can see Plaza del Generalissimo by looking at the centre of the picture then moving your gaze towards 11:00.
There are church services in every town at either 6:00 pm, 6:30 pm or 7:00 pm, and at the end of services there is a special blessing for pilgrims. Although I am not of that faith I decided to go for the experience. It turns out church is the place to meet people. All the pilgrims I knew were there, and I was able to connect with a few people that I hadn't seen for days.
The service took place in the Church of Santa Maria del Camino, built in the 12th century. It was Saturday evening and there was a very large turnout of people from the community.
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| A terrifying sculpture of St. Michael slaying the Devil |
After the service proper, the community people left and the pilgrims were called to the front of the church. There was a special blessing for us all and then the Padre gave an individual blessing to each pilgrim. We were also all gifted with a paper star. The Padre explained to us that each star was hand-made by an Augustinian nun, hand-coloured and hand-cut.
The star was given to us to help light the way for us in the Camino and in our lives. It was a six pointed star so as far as I was concerned, the whole thing was kosher!
The priest making a special blessing for pilgrims
After the service there was a free guitar concert in the church. This concert was part of an ongoing series of concerts that are being put on all across Spain. In the last 10 years, there have been over 600 free concerts given in churches and other public spaces by world class and often world famous performers. We were treated to a classical guitarist from Norway who has been studying Spanish music. It was very special and very enjoyable.
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| Being treated to Spanish classical music |
There was just enough time for a bite of dinner before a well-deserved sleep.
I love that your saw a heron. Aren't they lovely! (This is actually the first time Iv'e commented on someone's blog - and still learning. e.g. I keep scrolling down to the very bottom of the page to comment, then my comments goes onto an earlier day. And it's hard for me to resist the temptation to hit "sign out" when I want to publish. My guess is the sign out button is in the same place as the email "send" button or some such.
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