Today was a complete mixed bag of emotions.
I woke up feeling better than I have in days and spent the day walking at a good steady pace, however, in the evening things got on top of me and I was an absolute wreck!
I had heard that the Camino can release all kinds of emotions, but I didn't really think it would apply to me, because there was nothing wrong with my life in the first place! But I guess the first week of walking and being sick just took it all out of me, and I really lost it spectacularly tonight!!
Where to start, where to start...
Well, it was a lovely day and as usual, I set out with Cathy. We were really looking forward to getting to Santo Domingo to see the Cathedral of Santo Domingo de la Calzada, which houses the 12C tomb of Santo Domingo. The church also houses a Gothic-style cage containing a cock and a hen. This commemorates a remarkable miracle attributed to the saint:.
A young man traveling to Santiago with his parents was wrongly accused of theft
and was hanged; but when his sorrowing parents returned from their pilgrimage
they found him still alive on the gallows. They hastened to the local judge, who
was at dinner, with a roast cock and hen on the table before him. He refused to
believe that the boy was still alive, declaring that he would as soon believe
that the cock and hen were alive: whereupon the birds jumped up from the dish
and crowed. The boy was returned to his parents, and since then a cock and hen
have been kept in the Cathedral to commemorate the miracle.
Of course, when we got to the Cathedral, it was closed for renovations (that day only!) We were told 'manana manana' - come back tomrrow - A bit hard when you're walking away from the place!
On we trecked to Granon. I was very excited to stay in this articular Albergue, because it was in the bell tower of a church - how cool is that! I snuck up into the actual tower with Ronnie, a fellow pilgrim and we rang the bell - and then got yelled at by an old local man on the street! We scampered back down like naughty children.
There was a lovely open fireplace, and a communal dinner for all 21 pilgrims staying there.
After dinner, everyone stayed in the room and chatted, while a monk with dreadlocks played songs by The Doors on the guitar - only on the camino!!!
A little later in the evening, the lady who ran the Albergue announced that there would be a prayer session in the chapel. As I was getting more and more emotional as the evening progressed, I decided that a prayer session was just what the doctor ordered, so off I went. We were sitting in pews around the wall which had arm rests with tea candles on them. The session was incredibly touching and I quietly sobbed my way through it - I just couldn't stop crying! After the session was over, the lady asked that we all stand up and hold hands, and say something nice to the person next to us. I stumbled and backed into a candle, and my jacket went up in flames! Thank God for the quick thinking people around me who pulled it off me. Everything I was wearing was quick dry and made from synthetic materials, so I could have been in a lot of trouble! Needless to say, I got more upset, and scampered down the stair as quickly as I could!
I woke up the following morning and went down to breakfast to find that my fellow peregrinos had taken up a collection so that I could buy a new jacket. So touching. Another example of how special and amazing the people I met on my journey were.
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