camino update 7 (castrojeriz)
Yesterday we stayed in Burgos and walked around town. It´s one of the more larger cities in Spain, and a bigger tourist city, so we…well…were tourists! Our main site was the Cathedral of Burgos. WOW! It was amazinnnngg!! Following the towers brought you straight to the heavens. Unfortunately, they charged for people to go in and view, which I thought was completely ridiculous. I will have to pray that changes. Paying to see a church? C´mon!
Unfortunately, the interior was a bit dissapointing. I mean this not in the fact that the altars and artwork were not beautiful, because they were! They were absolutely breath-taking. But many parts of the Cathedral were turned in to museum-esque rooms with things on display and large explanations of things everywhere, with some modern stuff going on. I dont know. For me, it just kind of took away from the spirit and mood of worship that a cathedral should have, especially one that brought you to the heavens just by looking at the exterior. Either way, it was quite the experience, and I was filled with such awe and excitement for the treasures of our Catholic faith that we have. We are so blessed to be Catholic!! There was a HUGE sign outside the Cathedral by the street advertising about how Papa Benedict will be in Spain next year for WYD 2011. It REALLY makes me want to come back!!! Who knows…
Made it to a very cool town today after a 28km trek. The city surrounds a huge mountain with remains of a large old fortress on the top. One would have to have quite some time to be able to go make it to the top. Here there are several nice refugios to stay in. We are in “San Sebastian” I believe. Today was an odd day. Dont know how to explain it…it just was.
Though I remember having a cool thought as I was walking into the city that I wanted to blog about. Imagine this. Walking down a loooong narrow roadway toward a gourgeous city with wide, open fields surrounding you (Sound familiar yet?) Well, it was quite awesome. Reminded me of the life of a Christian, trying to make it to that city, you know. Reminds me too of Scripture.
What was also cool is that if I looked to the right side of the road, those open fields had plentiful flowers. It was like, green on the bottom, and red on top. It was so nice to look at. Red EVERYWHERE. With the wind blowing and the grass doing its “wave” thing, there was alot of peace. But on the other side, there were little to no red flowers. Every now and then there were a couple bunched together, or one on its own…but nowhere near the bountiful amount as on the other side. It reminded me of both sides of our Christian faith…how on the one hand there is no doubt strength in numbers. To be surrounded by other fellow Christians is no doubt essential to being able to live our Christian faith out. We we not made to be alone! To be surrounded by such faith in others is such a beautiful thing, like a vast open field with bountiful amounts of red blowing in the wind.
On the other hand, there is something special about that other side, where there is only a bit of color. It becomes more appreciated when that red flower is seen every now and again to show its beauty. And sometimes this is the case with our Christian faith. Sometimes being that one Christian among others who may not believe or may have many questions is better than having them (fellow Christians) surround on all sides. Sometimes we feel alone among our enemies or strangers, or sometimes even our own friends or family…but right down the path there is another, and another, and another. Whether its in helping others, or sharing in our sufferings with each other and Christ, there is quite the beauty to be seen.
Either way, there was beauty everywhere today and a whole lot of thinking going on in my mind and heart. Got more to think about. I neeeed to find a PEN! I cant journal without one. My other ran out and it is surprisingly hard to get another! ha!
Things are going swell with my companions. The end is near for our now small (3 person) group. Sandra is not finishing the Camino and in a few days will be going back to her home. Sergio is meeting up with his brother to finish the Camino, so it seems fitting to leave the rest of that time for them. As for me, back to the solo open road! Exciting yet nervous. God has given me a passage as sort of my “theme” for this Camino, but I would rather wait to share it once I can reflect on it more in my journaling and making it to Santiago.
With regards to making it on time…everything is showing that I will make it to Santiago earlier!! We are doing so many extra kms everyday that we´ve made it at least 3 days ahead of what all the guide books reccomend and suggest. Its pretty nice thinking that in a couple weeks I could be relaxing on the coast of Spain! Lord have mercy!!
Blessings.
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