Day 7...Officially a Pilgrim

What a day.  The mornings here start early & today was no different.  We were on foot & in route by about 7:40.  It didn´t take long before the rain came & our ponchos made their first appearance.  It actually made for an easy day of walking.  The fog, drizzle and cool temperatures were not a bad way to end this week.  It was very nice when the sun came out upon our arrival into Santiago though. 

While walking we ran into our friends from the Coswalds, 2 ladies from North Carolina and we shared a table with a couple from Italy at Café Calle.  Once in Santiago, we saw our friends from Victor & Sherry from Washington, Vicki & Peter from Australia, the Coswalds couple and the Pena family from London (they are the family who had been reading my cards).  In a town where there are thousands of tourists roaming, shopping, eating, praying & just hanging around...we managed to see many of the familiar faces we met over our walking days.  Something about that really was the icing on the cake for me.

Also, outside of the Cathedral (which is INCREDIBLE), there is a man-made shrine filled with flowers, candles, notes and other ¨stuff¨ that is meaningful to people.  I placed 2 of my prayer cards there.  It was inside of the Cathedral where I found the Pena family from London again.  They had written a note and placed it on that man-made shrine.  When they looked at a couple of the other notes around where they placed their note, they saw one of the two cards I placed there too.  I don´t know if I´m just feeling really sentimental right now or if the Camino really does have a unique way of bringing people together.  Whatever it is...I´m hooked.

On the first day of our walking, Sue from New Hampshire said something that I cannot get out of my head.  She said this was a ¨walk of gratitude¨ for her.  I didn´t realize it before I got here but now it´s very clear to me.  This was my walk of gratitude.  My thankfulness for Kevin, my amazing sons, my friends and my family.  I´ve always know how lucky I am but walking the Camino has really made me have a renewed sense of gratitude for all of them.

I will keep blogging as we end our travels in Spain and begin the second half in London.  Hopefully we will have a working computer where we can upload pictures.  Thanks to everyone who has been following my rambling...your ¨likes¨ on Facebook, little comments and notes have really meant a lot to me.  I can´t wait to share the next part of this adventure with you.  Who knows what will happen when the McClorey crew takes to the streets of London...!