Magpie's Midsummer March for M. A. B. S. - Costa Blanca Cancer relief group

Tbear's Alternative Guide.
Jávea, Costa Blanca, Spain

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Magpie's Midsummer March

Camino De Santiago - The Legend
The Christian legend of St. James.

Camino De Santiago - The Pilgrimage
From the Middle Ages to today

Camino De Santiago - Magpie's preparation
Blisters and biting dogs, the hidden dangers

M. A. B. S. - A short presentation
Coming soon

E-mails from Magpie #1 , #2 , #3 , #4 , Final episode

July 16th (Cont'd)
I pass through a placecalled Porto do Camino, where the original gate of the city stood. There is a steep climb paved with large stone slabs, suddenly tears are streaming dow my face and I don't know why, I feel no sense of occasion for having arrived and overcoming a challenge. however, the tears continue to fall without control, the only explanation that I can find is that I somehow pick up on the overwhelming emotions felt by the pilgrims in ages past. I pass this same point 3 time the following day and each time I experience strong emotions and tears, but no concrete explanation.
On arriving at the cathedral a fellow pilgrim directs me to the office to collect my Compostela, proof of my arrival in Santiago. I am the 5th person to arrive that day. As I leave i bump into Laura the Brazilian woman and Fe from Pamplona who have slept in the same room as me. They are both ecstatic, Laura is deeply religious and has a heart complaint, Fe had a masectomy 9 yers ago and if all is well next year she will have confirmation that she is clear of cancer. They met up with each other on day 2 and have travelled since Pamplona together. We go off to have breakfast and then to the cathedral for the pilgrim mass which is to celebrate our arrival. As I enter the cathedral I put my hands on the statue of David and following tradition I make a wish, then on the other side of the sculpture is a statue called Santo Dos Croques, which is said to be a representation of Maestro Mateus whose sculptures adorn much of the cathedral, and I tap my head 3 times on the statue to increase my intelligence. Then I go to the statue of St James and say a prayer for all those who hve asked me to, in front of the silver tomb said to hold the remains of St James I say thank you for all the wonderful experiences I have had and for helping me get to Santiago.
As I leave I bump into Marian and Ann who I met close to the beginning, they arrived on Saturday and are leaving Santiago today, despite the bad leg Ann has made it and overcome the pain that causes so many to give up, she is 69 so this is a lesson for all. Fe has saved some seats for us at the front of the pilgrim section, which is to the side of the main altar. A nun with a beautiful voice sings and the priest who takes the service speak with kindness about the pilgrims, there are 2 other priests who speak in German and Italian. At one point in the service everyone gets up and greets other pilgrims and shake hands, it is a lovely welcoming touch. We are lucky as they are going to swing the Botafumeiro, it is a large silver urn which is full of burning incense that traditionally wasused to disinfect the pilgrims who were covered in lice and fleas ad also suffered badly from the pilgrim smell. It is a delicate operation that takes several men holding ropes to get the momentum going and control it. It swings above out heads until it is almost reaching the roof and I feel very privileged to be disinfected as it does not occur every day. Later I learn that some Austrian pilgrims have paid for it to be swung today, whilst I am extremely grateful to them, it does seem contrary to the spirit, but many other days someone pays for it to be swung.
After the service we go to Casa Manolo's to eat which is a tradition of long standing, as I want to say goodbye to Emilio I stay ehind in the cathedral and look for him but without luck. On my way to Casa Manolo I bump into Kate and Rial, they arrived the day before and join me in going to Manolo's. When I get there the table with Fe and Laura has filled up with other pilgrims they have met so we get another table. First Saul enters and then Lucia and Ana, Rosa and Regina, they tell me Emilio is on his way. My stick drops down the stairs as I greet Jose and Ana so I have to collect it,on the climb up I see Emilio coming towards me. Kate tells me that she met the lady I know from Javea and that she said I was always writing, she also knew another Swiss pilgrim that Kate had met earlier on. When the meal is over Kate and Rial leave and I join the table with my Spanish pilgrims. After the food we go to a bar, Lucia is dancing and singing and everyone is in a good mood. Emilio holds court and everyone has come to like him as they laugh at his jokes and the story of what happened at his confession. Eventually Saul leaves and the party sing him a goodbye song, in spite of himself it is possible to see the emotion well up. Then Emilio leaves to catch his plance back to Barcelona, Regina leaves for Vigo and Rosa too is going back to Barcelona. Lucia and Ana are off the A Coruña. The few that remain are in small hostals rather than the refuge. I say goodbya and go off to find a hostal and then by bus to collect my car.
That night seems very flat after the emotional high of the day, I already miss the camino, the walking and my friends, but the sleep is welcome. The next evening I bump into Saul and we go and eat, he had felt flat all day, the camino weaves a special magic that is hard to say goodbye to. On Friday I went to Finisterre, the original end of the pilgrimage, so named as it was the end of the world in the middle ages before the discovery of the Americas. It was a bit disappointing there was no sense of the camino but it did however have a mystical celtic feel. If nothing else I did discover what is at the end of the world, a man in Galician costume playing the bagpipes.