Camino Frances 2018 day 1

Camino Frances 2018 day 1 - Triacastela

Today was another day of traveling to get to Triacastela.

We set of at 8:25 to get to the bus station. We passed by the supermarket at 8:45 but it didn't open until 9 so we decided that we would buy our tickets for the bus and then leave Dad with the bags at the station and have plenty of time to get the 9:45 bus we had read about on the bus company's website.

When we went to buy the tickets we found that the bus was actually at 9:15 so we headed down to catch the bus straight away.

The first bus was to Lugo and as it left the city we saw several Pilgrims on the their way in and knew that soon we would be walking the same path that they now were.

Our next bus to Sarria wasn't until 13:45 (and here another bus website had been incorrect as we had read that the bus was at 13:00) so we left Dad with the bags and took a five minute walk to a supermarket we had seen near to the station.

On the way there we passed the Roman Walls of the city so once we had bought food we fetched Dad and sat on some benches near there. After that we had a little wander into the city going through the gateway that had been made in the Roman Walls later as a way to get into the city's prison. Near what we thought was the town hall (we could not get close enough to see) we saw a Naval parade where they stood in formation and sang.

The journey to Sarria took only 30 minutes and then it was a short taxi ride to Triacastela.

We went to the albergue we had stayed at the last two times and were even given beds in the same room as before and went to the attached restaurant for tea where we were very pleased to have O'Cebreiro cheese for pudding.

The Church was meant to be open for Pilgrim Mass at seven so we went hoping for a sello but it stayed shut.

We settled down by 9:30 but the Spanish Pilgrims in the room did not get back to the room until 11 and were playing on their 'phones (with their bed lights on) until past midnight.

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The Camino Primitivo

The Camino Primitivo (or the Original Way) is reportedly the very first Camino Way to Santiago in the 9 th century when most of Spain was under the control of the Moors and it runs from near the city of Ovideo in Asturias as it starts in Villavicosa (which also lies on the Camino Norte so many people follow this Way from Basque city of San Sebastian (Donosti in Basque) or in from the French border at Irun ( this route then hugs the Bay of Biscay passing through Guernica, Bilbao, Santander, Llanes before going under the Picos de Europa and then heads along the coast to Ovideo) before branching off onto the Primitivo which goes across the mountains and through the city of Lugo before joining the Frances at Melide. The route is 320km long. Image taken from https://viaalpina2013.wordpress.com/2013/04/14/camino-del-norte-camino-primitivo/

Symbols of the three main Christian Pilgrimages

The symbol of the Pilgrim to Santiago is the Scallop shell of which many can be found on the coast of Galicia and it is actually a symbol of the Pilgrimage (and has become a symbol of other Christian Pilgrimages too) partly because you could find the shell easily there and so could go back home and show it off as proof that you had done the Pilgrimage. It has also been included in carvings in some Churches.

Pilgrims' Trail to Saint Michels Mont, France

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On the Camino

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