** San Anton...or falling in love..with a place **

This entry requires a little explanation...this is a love story in pictures.  I'd heard of San Anton.  I had some small idea what it was, why it was etc.  Nothing however prepared me for being there.  Nothing prepared me for how I'd feel about it, or the evening I spent there.  Or walking afterwards...  Perhaps only pilgrims who have walked thru here, stayed here, experienced this place will fully understand.  I hope these few pictures can share the joy that I found at San Anton.  Peace.

Only a few more steps before the first sighting!

The pilgrim route, the road itself, goes directly under that arch.  To the left is what remains of the beautiful church, and to the right the outbuildiings, including a dovecote.  Oddly, saw more pigeons here, flocks, than anywhere else...Even the birds remember this place as special!

This arch was covered giving Pilgrims arriving too late a place to sleep.  There are two niches on the right hand side, directly across from the church doors, that are to this day supplied with bread and wine.  No pilgrim passing by after the gates are closed for the night, has to go hungry.

Alicia, our beloved hospitalero and Christine preparing to leave the bread and fresh wine.  There are prayers left by Pilgrims passing thru during the day. 

No one's needs left uncared for.  Food, drink and prayers free for all. The prayers are collected each evening and read by those staying for the night.  We then each have the opportunity to pray for them that evening as well as to carry the prayers with us until we reach Santiago.  I have never felt such a responsibility to my fellow Pilgrims.  It made you wonder, as you walked forward, whose prayer am I carrying.  Who is carrying my prayer?  A rare privilege and honor.

Difficult to realize how many passed thru these doors before the were bricked up!

This small area is all the remains in current use.  It provides shelter for 12, the same number as the Apostles.  It  is directly behind that beautiful arched entry.  The door to the left is the sleeping area, the right the kitchen.  There is no electricity, no hot water, yet I spent one of my most peaceful and even comfortable nights there.  In the picture are from left to right, Anna (Belguim) Alicia (Espana) Sheila (San Francisco, USA) and Helmut (Deutschland).  People I had the great honor of meeting and sharing this time with.

As sunny as those first pictures are...this was how the afternoon progressed.  That is my Kindle lying on the green bench.  I'd been lying reading end then simply watching the clouds float by.  Have you ever watched a cloud form and then even dissolve away....felt like I was five years old again.  And then I got up and looked back....

This is what was beginning to roll in towards us, blown on heavy gusty winds.

Within minutes this was the last of the sun.  One of my first thoughts was how happy I was to be here, in the storm.  Then, realizing with a start, someone else was probably still out there.  Walking in all that wind.  That heavy air just ready to let loose.  We all kind of said a prayer for those still out there, stories of which we heard over and over on the following days.

And then the rains came!

As well as a fellow Pilgrim!  He'd walked about 3km in it and was completely soaked thru even thru his pack.  The guys there grabbed him and took him into the bedroom area and stripped him down and dried and redressed him, some of the rest of us made hot tea for him.  His walk began in Lourdes going to Santiago and would continue till he reached Fatima!  If memory serves this is Johannes. We crossed paths over and over for the next few weeks. 

San Anton as it will always live in my memory and heart!  The following morning 9 of those who stayed the night, walked to the Convento in Castojeriz and celebrated Mass together.  Not a dry eye in the house.  I know each of us carried the joy of this place forward and will continue to do so.

Alicia and San Anton, Thank You!

Speaking with the ancient ones

I´ve finally got the chance here to tell you alittle bit about an incredible couple of places I´ve visited.

San Anton.  The words will always have a very special ring for me.  Nearly magical.  There was an order that at one time, took care of pilgrims and those suffering from St. Vitus, which is a result of wheat with a certain fungus.  They were once a huge order with an amazing location along the pilgrimage route.  The road today actually passes thru the ancient arch.  The rest of the place has gone to complete rack and ruin.

A few years back, someone began to make an Alburge there. It has no electricity. Only cold water.  There are only 12 beds.  It is wonderful.  The hospitelero, Alicia, plays incredible guitar, has a wonderful voice and took the most amazing care of us.  We felt so blessed to be there. 

After a huge thunderstorm blew thru and also blew a frozen pilgrim to our door, the sky cleared.  We shared a wonderful dinner, more music (Alicia writes her own too!)  We had a brief prayer service of sorts.  There were prayers and wishes from the pilgrims the previous evening.  We each had the opportunity to take one of the written prayer requests with us to Santiago. So I now carry with me as a special mission, a prayer from a pilgrim I don´t know, who was only one day ahead of me, and may even be near me tonight.  I feel especially privileged.  Someone else is now carrying my prayer forward.

During the night I had the, I hesitate here to use this term, opportunity to go take a pee.  I say opportunity, because to walk out the doors to go down  the hall, all outside mind you, meant I got to look up.  I saw the stars so clearly.  And the ancient walls of a church nearly gone.  It was cool, not too cold, so I stood a while longer than needed, just thinking of all the other pilgrims, who´ve stayed in the lovely place being loved, cared for, fed and sent forward with a prayer.  One of the most moving nights ever.

San Bol.  Just past Castjeriz, is a tiny Alburgue called San Bol.  There is a spring in this location that is reputed to have a special healing effect on the feet of pilgrims who immerse their feet.  Rosalie and I decided to take that .5km walk off the main path just to have another look see.

The hospitelero must have heard us coming, as it´s that quiet in this lovely grove.  She meet us at the door and offered us bread, butter, quince jam and herbal tea.  There was a sign saying this was a special refuge and too please respect the silence.  Easy to do as the breeze, the birds just captivated us.  As did the spring.  We took enough time to soak our feet, and doubter that I am, I was amazed that every one of my old blisters were dried up by evening.  I truly wasn´t expecting anything, just happy to have been able to visit and enjoy the silence.  Left the place wondering how many other feet had bathed in that water, enjoyed that silence and come away ready to do the road.