Cantiga: Martha's Blog
It made me think of Douglas Adams as the man at the albergue welcomed me to the end of the world. The end of the road is really another two miles of walking to mile marker 00.0. There is in fact a restaurant at the end of the world but I didn't go in My mission and hundreds of other peoples mission was to find a spot on the cape to watch the sun go down. The wind is constant and strong and yesterday was clear and almost cloudless. Finestere is a rocky and steep bit of land and the Atlantic ocean does seem to go on forever. I saw the sun go down in a glow of gold then walked back down to town. Tomorrow I leave for Coruña where I have been invited to visit by the girl I met on the plane to London.
I'm in Santiago and finally using a computer at the public library.
For days in Galicia the road goes through little villages with a population of less than twenty. Internet is not available and the few albergues that did have access were charging too much for too little time on very slow machines.
I made it here for the big festival and saw the fireworks and the parades.
Today I will get my compostella which is a certificate of completion of the pilgrimage. This past weekend the line for compostellas was a four hour wait. I'm lucky to have the time to do it today when the whole city is calmer. The King and Queen of Spain were here for the fireworks and the mass on Sunday and not only were the crowds intense the security was what you would expect. I was still pulling my harp through all this and the police kept rerouting me.
I was in the newspaper La Voz de Galicia on the 16th of July and that gave me a lot of goodwill as I walked. Also, [...]
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For days in Galicia the road goes through little villages with a population of less than twenty. Internet is not available and the few albergues that did have access were charging too much for too little time on very slow machines.
I made it here for the big festival and saw the fireworks and the parades.
Today I will get my compostella which is a certificate of completion of the pilgrimage. This past weekend the line for compostellas was a four hour wait. I'm lucky to have the time to do it today when the whole city is calmer. The King and Queen of Spain were here for the fireworks and the mass on Sunday and not only were the crowds intense the security was what you would expect. I was still pulling my harp through all this and the police kept rerouting me.
I was in the newspaper La Voz de Galicia on the 16th of July and that gave me a lot of goodwill as I walked. Also, [...]
In 1157 the Castillian king Sancho III invited the Knights Templar to protect the Santiago road and they made Villasirga their base.The church they built is Iglesia de Santa Maria la Blanca.It is huge.From a long way away you can see the chuch,long before the village dwarfed by it becomes visable.Alfonso el Sabio dedicated twelve cantigas to the Virgen Blanca.They are 217, 218, 253, 268, 278, 313, 355, and 227, 229, 232. 234,and 243.
You can understand that I was excited to be there.I spent some time on the church and found Alfonso's Virgen and was quite moved.
That evening there was to be a concert after the pilgrims blessing and before the service I went to the church and heard the guitarist warming up.I introduced myself and asked if he was going to play any cantigas and he admitted that he really did not know any.He then did a very generous thing and invited me to join him and play my harp in his concert.So,after traveling many miles I finally am playing [...]
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You can understand that I was excited to be there.I spent some time on the church and found Alfonso's Virgen and was quite moved.
That evening there was to be a concert after the pilgrims blessing and before the service I went to the church and heard the guitarist warming up.I introduced myself and asked if he was going to play any cantigas and he admitted that he really did not know any.He then did a very generous thing and invited me to join him and play my harp in his concert.So,after traveling many miles I finally am playing [...]
There is a steep climb out of Castrojeriz to the top of a mesa then a stretch along Roman road. Once again a bumpy experience but considering that the road crew hasn't shown up for over 2 thousand years the road is in pretty good shape.
This mesa is not as big as the one before Hontanas and sooner than I expected there was the steep path down. Now the road goes through a flat and treeless landscape and the heat is an issue.Stopped in the town of Boadilla about three worried about the harp and the harpist.
The albergue was an oasis with a swimming pool and a green and shady garden full of art.Ran into a number of pilgrims I knew who also stopped because of the heat.Without intending to I ended up playing for my supper.After a shower and a dip I felt inspired to play in the garden and the owner,who is a musician with a degree in flute,refused my money for a meal.
So, the next day the trip to Fromista was a snap. I arrived by ten in the morning and sat in a cafe watching [...]
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This mesa is not as big as the one before Hontanas and sooner than I expected there was the steep path down. Now the road goes through a flat and treeless landscape and the heat is an issue.Stopped in the town of Boadilla about three worried about the harp and the harpist.
The albergue was an oasis with a swimming pool and a green and shady garden full of art.Ran into a number of pilgrims I knew who also stopped because of the heat.Without intending to I ended up playing for my supper.After a shower and a dip I felt inspired to play in the garden and the owner,who is a musician with a degree in flute,refused my money for a meal.
So, the next day the trip to Fromista was a snap. I arrived by ten in the morning and sat in a cafe watching [...]
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