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Camino de Santiago Day Thirty-seven and Thirty-eight: We made it!

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A Salceda to Santiago de Compostela We decided to walk 22km to the outskirts of Santiago and walk the last few kilometers in the morning. Neither of us could sleep, so we got up, packed our mochilas for the last time and walked to the old city at 5am. It was dark and rather than being joined by other pilgrims, we passed a few late night partiers and a woman walking her dog. It's not the entrance into Santiago we pictured, but we were all alone in the Praza do Obradoiro in front of the Cathedral. It was June 17 — thirty-eight days and 780 kilometers since we started May 11, in Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port. We were two of the first ten pilgrims in line for our compostelas , which meant we got tickets for a free lunch at the historic parador. Peter from Australia showed up and introduced us to Michael and Linda from Washington DC, who also got the lucky tickets. Peter also knew Ted and Darlene from Winnipeg, and gave them contact, since my phone died and we cou...
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Trains, metros and automobiles

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Transportation in Madrid is social and patterned. Passing through turnstiles you commit to a way of being together: elderly priority seating, stroller and mom, squeeze but respect space, make room for oncomers, commuters in their own Kindle world and young teenagers in packs without supervision. Although public transportation can be confining, there is also freedom and adventure. We are on the metro to the Chamartin station to catch a train to Segovia. Twenty euro round trip ticket on the high speed Ave , and we arrive in thirty minutes. Thirty years ago I remember getting to the station with my backpack, looking up to the salidas board and deciding where to go. Today we bought tickets at a kiosk with a card and selected our return tonight at 9:30. Then I wrote in my journal and fotos with my camera, saving three months of film rolls in an X-ray bag; today I blog and sacar fotos on my phone. I love the time on the train for reflecting, talking, eating without worrying about renti...
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Holy Land: In the Galilee

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We've been at the Sea of Galilee (or Lake TIberias) since we arrived on Tuesday. It's a very peaceful, relaxing place to begin our journey. A highlight is getting up in the morning, as Jesus did, while it is still dark and waiting for the sun to rise. As it comes up above the Golan Heights to the east, and the half moon is still bright, I'm reminded this is the same sunrise and the same lake Jesus awoke to. This was the setting for his early ministry where he called the disciples to follow him, where he taught and healed and walked. On Wednesday we visited Caesarea where Herod built a magnificent harbor on the Mediterranean and Peter met Cornelius in Acts 10, Megiddo the sight of 25 civilizations and the reference in Revelation to Armageddon, Mount Carmel where Elijah faced the 450 prophets of Baal. Yesterday we read the stories of Jesus calling the fishermen, calming the storm and walking on water from a boat on the Sea of Galilee, and we read Psalm 93 that speaks of God...
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