Category: Letters Home

Final Santiago Housekeeping

Posted on by Pete Schloss

October 23, 2022. At Leon, Spain.

Dear Christine. First of all, I’m sorry for all the grief that you went through today with Delta Airlines over our flight from Buenos Aires to Kansas City. I would not have been any help because I don’t have your patience. I can’t imagine three hours on the phone and having the representative threaten to hang up when you expressed your frustration.

There once was a time when the joined words of customer and service had meaning. These days calls to big companies begin with an announcement that the call may be recorded to improve customer service. I bet if you told the representative that you were recording the call he/she would hang up on you.

I am in Leon having arrived this afternoon by train. The first half of the trip was through torrential rain, but when I reached my destination the skies had opened and there is now a promise of warmer temps and sunshine over the next few days. My fingers are crossed. Before I begin presenting this portion of the trip to you I want to do some housekeeping over the end of my stay in Santiago.

I toured the cathedral museum and had to pay a second charge for a timed ticket to see Master Mateo’s Portico of Glory. When we walked into Santiago in 2013 we could enter up the main steps of the cathedral and through the portico. However, in 2018 there was limited access because of the restoration work. The 10 year preservation process has been completed and those main doors are now permanently closed. The portico is now off-limits except to ticket holders. Perhaps a little annoying but understandable given the extraordinary expense that was incurred in the restoration and the desire to protect this remarkable treasure from future deterioration.

I got one picture of the portico before security politely notified me that pictures were not allowed.

My ticket allowed me 30 minutes to view the work and listen to an extensive audio presentation. I could have easily stood there an hour. I can’t hope to give you the details in this letter, but there is an article on Wikipedia: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portico_of_Glory

This link will give access to closeup details of the Portico of Glory:

https://www.spain.info/en/images/portico-glory-santiago-compostela/

The portico took over 20 years to /complete and includes over 200 biblically themed sculptures. It is not just art but is an actual structural component of the cathedral. It is dated as completed in 1188.

Mateo and his workshop received a lifetime commission from the king to be the chief designer and architect of the cathedral. He is considered the greatest of that era.

In the course of cathedral restoration fragments of the stone choir created by Mateo were assembled and painstakingly reconstructed. The choir had been built in the 12th century and removed/destroyed in the 17th century.

This model gives some insight into how the choir would have been situated within the cathedral.

In the course of excavating foundations other fragments that predate Mateo were uncovered that depict the murder of the innocent children by the order of king Herod.

Here is more from my visit through the Cathedral museum:

Mounted in scores of recesses on this chapel wall are relics attributed to various saints.
The chapel also housed the remains of royalty from nearly 1000 years ago.
A vault room full of precious religious objects.
A vault within the vault containing solid gold religious objects.
They were rooms lined with precious tapestries.
There is so much going on in this tapestry. If you look closely at the man on the far right you will see that he is urinating on the wall.
The Angel Gabriel and a pregnant Mary from 1325.
The altar cloth, fragments, and priest vestment in this case are all over 1000 years old.

I also visited the Monastery and Museum of San Martin Pinario. The monastery is located just east of the cathedral. You may recall that in our first visit we stayed in a very simple pilgrim room on the top floor. Those rooms had once been chambers for the monks. Rather than try to provide a narrative I will post the pictures with captions where appropriate:

This is the main altar of the church within the monastery. Notice the “cages“ at the top. These were passageways for the cloistered monks. Later in the tour I was able to access those areas.
This is the meticulously handcarved wooden cloister located above the church and behind the “screen“.
A closer look at the carving.

The monks were particularly adept at creating incredibly intricate and fine wood and lead blocks for printing. In some cases the detail was laser fine. It’s incredible the human hands could accomplish this.

I also visited the 19th century Market Place located a half block from my hotel. It is very active and alive with the sights, sounds, and smells (fish!) of commerce.

I think that about covers it for now. I went to Mass this evening at the Leon cathedral. That’s Mass number four in as many days. I wish I could have understood this priest’s sermon, because it certainly was “lively“. I will head to the tourist information office tomorrow to see how best to occupy my visit here over the next two days.

Love, Me.

PS. I have something that we need to discuss at some length in real time. Text me a time that you will be available later today.

Alone and Invisible

Posted on by Pete Schloss

October 23, 2022. Somewhere between Santiago and Leon, Spain.

Dear Christine. I am on the train from Santiago to Leon. It is wonderfully smooth even at over 100 miles an hour. I paid an extra €10 for a first class premium seat. I’m in the 1st car which seats 14 passengers, but only two seats are occupied. It’s a fitting metaphor for feeling alone and invisible.

I’m going to defer giving you the pictures and details of my last day visit in Santiago. This will be a bit deeper.

I don’t do “alone“ well. I don’t think you know how challenging it can be for me, though there have been hints over our years together. Yes, I’ve done solo camping trips, but I’ve always managed to find human company to share portions of the experience. On the other hand, remember about 47 years ago when I took off for two weeks of solo camping in the Colorado backcountry? We had not begun living together but we were a “couple“. It was complete solitude and I lasted 10 of the 14 days. I returned to Kansas City in the deep of night, thinking it would be charming to surprise you by climbing up to your second-story bedroom balcony. Thinking back, that was one of my dumber stunts. It scared you to death and I’m damn lucky you didn’t have a gun.

During my last day in Santiago I walked the streets alone. I sat in the Cathedral alone. I visited museums alone, and I ate lunch and dinner, alone. There was respite. I enjoyed a last visit and coffee with Lynn, and exchanged pleasantries in one of the museums with a pilgrim from England. Of course, there was the business of arranging for a cab to the station and closing my bill at the hotel. There were also pleasantries with the bartender there. Except for those few interactions, I was invisible.

I’m not looking for sympathy, I’m just processing my thoughts. The feelings of “alone” generated by the day were like the plucked string of a guitar which then resonates the same note in a nearby instrument. Memories of other times “alone“ resurrected from the fog of years past.

I remembered being about five years old, waking early from my noon nap to see my mom leaving the house to visit the next door neighbor. I stood at the window, my eyes barely above the windowsill, and felt my chin quiver as I fought back tears.

I recalled my first night away at college sitting alone under a street lamp at the curb in front of my dorm. No tears, just the dark cavern of emptiness.

And of course there was that stunt at your bedroom balcony.

We have been apart 25 days. I’ve enjoyed the company others, most notably Kris, Marianne, Lynn, Tina, Ron, Kam, Leesa, and Nele. I think I communicate better with women than with men, but that’s a topic for another time.

We have spoken on the phone every day, but isn’t it curious that we have not visited even once by video? I think this has been my subconscious choice. Hearing just your voice is no different than if you were in the next room. However, video shatters the fiction of nearness as I see the backdrop of our home thousands of miles away. Of course, there is also the separation of time. I wake up when you go to sleep. I finish dinner as you begin lunch…

My thoughts were not limited to past and present. I also read from the script of the the possible future. We have shared over 48 years together, 45 of them as husband and wife. It is exceedingly rare that spouses draw their last breaths together. More common is the outcome visioned in the vows which begin the journey of marriage, “…until death do we part.” It was thus with my mother living alone for 11 years after dad died, and the same for your dad living 9 years without your mom. It is likely that one of us will have to embrace “alone” someday as a way of life.

Past, present, and future. I wonder if Charles Dickens didn’t mull thoughts such as these when he penned “A Christmas Carol”?

We have paused mid-point at a small rural station to disembark a few passengers and take on new ones. Lives connected only briefly with mine as we anonymously share a journey.

Thanks for listening. Love, Peter.

Infants Lost and Found

Posted on by Pete Schloss

October 22, 2022. At Santiago de Compostela, Spain.

Dear Christine. This is my last night in Santiago. I was two nights at a wonderful pension very near the Cathedral. I asked to extend my stay there but they were booked up. Instead they offering me two nights a little further away at Hotel Virxe da Cerca, which is still in the old city. Tomorrow I catch the train to Leon.

It’s a wonderful hotel and for only €86 a night I am provided a suite with a small living room. Outside my door is a garden and an aviary full of little singing birds. My room also has a feature that I decided to try. Mr. Google provided me with instructions.

The hotel would be perfect if it weren’t that their internet was so slow. As it is I’m limiting the number of pictures I am uploading because I don’t want to explode their system! I feel like I have been here before and perhaps this is where Tom and Nanci stayed in 2018.

Yesterday I visited the church and small museum at Monasterio de San Paio de Antealtares.

You may recall that this fortress like building is located just across a square from the southside of the Cathedral. It also gives the impression of a prison, since most of the windows are secured with heavy iron bars.

This monastery was originally established in the ninth century to protect the recently discovered remains of Santiago. In 1498 it became a cloistered Benedictine convent, which it remains to this date. Among the treasures housed in its museum are a first century altar stone attributed to Saint James, and a crucifix that dates to the ninth century.

A charming old nun granted me admission to the museum. The cost was €1.50. She “twisted my arm“ into spending another €5 for a little book (in English) about the history of St. James (Santiago).

When one enters the church the first impression is given by its beauty.

The second impression is given from the features which keep the holy nuns separate from the evils of the outside world. Again, it looks like a prison but the intention was not so much to keep good people in as to keep bad people out.

At the entrance there is a small door on the left. Currently it is to allow people to purchase excellent baked goods from the nuns. In centuries past this was the “foundling wheel” where mothers unable to care for their newborn child could anonymously give the infant over to the care of the Sisters.

I found this interesting bit of information: “…more often than not, there were no forms of identification, and it was the nuns, volunteers, and priests’ job to assign one. Common baptismal last-names for foundlings were D’Angelo (of the angels), Del Rio (referencing that the baby was saved from being thrown in the river), Fortuna (lucky), Trovato (foundling), Trovatello (little foundling), Esposito (exposed), Tulipano (tulip), Urbino (blind), Enorme (very big), Milingiana (the size of an eggplant), or the name of the saint whose Feast Day it was.”

Here are some photographs from the museum. Virtually all of these pieces are from between the 12th to 15th century.

These are reliquaries. They house sacred relics associated with saints. First order relics are actual bits of bone, hair, or physical remains of a saint. Second order relics are items associated with the saint such as an item of the saint’s clothing or dust from the saints tomb. Third order relics are said to have been in contact with relics of the first and second order. These pictured above are all relics of the first class. One was easily identifiable as a finger bone.

I would have thought that convents such as this would be in serious decline in modern times. However, I found this concerning the convent:

“Today it is still a very lively monastery in which its almost 40 mothers actively participate in the liturgy of its church with Gregorian chant, the maintenance of a student residence with 60 places, a hostel that is run according to the Benedictine values of hospitality and a nursery school.”

Tom and Nanci put me in touch with two dear friends of theirs who just completed their Camino. Kam and Ron, both 70, invited me to join them and two other pilgrims for dinner. While I sat down with the group as a “stranger“, I left dinner feeling like I had known these good people all my life. Our dinner of tapas and wine lasted nearly 3 hours. At the end, Kam and Ron refused to take any money and bought dinner for the table!

To my left is Nele from Germany, to my right are Canadians Kam, Ron, and Leesa.

I also visited the Cathedral Museum yesterday but I will reserve that for my next letter. In the meantime, I am anxiously awaiting the results from you of Paisley’s run in the elementary school division of the Missouri State Cross Country competition. It’s incredible how quickly she has grown into that sport, but of course the girl is all legs!

Love, Me.

PS. I am counting down the days that we will find ourselves in the same time zone!

PPS: WOW! 66th overall and her school took 1st in State. Awesome!!!

When a Plan Becomes a Prison

Posted on by Pete Schloss

October 20, 2022. At Santiago de Compostela, Spain.

Dear Christine. When is a plan a prison? When one allows it to be.

Tina from Germany did not use those exact words, But the meaning came through when she shared her decision to forgo continuing on to the coast in favor of returning to Germany. While I was fretting the thought of enduring days of miserable weather, she was nonchalant in her decision to redirect her path. I realized that I had allowed my plans to become a “prison“. Furthermore, I was my own jailer oblivious that I held the keys to my release.

I have again checked the weather and there is no improvement.

Therefore, I am escaping my plan in favor of another. This afternoon I canceled my November flight from Santiago to Barcelona and I also canceled my November Santiago hotel booking. These were reservations that came into play upon my return to Santiago from Finisterra and Muxia. Instead, today I booked a series of train tickets from Santiago to Leon, Leon to Burgos, Burgos to Madrid, Madrid to Valencia, and Valencia to Barcelona. The total cost for those 1st class train connections was slightly less than €300.

I have secured lodgings as follows: three nights in Lyons, three nights in Burgos, four nights in Madrid, and three nights in Valencia. The total cost for those 13 nights it’s slightly less than $1000. I weighed this against the cost savings of not walking to the coast, not staying additional days in Santiago, and not paying airfare. My “new plan” is slightly more expensive than the old one, but the relief from the thought of endless trudging through torrential rains is priceless.

I am at peace with this transition from pilgrim to tourist: “God Grant me the Serenity to accept the things that I cannot change (like rain!), The Courage to change those things that I can (like my plans!), and the Wisdom to know the difference (thank you Tina!).”

Becoming a tourist begins tomorrow. I plan to spend the next two days in Santiago visiting a number of its historical and religious sites. Today I returned to the cathedral for the noon pilgrims Mass and was again rewarded with the spectacle of the swinging Botafumeiro.

First I entered the cathedral through the Holy Door, which is only open during a Jubilee year which is when the feast of Saint James falls on a Sunday. That occurred in 2021, but because of Covid it has been extended through 2022. This is the first time that the door has been open in a non-Jubilee year since the Spanish revolution.

This is the door from the outside where there is a constant line of pilgrims seeking entry. during non-Jubilee years it is gated and locked.
This is the door from the inside which is usually closed except during Jubilee years.

Tradition holds that a pilgrim entering the cathedral through the Holy Door receives a plenary indulgence, the forgiveness of all one’s past sins. Maybe tomorrow I will walk through the door backwards to see if my future sins are forgiven as well!

This time I brought my “real Camera“. I hope that the pictures prove it’s worth.

This is a larger than life sculpture of Saint James that is center of the altar backdrop. in times past there is a passage that allows visitors to stand behind the statue and embrace it, looking out into the church. It has been closed during these two days, perhaps because of Covid.
The pipe organ
With all of the glory of the cathedral, it is interesting to note that Saint Mary’s chapel is the oldest part of the church and the least ostentatious. It is actually a church that predates the cathedral and was part of a monastery. It dates to the mid-800s!

Here is a sequence of pictures of the swinging of the Botafumiero. I opted not to make a video as it would be too difficult for me to show you here. There are plenty of videos on YouTube:

Above is the framework from which the Botafumiero hangs. I believe this version dates to the 1600s. it is designed to allow the attendants to accelerate the swing with each pull of the rope.
Lit charcoal to which incense is added is placed in the Botafumiero.
The attendants prepare to pull the rope and begin swinging the censer.
Here the Botafumiero rockets over my head.
The swinging arch takes it from one side of the cathedral to the other.
Trailing smoke, it very nearly reaches the top of the cathedral

After dark I returned to the square to appreciate that it is at night that this old city really shines.

Love, your Husband.

PS. During Mass there were invocations to pray for the Pilgrims, especially those who endured sickness and disability to reach the cathedral, prayers that they return home safely, and prayers that the journey aided all to embrace peace in their hearts.

To this I say, Amen.

Arrival in Santiago!

Posted on by Pete Schloss

October 20, 2022. At Santiago de Compostela, Spain.

Dear Christine. I have arrived! This my third entry into the cathedral square lacked the emotion of our first, the shared experience of our second, but provided its own high drama that will linger long in my memory.

In the early morning hours the skies exploded with a thunderstorm that would have done proud to a tornado warning in Kansas City. There were roof shaking winds, torrential rain, lightning, thunder, and even hail. When I got up to prepare for the day conditions had moderated, but I did not look forward to the 16 km hike ahead with my minimal rain protection. I briefly considered calling a taxi but ditched that idea in favor of just getting wet and enduring.

About an hour down the road the skies really let go. I was walking with a young Irish gentleman and as we were pounded by the rain he declared, “In Ireland this is what we call a bastard rain!” There are no pictures because had I pulled out my cell phone it would’ve been dead for sure. I had the forethought to send my camera ahead with my backpack rather than risk it.

I did hazard one picture. This stone cross is believed to be the oldest such monument in Spain. It dates to the 1300’s.

Another hour or so down the road I saw Tina‘s bright orange/pink jacket. She and a couple of others were sheltering under an awning. I stopped, we talked, and as the clouds began to break up we proceeded on through the suburbs of Santiago.

By the time we reach the old city we were greeted with blue skies and sunshine.

Thankfully, my clothes had begun to dry.

We were joined in the cathedral square by Marianne from the Netherlands. I was sorry that Lynn could not have completed the gathering but she is still a days walk behind, nursing sore feet and a cold.

Marianne returns to the Netherlands today. Today is also Tina’s last day. She had planned at least another week for a continuation of her Camino to the coast. However, the weather report is so dismal but she has decided it would be a better call to fly home.

Air travel in Europe is almost as easy as catching a bus. Two days notice and she secured a flight from Santiago to Germany for less than €100.

Tina’s take on this is: “Don’t be a prisoner to your plans.” That is some wise advice that I will be chewing on long and hard today. I had two nights reserved here in Santiago and I have secured an additional two nights to allow me time to take in the city as a tourist, rather than a pilgrim. Beyond that it is a question mark.

I took the afternoon to get my laundry done and wander a bit. I attended 7:30 PM Mass which was packed with worshippers, presented by 12 priests, and again featured the swinging of the Botafumeiro.

The silver casket that is believed to hold the earthly remains of Saint James, “Santiago“

I didn’t have my “real camera“, so limited pictures of the experience. Every mass that I have attended here has included that huge censer. I wonder if my luck will hold when I go to the noon mass today. This time I will have my “real camera“.

My evening concluded with a nice black rice paella and a beer.

You will be in my thoughts today, as you always are. Please hold me dear in yours.

Love, Peter.