I bought this St James Cross pendant in one of the souvenir shops in Santiago on a Galicia holiday many moons ago. It was on that trip that I first witnessed the remarkable blend of joy, exhaustion and camaraderie of dishevelled pilgrims in the Praza de Obradoiro. I knew of the Camino a little then, but that was the first of the camino seeds in my head. So it was with great joy that I found the little red cross in amongst some old bits and bobs in a drawer last week – now I am more a scientist than a believer, but I do believe in fate – this little cross was bought ages ago, has sat in the darkest recesses of a drawer for over 10 years and was meant to be found at this exact time. The little red cross was always destined to make the journey back to Santiago. So I set about attaching it to my favourite scallop shell, a grey black one from the incredible, long, unspoilt sandy beach of Mazagon, Doñana in Cadiz. Perhaps it too was destined for more than just being washed up, picked up, looked at momentarily and discarded like so many others. So I have my own very personal pilgrim scallop shell attached to my backpack. It is strange but it has already made me feel like a ‘peregrino’.
#MyLongWalk2019 #CaminoDeSantiago #BuenCamino
My Long Walk 2019 