Other than the flecha amarillo the most common symbol on the Camino is the scallop shell (or it’s diagramatic equivalent). They dangle from 99.9% of peregrino’s rucksacks for starters. Even the Decathlon kitted out Turismegrinos have theirs, all bright, white and new.
Mine hangs from my bag too, slightly irreverantly and seemingly quite unique on the Camino. Being black, rather than white, as is the norm. In Estella/Lizarra – way back in Navarra – a man who sold scallop shells, walking sticks and other Camino paraphernalia, chased after me to ask why I had painted my shell black. I told him I found it on the beach in Doñana and it was that colour naturally. He did not seem convinced. I am however, very pleased to have a shell that stands out from the crowd.
It is the other manifestations the shell takes as I walk the Camino that fascinate. Local councils use it with aplomb, private individuals decorate their homes with it, and obviously businesses that thrive on it, show it off proudly. It truly shows how much the people who live and work on The Way love the Camino.
As for today’s walk … long and busy. 34km. But now I am so close to Santiago it is just a case of getting the kilometres done. 34km more tomorrow and I’ll be virtually within sight of the Santiago cathedral towers. Today’s random assortment of unexpected things the Camino threw at me included; a strange piano keyboard to illustrate chemistry’s periodic table; a much more pleasant road sign for Santiago; more cows; the Guardia Civil’s mounted cavalry keeping the Camino safe; some amazing pulpo gallego in Melide that lived up to guidebook claims plus a house that someone is very lucky to live in.
My Long Walk 2019 