A Very Special Night!

Let me tell you about an amazing Camino experience! On Friday, May 12, we stopped for the night just outside of Castrojeriz . It was a little place called Arco San Anton. It wasn't really a town, but there were a couple of houses and a small bar/cafe. The albergue where we stayed was situated in the ruins of the ancient convento de San Anton. Yes, in the ruins! There were two small rooms. One was a kitchen and dining space and the other room held 12 bunk beds. There was a bathroom as well, but you needed to go outdoors to get to it. The albergue has no electricity,  so that's no hot water, no lights, no wifi, no heat. There were two absolutely lovely volunteers staffing the albergue.  Nella from Poland and Virginia from the US were our hostesses. Nella did most of the shared dinner prep and Virginia was the chatterbox! We  helped out as well. There were two other Pilgrims spending the night. I'll tell you more about the one named Allen later. The other pilgrim was so tired he just slept through dinner and we didn't see him until morning. Six of us gathered around the table, covered with an old fashioned oilcloth. We were all asked to talk about ourselves a bit and explain how we came to the Camino. The stories were bonding and the evening lingered on with a fire in a tiny woodstove (drying our wet socks and boots from a second day of rain) and candles burning in empty wine bottles on the table. At bedtime we huddled under piles of heavy blankets to ward off the cold of the ancient stone building. It was MAGICAL!

A little history lesson: Pilgrims walk under the arch with recessed alcoves. In the old days bread was left there for the pilgrims. Today some pilgrims leave messages instead. The ruins were part of an old monastery and convent and hospice of the Antonio order, which was connected to the work of St. Anthony Abad of Egypt, patron saint of animals and often depicted with a pig at his feet. The order's symbol is a T shaped cross (Tau, the Greek alphabet letter). The cross has become known as the Pilgrim's Cross (Cruz del Peregrino) . The order was known for its cure of a disease called St. Anthony's fire (fungal disease that could cause death) by using the power of the cross in its healing practice. And now for pictures!!