[Gocamino] Santiago coins

[blaroli at aol.com]

Hello you all,
Greetings from Seville where the crowds are already staggering..... and Holy Week will not commence until tomorrow!
I thought that the multitudes in Santiago during the opening, and the closing, of the Holy Door would inure me to the human waves in Seville.... but that has nt been the case.
One would think that the two cities are in different countries, and speak different languages... as they certainly do, in some ways.
The very high spirits of the Sevillians, manifested in the way they move, dress, and carry on in general make them bigger than life... more so during Holy Week, by far.
But it did suprise me that, after all these years, the organized lively chaos that is Sevillian life made me lose my step, momentarily.
Not that I prefer Seville to Santiago, or viceversa... They are equally extraordinary... but wheras, for me, Seville is mind-blowing, Santiago is more spirit-blowing... so to speak.
Even the paroxisms of religious sentiment that will begin here tomorrow, when the processions will commence to the tears, songs, prayers, and collective heart-explosions of  thousands and thousands, as the images pass, accompanied by what must be the absolutely most touching and beautiful music found anywhere (outside of opera houses or concert halls), are, by their own nature, very different from the quiet, looking-into-the soul of humanity´s past that beautiful and beloved Santiago inspires.
 
Well.... All the stores, etc., in Seville will be closed from Wednesday afternoon on (it might be so as well in Santiago, but I don´t know). They will reopen on Saturday next for half a day only.
 
Kat Gower told me sometime ago about a 100 pesetas coin that was issued in 1993 commemorating the Xacobean year.  While Santiago did not have it, Seville,a much larger city, has many numismatic and philathelic stores, and, in one of them, I found the coin.  (Kat, I got one for you). 
In 1993, 100 pesetas were worth about 60 cents.  The coin is quite pretty, slightly smaller than a quarter,  made of copper´bronze with the Santiago shell surrounded by the ¨field of stars¨.
Because 1999 would be the last Xacobean Holy Year within which pesetas would be used, the Spanish government went all the way out and issued a 2,000 pesetas silver coin which is quite beautiful.  It is about made of silver, about the size of a silver US dollar, and it has Santiago as a pilgrim with all the accutrements, engraved on it. I think it is absolutely beautiful.
While, I was told, the silver one may be hard to find, and is relatively expensive, the 100 pesetas one apparently is available.  It costs 6 Euros.
I thought I´d let you know..... as I would have wanted a fellow pilgrim to tell me about such things. (Thank you for telling me, Kat,.... I would not have know about it otherwise).
 
The weather is lovely... after the punshing New York winter..... and the dollar has dropped again (the local exchange is $1.40).
The first procession tomorrow, ¨The Borriquita¨(the little she-donkey) represents the entry into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday;  the ¨cofrades¨. about 700,  are children, and their habits are white with the cross of Santiago in red.  On the ¨Paso¨,  (the float) the last figure is our very own Saint James the Elder.  The children give candies to the people on the sidelines and small cards bearing a picture of the ¨Paso¨and of saint James.
 
A very big hug to you all.
 
Rosina