[Gocamino] (no subject)

[blaroli@aol.com]

Hello you all,
The Samos monastery has a webpage chockfull of information, most if which is available in English. The site is:    www.abadiadesamos.com
The monastery  benefitted from Queen Sofia's choice to start her Santiago pilgrimage there a couple of years ago.  As you remember, she was accompanied by about three hundred Guardia Civil officers and others who, prior to the  Queen's stay, did a lot of refurbishing.
Justifiedly admirable as the Monastery is, I would highly recommend a stop at another Monastery-albergue  also in the Lugo province: the "Sobrado des Monxes" Monastery.  It is just breathtakilgly evocative and lovely.  Pilgrims stay in the upper walkways of the cloisters, enclosed in glass. The monastery has a huge church which houses a wood miniature of the Santiago Cathedral complete in its every detail.  In some of the church's chapels there are murals, dating to the 15th century, that depict the ancient monks in their praying and singing devotions.   Those murals have haunted me since my first visit there.
With the resurgent popularity of the Northern Way perhaps more pilgrims will get to know, and admire, that touchingly lovely place.
When I was there two months ago the, youngish, monk in charge of the souvenir store, spoke English perfectly.  He said that his order had sent him, in his young teens, to study at a monastery in Pennsylvania, of all places, where he had spent about ten years.  He also spoke about the several Cystercian monasteries in the State of New York, USA,  about which I had known absolutely nothing.
The area around Sobrados is very beautiful, dotted with lakes and rivers and green...., green...., green.  The little town of Sobrados grew around the Monastery and is a summer vacation place for many Galicians.
 
In other news: the Galician Xunta has already started preparations for the next Holy Year in 2010. Among other things, they have announced that the bus station will be fitted with mechanical escalators.  One hopes that the signs indicating which bus company goes where and where the relevant bus maybe boarded will be much improved.  I know at least two (non-Spanish speaking) pilgrims who ended up in totally unintended destinations.
 
Let me thank those of you who have asked about my health.  I am much better after fracturing two verterbrae and tearing ligaments and tendons in my lower back.  Presumably I will recover completely, in time, as long as I take care... which I fully intend to do.  While I'm still far from being able to move freely, everyday I can move a little more.
 
Big hug!
 
Rosina   
________________________________________________________________________
Check out the new AOL.  Most comprehensive set of free safety and security tools, free access to millions of high-quality videos from across the web, free AOL Mail and more.