October 11

Today started with Mass at the Basilica, Not 30 feet from the bones of St James The Elder! Today we are on the way to Santander later this afternoon. I thought we were heading into Lourdes, not! The weather has been cool, much like it was when we lived in Arkansas, cool humidity.

The Basilica is in old town, which is over a thousand years old. It is made entirely of granite. Streets are narrow and dark, as would be expected in an old town. But building in granite means it will be here for another thousand years.

If you want to learn more about the Basilica, do a search on the Trail of St James on Wiki. The trail started about the time of the conquest of Jerusalem by the Muslims who shut down access to the Holy Land for pilgrims. After the conquest, the only two places a pilgrim could go to were St Peters and St James. Thus the trail was started. Walking pilgrims come from all over, mostly from Europe and the Iberian peninsula. 20% of pilgrims come from the rest of the world. The other interesting point of the Basilica, is the "swinging of the sensor" which can be found on UTube, just put in Basilica of St James. Unfortunately, we missed it last night. The Basilica is one of the must see sights of Europe.

Just stopped for lunch at the gas station. Since gas is so expensive and the taxes are high in the operation of vehicles, there isn't a lot of vehicles on the road, including semi's. The gas stations are incredible. Real non-Starbucks Coffee that actually taste's like coffee, mixed drinks, bottles of wine and champagne, homemade pizzas and sandwiches Made with French bread, handmade rolls and pastries. As I mentioned before, no big gulps or plastic containers. In fact, Europeans are used to sitting down and actually enjoying their meal instead of eating it in your car in a rush. Americans are always in a hurry and could learn from the average Europeans love of leisurely eating.

2230. Just headed upstairs from dinner. Lamb. I don't know about lamb!  Got a six to seven hour on the road to Lourdes tomorrow. I'll finish up tomorrow on the bus. Still having issues uploading photos.