Day 2 - Lourdes
Blijf op de hoogte en volg Wanderer
21 April 2013 | Frankrijk, Lourdes
I got up early today to see as much of Lourdes as possible, only to find that it’s possible to see it all in a matter of hours. I attended a service before breakfast, then afterwards I had my credential stamped and visited a few churches. There are some tourist shops away from the main area, where they sell postcards, figurines of St Mary, rosaries (lots of rosaries), and bottles of anointed water. I went back to the hotel around noon to get some more sleep and also because I wasn’t feeling very well. It’s chilly out here, strong winds. Much like home :)
Services take place underground. There’s a giant church the size of Ahoy’ Rotterdam inside this huge mound-like hill. Amazing. And then there’s this Museum of Pyrenean History up on the hill. They charge quite a sum though, so I’m not sure I’ll visit.
I’m amazed at how many people show up here just to be able to touch the cave. Queues and queues of hospital beds and wheelchairs. People are trying to consecrate the weirdest things.There was a girl here holding up a stack of t-shirts against the wall, someone putting a bag of peanuts in the water, and again, bucketloads and bucketloads of rosaries, all over the place. The most disturbing item of all, however, was a frickin body bag. And it wasn’t empty...
Nice to see some people recognize my shell as a symbol of the Camino. Makes for some conversation along the way :) I buried one of my old dreads at a spot that had a grouping of little figurines of St Mary.
The hotel I’m staying at is a little creepy to say the least. I appear to be the only guest, there’s no sounds whatsoever and the hallways are pitch black at night. I was the only one in the breakfast room this morning. It’s just the owner and his son (or at least I think it’s his son). I asked them about it later and they said more people are coming later this week. I should hope so for their sakes :)
I expect tomorrow will be a pretty uneventful day - going to St. Jean-Pied-de-Port. I’ll have more things to tell the day after, most likely.
See you!
Services take place underground. There’s a giant church the size of Ahoy’ Rotterdam inside this huge mound-like hill. Amazing. And then there’s this Museum of Pyrenean History up on the hill. They charge quite a sum though, so I’m not sure I’ll visit.
I’m amazed at how many people show up here just to be able to touch the cave. Queues and queues of hospital beds and wheelchairs. People are trying to consecrate the weirdest things.There was a girl here holding up a stack of t-shirts against the wall, someone putting a bag of peanuts in the water, and again, bucketloads and bucketloads of rosaries, all over the place. The most disturbing item of all, however, was a frickin body bag. And it wasn’t empty...
Nice to see some people recognize my shell as a symbol of the Camino. Makes for some conversation along the way :) I buried one of my old dreads at a spot that had a grouping of little figurines of St Mary.
The hotel I’m staying at is a little creepy to say the least. I appear to be the only guest, there’s no sounds whatsoever and the hallways are pitch black at night. I was the only one in the breakfast room this morning. It’s just the owner and his son (or at least I think it’s his son). I asked them about it later and they said more people are coming later this week. I should hope so for their sakes :)
I expect tomorrow will be a pretty uneventful day - going to St. Jean-Pied-de-Port. I’ll have more things to tell the day after, most likely.
See you!
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