santiago, storks, friends, and handsome men

hello again,
well these pretty much cap what we did today, plus i added a photo from yesterday of paul and michael sitting on a roman bridge.
today is a holiday, both the day of caceres´patron saint, san jorge, and then may day. there was a long mass last night, the cathedral was decorated with countless roses, all red, orange and pink. the church glowed with red, and candlelight. there were so many people you could see very little, we didn´t stay. we walked around the old walled town, stopping here and there for wine and tapas. today the sun shined and we walked some more. the small statue of santiago is from the door of the church of the same name. it is the image i love -the gentle santiago, not the moor slayer. (there are always two variations of st. james, one of the pilgrim and the other of the man who supposedly led the christians to battle against the moors. ) i did think it looks a little like st. james is carrying an umbrella, which is appropriate for this way. maybe this is a third variation.
i can´t take enough photos of the storks, flying, standing in their nests, feeding there babies, whatever they want to do. they are so graceful. there are nests everywhere. never have i seen so many.
the young men in the photo were not only very handsome, but they had amazing voices. we heard their music from far away and were drawn to them. they are flamenco singers. such strong voices and sound. i have to buy a cd some day.
we walked and walked all day, from coffee con leche to beer and chips. we saw cisterns, and manor homes, and churches, and confirmation ceremonies, people walking and sitting in sidewalk cafes, and children playing in the plazas. i have a million photos of children, i think i am very lonesome for oscar, jude and arthur.
barb and i have decided to take a bus tomorrow to salamanca and start walking again from there. we will cut 100km from our journey which should give us plenty of time to get to santiago in a month, which is how long we have. i have walked about 300km so far, i think. mas or meno. barbs toes look really good- pink and healthy. we want to keep it that way.
so, although we have been tourists today, tomorrow we are pilgrims again. i look forward to it.
with love,
nonna, mom, mary