After two long days of planes, trains, busses and automobiles, Jon and I arrived in León, Spain—the midway point on the Camino de Santiago. Pilgrims of all ages walk through the center of town guided by brass scallop shells imbedded in cobblestone streets or etched in sandstone on the sides of buildings. Pilgrims are easy to spot—heavy packs, dirty boots, their faces a mix of fatigue and determination.

This afternoon Jon and I met the group of pilgrims we’ll be traveling with for the next 11 days. We sized each other up. Fifteen friendly faces, fifteen handshakes, quick introductions and jet-lagged smiles mask the important question we’re all asking.

What brings me here?

After a lengthy orientation from our two guides, we toured León, stopping in front of the house Goudy built when he was just 37-years-old, four years into the construction of the Sagrada Familía that would become his life’s masterpiece.

This city is full of movement, like the two rivers that cut through its boundaries. It is a beginning, a middle, or an end for over two hundred and fifty thousand pilgrims that will walk through its streets this year—and we have the privilege of being two of them.

Buen Camino!

~Kristin