Camino Ignaciano: Montserrat to Manresa (Day 14)
Day 14: Montserrat to Manresa
Stage 12 of the Camino
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| The final walk! |
From Montserrat, we quickly started walking towards Manresa. Both places were apart by 9 kilometers and entailed us climbing a combination of rocky paths and dusty roads in order to move from one mountain to the next. There were many spots where, if you stopped to take a look, you would see the mountains of Montserrat on one side and the city of Manresa on the other side. But other than that, the scenery was largely unremarkable, interspersed with the occasional steep climb which made me wonder how St. Ignatius went through it all.
A sign that you were nearing Manresa was the old Tower of Santa Caterina. This cylindrical tower stands alone atop a plateau, waving the Catalunya flag. Here, you have an unobstructed view of the city of Manresa in all directions.
From the old Tower, there was a paved pathway, the Santa Caterina pathway, which resembled a giant, albeit modern, staircase leading downward to the city proper. It was quite a walk, despite moving downwards, as each step was a huge block needing 2-3 steps from my tiny feet! LOL! Still, I was quite grateful to have the paved steps, after having walked for several miles on rocky paths.
At the base of the "staircase" and walking a few meters more, I spotted the old Roman bridge. Hurray! It was the sign that I was entering Manresa. I couldn't wait to be on that bridge, but as the Camino would have it, I had to pass through some railways and a circuitous way to finally step on that bridge. Fortunately, there were a couple of construction workers fixing the road and they pointed the path to me.
After crossing the Roman bridge, I saw a huge bus with "Milo" written on its side. It was our bus, parked atop the hill. I spotted our driver Antonio talking to one of the pilgrims. There were several steps leading up to Manresa, with many signs indicating various tourist spots. I followed the sign that seemed to say the cave of St. Ignatius. Good choice! It led me towards the right direction.
As I hopped on the bus, my co-pilgrims who were there earlier greeted me with congratulatory remarks. I finally finished the Camino! Though the ending was a bit anticlimactic -- we all complained that we were "fooled" into thinking the last leg was a mere 7 kilometers (it clearly was not!) -- as I plopped down on my bus seat, I still couldn't help but carry a big smile. It was a great feeling of accomplishment for me to have gone this far, consistently walking more than 10 kilometers each day.
Later that day, as all pilgrims arrived, we went to the Manresa Tourism Office, where we got our certificates for finishing the Camino Ignaciano! So many happy smiles! We were all proud of ourselves. I relish that moment. I felt that apart from physically finishing the camino, we all went through our personal transformations during the trip. And to have new-found friends to share this memorable and life-changing trip is an added blessing!
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| At the Tower of Santa Caterina. Below, the city of Manresa awaits. |
From the old Tower, there was a paved pathway, the Santa Caterina pathway, which resembled a giant, albeit modern, staircase leading downward to the city proper. It was quite a walk, despite moving downwards, as each step was a huge block needing 2-3 steps from my tiny feet! LOL! Still, I was quite grateful to have the paved steps, after having walked for several miles on rocky paths.
At the base of the "staircase" and walking a few meters more, I spotted the old Roman bridge. Hurray! It was the sign that I was entering Manresa. I couldn't wait to be on that bridge, but as the Camino would have it, I had to pass through some railways and a circuitous way to finally step on that bridge. Fortunately, there were a couple of construction workers fixing the road and they pointed the path to me.
 |
| An ancient Roman bridge leads to Manresa |
After crossing the Roman bridge, I saw a huge bus with "Milo" written on its side. It was our bus, parked atop the hill. I spotted our driver Antonio talking to one of the pilgrims. There were several steps leading up to Manresa, with many signs indicating various tourist spots. I followed the sign that seemed to say the cave of St. Ignatius. Good choice! It led me towards the right direction.
As I hopped on the bus, my co-pilgrims who were there earlier greeted me with congratulatory remarks. I finally finished the Camino! Though the ending was a bit anticlimactic -- we all complained that we were "fooled" into thinking the last leg was a mere 7 kilometers (it clearly was not!) -- as I plopped down on my bus seat, I still couldn't help but carry a big smile. It was a great feeling of accomplishment for me to have gone this far, consistently walking more than 10 kilometers each day.
Later that day, as all pilgrims arrived, we went to the Manresa Tourism Office, where we got our certificates for finishing the Camino Ignaciano! So many happy smiles! We were all proud of ourselves. I relish that moment. I felt that apart from physically finishing the camino, we all went through our personal transformations during the trip. And to have new-found friends to share this memorable and life-changing trip is an added blessing!
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