Fall of 2004 - I journeyed to Spain as a part of my studies. I thought that I had lost these images that I sketched while journeying across the country for two weeks. Fortunately I found a disk that I had made sometime back in school.

 

This image was actually near the end of the trip. It is of the cathedral in Santiago. It is the final destination for the pilgrims who venture out on a quest of grand proportions. Some walk for months and cover hundreds of miles. It is called the Camino de Santiago.

 

Our group did not go for religious purposes. It was merely to study the albergues or hostels, that camino walkers utilize along the journey. I am glad to say that I did walk 40 kilometers of the route the day before we entered Santiago. The one day walk through the verdent countryside did more to help me connect with this project than any other experience along the way. I did arise the next morning - tired and sore - and walk the remaining kilometers entering the city and making my way through the maze of streets, to finally arrive at the final destination of the cathedral. Where it is legend that the actual bones of St. Paul the apostle of Jesus Christ rest to this day.

scans of various museums along with my camino passport. We began in Portomarin and drove to various points as we made our way westward.

It may be worth noting that all of these sketches were created as I stood and observed the scene before me. The act of capturing the image made the experience all the more real. The chatter of people walking by, the warmth of the sun on my shoulder, the humid air hanging languidly about. The rise of the path upward towards the landmark. The tug and pull of the organically placed buildings. Nothing about this trip related to what I had grown up with. This was my first time abroad and I was painfully aware that the massively wide city streets of Salt Lake City layed out on a gigantic orthagonal grid had nothing in common with the density and history steeped in every city I was now experiencing. I loved it.