Last night, my wife and I walked from our house to Cartago, to join the Christian pilgrimage called La Romería.
The distance from our place is ~19km, and it took us a little bit more than 5 hours, plus a stop we did in Ochomogo to eat empanadas and a gallo de salchichón.
My wife usually goes every year, but this is only my third time accompanying her. We had a good time, and it’s always interesting to see so many people united in one spirit.
The place was absolutely packed when we arrived around 9pm, and I suspect it was only going to get more crowded later in the night.
I was surprised to see people and families with blankets in the park outside, some even sleeping, which is understandable since some of them walked 30kms or even 40kms. Compared to them, we live relatively close.
We didn’t enter the church, the number of people was too much and it can get a little claustrophobic, even in the park outside.
The more religious people would purchase a small symbolic gold medal (usually related to the part of their body that they need to heal) and ask the Virgin Mary for health or other petitions, or just to give thanks for something. Then they go down to the church to collect Holy Water from a fountain that emerges down there. We, however, skipped all of that.
The return was quick once we got an Uber driver.
We had a good couple’s time, chatting all the way up and down, and with the kids spending the night at their grandmas, we had a solid night’s sleep.
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