I know what you are thinking, isn’t Europe a wasteland for Catholicism? I imagine they are still struggling with younger folks, but here is our circumstantial evidence that it might not be as bad as it is perceived, at least here in Spain.

1. We just happened by chance to run into adoration going on, not once, but twice.
2. We have seen a plethora of Dominican nuns.
3. The priests that have said Mass for us (2 days so far) were both born after the Nixon Administration.
4. We have been able to attend evening Mass every night and a decent number of folks attend.
5. There is a church under every blade of grass.

We were in a town that was literally about the size of Marion, Kansas, and they had 3 Catholic churches and a seminary.

One church we saw was locked, but when Blaise saw two Dominican nuns going in to put flowers in the church, he asked if we could sneak in to pray. The church had a banner out front that said it was celebrating a MILLENNIUM of being open. It opened in 1020. Yes, 1020!

The church was adorned with a huge golden altar with lots of beautiful statues. We collected a stamp for our credentials(pilgrim’s passport) and headed on. All along the way we will collect these stamps from churches, hostels, and restaurants to prove we walked the distance. It will make for an epic souvenir when we are done.

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Tonight we find ourselves in Estella, Spain. There are about 5 Catholic churches and a convent within a 1 kilometer radius (That’s 0.6 miles for you ‘Muricans out there).