Safe and sound!!!

Dear friends and family,
We have arrived to Dublin unscathed.  We are incredibly jet-lagged as we left Chicago at 7pm to arrive in Dublin at 8am  (which was really 2am).  We hit the town running and were able to check a few hostels before deciding on the "cleanest" one.  After a quick power nap and letting everyone know that we are safe, we are hitting the town and seeing the Trinity College area then heading to St James' Gate.

St James' Gate is the Guinness brewery.  While we'll probably skip the overpriced (and self-guided) tour, our main objective will be to get our first "sello" or stamp for our pilgrim passport, or credencial.  This would complete our first task of being assured that we will bookend our Santiago pilgrimage with St James stamps!

Oh, we haven't explained the sello (pronounced SAY-yo) system.  As pilgrims, we will be collecting stamps along our journey through Spain to prove that we have been making the trek on foot.  This will serve as a keepsake after the pilgrimage, and validate our place at the Pilgrim mass in Santiago the day we arrive.  The only "rule" is that the final 100km must  be on foot in order to receive our Compostela (the document to absolve all of our sins to date)  Had we done this pilgrimage on a Holy Year, ie. when the feast of St James falls on a Sunday, we would have retrospective AND prospective absolution of our lifetime of sins!  Of course, we are doing this for spiritual growth and a hiking adventure, but a little absolution never hurt anyone...

Check in soon.
Love,
Brian and Jess