Reflections

I’ll have a fair amount of windshield time -train and bus and plane- when I leave Santiago when I will essentially be on my way back home. Much my content here will be a rambling jumble of thoughts so you will simply have to indulge me as I jot them down here in no particular order for rumination over the fall and winter when I clean up the website for grammar, formatting, punctuation, readability, and flow.

Weather

I am astonished and amazed that I was blessed with absolutely fabulous weather for both cycling and walking. While I was fully prepared and anticipated cycling in the rain, I didn’t have to do it and I’m thankful that this risk was removed from that portion of the trip on the Norte. (I factored in three buffer days for the entire journey - two to accommodate bad weather that would preclude me from cycling or walking and one day if I needed it for rest recovery.) I only had one day of driving wind, cold, and rain on the Primitivo, but I was prepared and had a great poncho that enabled me to walk it without being miserable. Temperature ranged from chilly in the morning to hot on some afternoons. However, in general, the temperatures were absolutely perfect beyond belief for long distance walking and cycling. I never really felt my body overheated, nor was I ever cold for very long. Truly, a phenomenal weather blessing from God. When it did rain it rained shortly after we finished walking for the day or overnight. That being said, I am ‘hooked’ on September / early October travel timeframes in Spain.

Lodging

Communal lodging in the form of Albergues and hostels, municipales and donativos were great and desirable for the simple fact that you always met many people that became walking partners on and off for a few days. The simply doesn’t happen when you get a private room or a hotel. Hostels generally run from €14-€25 but again it’s not about the money. I would’ve never met the great people that I have had I stayed (pictured in blog) in hotels or pensiones .

Well, while I am getting too old for bunkbeds in shared rooms and the ensuing snore-athon’s at night, I would’ve missed a great part of the Camino and the people I met if I chose alternately.

Stuff and Equipment

Your top three best friends on Camino are:
1) backpack
2) shoes socks combo, and
3) walking poles.

My backpack, (mochila), technically was overweight at 11 kg even without factoring in food and water. It was heavy, but my back did not complain which surprised and shocked me. I’m just not sure how I could’ve cut down on items as I had items that were for contingencies - that never occurred, nonetheless, I wouldn’t remove them on a future Camino (other than those items required for cycling. Example: I brought a ultralight sleeping bag that still added 0.4kg weight not knowing the bed blanket sheets arrangement in some hostels or how cold some nights would be. I’d still bring it but I never had to use it unlike two years ago. .

My backpack as before is an Osprey ‘antigravity model’ 50 L. Well, the average Camino size backpack is a 40 L I have no complaints as I willingly exchanged an extra .4 kg for the advantage of extra space. A very small price to pay for convenience. I had many many compliments over the storage compartments for 2 easily accessible half liter, bottles of water as well as pockets on the hip belt, etc. if you find you need more space to carry things with a smaller backpack, you’re simply out of luck. I never was.

My Hoka Speedgoattrail runners were awesome along with my ‘darn tough’ and ‘smart wool’ socks. I never had a blister or a hint of a blister, unlike so many people I met- the only change I would make would be to get the exact same model of Hokas that have a higher top at the ankles as they make them. I can certainly share with you all the shoe / footwear combos that don’t work on the Camino chosen by people had one problem or another due to poor choices back home and lack of footwear preparation including extensive breaking in periods

My walking poles are black diamond ultralight collapsible -they were three times as expensive as all the other poles I saw on the trail, but mine were a fraction of the weight and they’ve held up for over 1100km of walking so far over my Caminos. I absolutely could not have pulled this off without these walking sticks -indispensable

Religious Pilgrimage Observations (excerpt from Pilgrim Museum in Santiago)

“Pilgrimage is a worldwide anthropological phenomenon geographically and chronologically dispersed due to religious, social and cultural importance. There is evidence of prehistoric pilgrimages in Mesopotamia, Egypt and Greece and Hinduism as early as the Vedic period (sixth century BC) Pilgrimages were frequent, many on a massive scale, to rivers and other places. In Buddhism there are many sides of pilgrimage related with relics of the Buddha himself or events in his life or that of other important people. In Shintoism, people make pilgrimages to many sites thought to be inhabited by the kami or spirits of nature. nI many other religions there are numerous places that attract large groups of pilgrims with widely varying motivations. The three large monotheist religions all have important sites that receive thousands and thousands of pilgrims: Jerusalem, Rome, Santiago, Mecca and Medina are perhaps the best-known.

Pilgrimages are increasingly becoming tourist attractions that generate substantial economic benefits. Technologies have contributed to their expansion and on occasions have turned them into genuine mass-media phenomena. (Re: The movie ‘The Way’ directed by Emilio Estevez)

Christian pilgrimage

The roots of Christianity lie in Judaism and for Christians Jesus Christ is the Messiah prophesied in the Old Testament. In his life on Earth he preached a new doctrine, worked miracles and surrounded himself with disciples (Apostles) who would later spread his Word. The places related with the life of Christ, his disciples and the first martyrs, who were considered the foundations of Christian faith, soon became centres of devotion and a destination for pilgrimage, imitating the Jewish custom. Freedom of worship and the imposition of Christianity as the official religion of the Roman Empire during the fourth century boosted the number of these sites. The tombs of Apostles and martyrs or their relics became important centres of pilgrimage in the Middle Ages.

In the 16th century humanist philosophers severely criticized the practices associated with pilgrimage. The sale of indulgences, the exaggerated veneration of relics and other excesses were criticized both within the Catholic Church (Erasmus of Rotterdam) and outside it (Martin Luther).

The three great Christian pilgrimages

Jerusalem is a holy city for the three great monotheist religions. From the fourth century onwards many "peregrinos" made pilgrimages to these places. Rome with the tombs of St Peter and St Paul also soon attracted pilgrims. The large numbers of shrines, the high value of the relics and the fact that it was the Papal seat that attracted many "roamers" Santiago de Compostela became a centre for pilgrimage after the (purported) discovery of the body of St James the Great in the 9th century. The importance of these relics quickly spread across Europe and pilgrims began to arrive in large numbers.

Enter St James History, tradition, legend and the birth of the Camino de Santiago

In the 820s in the westernmost tip of Europe the discovery and identification of a tomb that was reputed to contain the body of Saint James the Great (Santiago in Spanish) marked the origin of the veneration of the Apostle and the pilgrimage to his tomb. Historical references about these events and about the life of the Saint have always been shrouded in a mixture of tradition and legend. Although the tradition regarding the burial of the Apostle in Gallaecia predates its discovery by Teodomiro, the Bishop of Iria, the documents that describe the finding and the transporting of the body from Jerusalem were written after the event, often with a particular intention in mind.

From the 6th Century there was a widespread belief that the Apostles were buried where they had been preaching and according to Western tradition Saint James had been preaching in Hispania (Roman Spain and Portugal). This explains why prior to the discovery of his relics (inventio) there were various writings that described ancient traditions, passed on possibly by the Visigoth Church, that pointed to Finis Terrae (‘the end of the world’ -I walked there from Santiago in 2021 )as the last resting place of St James”. (content obtained from the museo des Peregrinos in Santiago)

Well, I personally have completed two entire Caminos and the first half of the Norte and obtained two Compostellas. I did not specifically walk these Caminos for religious reasons, to visit graves in locations containing the purported bones of those long gone, or the intent to get a ‘special’ document from the church. (I did enjoy getting my compostelas however as wonderful and beautiful keepsakes.

So why did I do it and what’s the Espana long distance walking attraction you ask?

I have done these Caminos for reasons already explained on the homepage of my blog and in my roughly 60+ daily blog posts.

Regardless of any one religious tradition, or the complete absence thereof, walking a Camino for 2 to 6 weeks is an intensely theological and spiritual experience for every single person that does it! I know this from informal ‘interviews’ with those of all spiritual backgrounds, affiliations, and complete lack thereof.. There is also a magical draw to come back for almost everyone I’ve asked that has walked it.

For me one aspect among many is that several weeks of daily long distance, walking (or biking), has reformatted and defragmented the hard drive of my mind, and spirit like nothing else has -which cannot be done on a simple couple of hours walk in the woods. It has really brought profound clarity.

Another includes the simple reason that in the context of my ‘lifespan’ I know I won’t always have the physical capability - stamina, energy, endurance, joint capability to do such an endeavor. So, I intentionally have chosen to weave such physical endeavors into my ‘healthspan’.

And yes, there is an intense difficult to put in words spiritual pull to do this ‘thing’ again based on my 2021 experience and inspiration of others.

And as before from one of my favorite quotes; “There is meaning in every journey that is unknown to the traveler”
– Dietrich Bonhoeffer.

Along with many,  I believe that when I am home, I am still on Camino.

So;

Domingo 1 Octubre 2023 “Y así termina esta etapa” (…I have finished this stage of my Camino)

InterestingStatistics:

How many people walked the Camino in 2022 and how did they travel? Numbers are WAY UP post Covid. In 2022, a record 438,182 Compostelas* were issued! Walking is the most popular way to complete the pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela. In 2022, 414,340 pilgrims walked the Camino. There were 22,863 pilgrims who completed the Camino on a bicycle, followed by 545 on horseback. Many with special challenges or disabilities complete Caminos
( *numbers reflect only those electing to check into the Pilgrims office in Santiago to get their Compostella ). Actual ‘total walkers’ is much higher.

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My Favorite Words from the Camino

El Peregrino,

“segue, segue adelante y no regreses, fiel hasta el fin del camino y tu vida, no eches de menos un destino mas fácil, tus pies sobre la tierra antes no hollada, tus ojos frente a lo antes nunca visto“

To the pilgrim,

“follow, follow forward and do not return, faithful until the end of the road and your life, do not miss for an easier destination, your feet on ground before not trodden, your eyes in front of what has never been seen before”

This is the view landing in Bilbao showing elevation changes for the cycling portion of my Camino. Primitivo also contains challenging elevation changes.

View from my last hostel stay in Bilbao - Begoñako Basilika Bilbao 16th century medieval. a magnificent remnant of 16th century Gothic styled architecture in Spain. What is remarkable about the Basilica is that it took about a hundred years to build. That resulted in the union of different styles of architecture over the original Gothic design. The clock tower atop the Basilica has an incredible 24 bells, with the heaviest one weighing a tonne. I attended my last service here. It was in Basque language !

Picture below: The sanctuary was filled with enormous incredibly beautiful paintings (greater than 4m x 6m) on the side walls here are two:

The birth of the savior with Joseph wondering what on earth happened !

“After three days they (his parents) found him in the temple courts, sitting among the teachers, listening to them and asking them questions.  Everyone who heard him was amazed at his understanding and his answers.”