Final notes and thoughts on our spring 2018 pilgrimage along the Camino Frances to the cathedral at Santiago de Compostela …

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The final day of our medium-sized pilgrimage to Santiago featured two threads of action. One thread was three of us up at dawn, driving our senior/middle-aged bodies as hard as we could to walk 20 kilometers to the cathedral near the northwest corner of Spain, arriving in time to see the special noon pilgrim’s mass. […]

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When treading the path of the western world’s greatest pilgrimage, the typical walker cannot help but peek — OK, stare — at the sandy-gray “mileage” markers that helpfully guide everyone along. They serve three functions for those headed to Santiago de Compestela, and the cathedral there.

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Both Leah and I had vivid memories of the events of Day 3 during our 2017 pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela. It was a difficult day for both of us, for different reasons, and both of us had to overcome some trepidation. And did. What was curious about the events of yesterday? Each of us […]

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I fear today’s walk. I have from the start. Back before I knew I could make it through the first three days. It fills me with dread. It is not particularly famous for being difficult. But this is the day, most likely, that will determine if we get through the final few days of the […]

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The pilgrimage to the cathedral of Santiago de Compostela is one of the modern world’s great multinational cultural/religious events. Nearly two-thirds (64.7 percent) of the 22,067 peregrinos who reached Santiago via the Camino in April of 2018 were foreigners, according to statistics kept by the Pilgrim’s Office. Spaniards provided a numerical plurality, with 35.3 percent […]

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Let’s start with the statistics. 26.8 kilometers  — (16.7 miles) 6.5 hours on the road 41,360 steps That was today on the Camino de Santiago, here in Spain. Added to Day 1, yesterday, that takes our 2018 numbers to 51.7 km, (32.1 miles), 12.6 hours on foot and 79,140 steps. Is that the sound of […]

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We are doing the pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela. Again. Once could have been enough, but we are giving “the Camino” another try, a year and a month since we first did it. Why? Because it’s there? A little. But mostly it is about offering some companionship to two of Leah’s dearest college friends. Devout […]

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We completed the five-day Camino de Santiago pilgrimage yesterday, and celebrated by having dinner twice in about five hours. Walking 13 or 14 miles a day is enough to work up an appetite that can be acknowledged without fear of gaining weight. So there is that. Thinking back, I failed to mention, over the past […]

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*By “triumphal” we mean stumbling past the sign that read “Santiago”. So, Day 5 of the Camino de Santiago, the condensed, 73-mile version of a pilgrimage that can be 10 times as long, for the minority who start walking in distant lands, and often is about six times as long when starting just north of […]

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