March 22, 2007
Well, a year ago I was awash in the early Spring rains of Gallicia on the way to Santiago de Compostela on foot. I had started on February 17th at the French Spain border. With some great camino mates, I was trudging 500miles through rain, wind, snow and mud. I had shin splits and knee problems. All this led me to wonder why I ever wanted to do a pilgrimage in the first place. I mean I was having fun and seeing a lot of stuff but I was really getting tired. I got into Santiago on March 27 vowing never again to take another step again on anything like a camino.
Well, a year ago I was awash in the early Spring rains of Gallicia on the way to Santiago de Compostela on foot. I had started on February 17th at the French Spain border. With some great camino mates, I was trudging 500miles through rain, wind, snow and mud. I had shin splits and knee problems. All this led me to wonder why I ever wanted to do a pilgrimage in the first place. I mean I was having fun and seeing a lot of stuff but I was really getting tired. I got into Santiago on March 27 vowing never again to take another step again on anything like a camino.
I don't know what happened but I couldn't get the whole experience out of my mind. It was camino-this and camino-that to the despair of those near and dear to me. I guess it was inevitable that I would bedoing another one...or two or three.
This is not unusual, mind you. I ran across a number of people on the road who were doing their 2nd, 3rd, 4th and even 5th camino. Some people walk to Santiago and turn around and walk back. The ones I met were, let us be diplomatic, rather eccentric. Or less diplomatically, pompous, opinionated, obsessive/compulsive, and just plain out weird. I dubbed them the Camino Fascisti. And I am destined to join that group?
So 500 miles was not enough? I plan now to do a thousand or more. This trip will take me from Le Puy in the center of France (it got cut off on this image--sorry I am just getting this blog business down). Le Puy would be on the green line about as far from Cahors as St. Jean is from Cahors. Then I will repeat the route I did last year. Though I have given some thought to going to Sevilla (by bus, train or air) when I get to St. Jean and do the Via de la Plata to Santiago. We shall see. Alas, I won't be with Joseph or Jorge, my camino mates from last year.
No comments:
Post a Comment