El Camino de Santiago

I've been writing about this for weeks now and I have decided that this deserves its own blog entry.

For my family (mom and grandma) as well as the others who are asking for a definition and more details of what exactly this thing is that I am currently obsessed with.

I'm just going to start with an overview...

The Camino de Santiago is a religious pilgrimage that started centuries ago (somewhere around the 15th century, but don't quote me on that because I'd have to find my book to actually look it up). There are 7 historic caminos (paths) that the pilgrimage follows, and all of them lead to Santiago de Compostela in Galicia. (Galicia is the autonomous community in the northwestern part of Spain, just above Portugal, and Santiago de Compostela is the capital.) Of these paths, the French Road was the most commonly taken and (could probably go without saying) goes from France to Santiago.

Now back in the day this was a pretty dangerous journey - thieves, no shelter, difficulties finding food, etc. However, today it has become very popular and there has basically been a whole business community built off of restaurants, hotels, etc along the camino.

Note: The Camino de Santiago is the Spanish name - in English it is The Way of Saint James. (With Saint James being Santiago, the original brother of the Apostle/Saint who it is rumored crossed the Iberian peninsula and helped spread Christianity and whose body/tomb is in the Cathedral de Santiago.

Ok, enough of the history, here's the fun and interesting stuff...

Before you get bored and run away from this post, I'm gonna nag some more. If you have not seen the movie "The Way", please go watch it. Without ruining anything, it's the story of a Doctor whose son is in his 30s and "isn't going anywhere with his life". While the dad doesn't understand this, the son says he just has to go and see the world to be happy. So the son takes off for France to begin the Camino de Santiago, but within the first 24 hours he dies. Well the dad comes to France to get the body, but ends up cremating it and walks the Camino de Santiago for himself, spreading his sons ashes along the way. Sad yet? I promise all of that is only in the first 3 minutes of the movie/trailer so I didn't ruin anything. And in all honesty, while it does have sad parts, I truly loved this movie.

Continuing...

The Camino is marked with both arrows and shells so you know where to go. The shell is the symbol of the journey. (Hopefully that explains why I bought so much shell jewelry) And while it's pretty easy to identify a pilgrim, the shell is a definite indication they are walking the camino.


When you get to the end of the Camino you get the Compostela. This is a certificate saying that you completed the camino. There is a minimum distance though: 100km on foot or 200km using anything else (horse, bike, things that aren't motorized) As you go, you have a "passport" which gets stamped at the various places you stop, and this serves as proof that you really went as far as you did.

It is tradition for the pilgrims to enter the Cathedral de Santiago when they arrive and there is a mass that is held. When you enter the cathedral, there is a pillar with a sculpture of Saint James. Traditionally all of the pilgrims get on their knees and touch the pillar. They place their hands on his feet and kiss it. They then make 10 wishes - one for every finger that has touched. So many people have touched the pillar that a hand print has been worn into the stone. Unfortunately (and I was legitimately sad) you are no longer allowed to touch the pillar and there is a fence around it. (I tried to reach over the fence, but I was too short...)

Now I've never been the type of person to say that I am "religious". By all means, I believe in God and that there is in fact a higher power, but I've never gone to church religiously or identified myself as having a specific religion other than Christianity in general. But there is something about the Camino de Santiago that I really like and find intriguing.

I know I will come back and walk the entire camino one day. I want to do the French Road which takes about 1 month to complete so it will be in the future when I have that much time free, but it is something I really want to do.

I feel like there are a lot of reasons people walk the camino, and I'm not sure what mine is exactly yet, but I'm going to find it. For now, this is me in front of the Cathedral de Santiago, a tourist who has seen a popular movie and has been inspired. But one day, I will be back. A "peregrino" who the other tourists can look at and be inspired by.