Once upon a time, there was a farmer in a pasture toiling away until he began to see all of these shooting stars, but they were all falling onto the same location. Amazed, he hurried to the spot and discovered a tomb with the remains of James, one of the Apostles, in it.. Because of this amazing discovery, the town was renamed "Santiago de Composetela" (Sant Iago = St James, and Campos Etela = country of stars (campus de estrella), how cool is that?) At least, this is how it was described to me by my Art History teacher today.
Along the path
Santiago de Compostela was and still is a pilgrimage hotspot, hosting tons of pilgrims from all across the world. There are many different routes you can take, starting from many different places all over Europe, and they are very often taken advantage of. In the olden days, people came for strictly religious purposes, to ask for forgiveness or a favor (or sometimes prisoners were given the option to go to prison or make the pilgrimage...lets guess which many of them chose!). Our art teacher also told us the story of a man who went to ask Santiago for his wife to be able to have children, and when he returned she was pregnant! While definitely a miracle, the husband had unfortunately been gone on his pilgrimage for over 2 years...awkward!
The Cathedral:
I bring this all up because now I really want to walk part of the trail! The main Spanish part takes a solid month to do, so maybe not that...but I am definitely aiming for maybe a week at the end of school or perhaps a long weekend sometime. I am at least doing tentative research, but due to the cold snap we have been having (can anyone say climate change?) now does not seem to be the ideal time. There is just something so intriguing about the idea of travelling on the open road (well, path) alone with your thoughts and 360 degree panoramic views, ending at a religious cathedral so monumental that it dwarfs most others.
So, thoughts? Should I do it? For a week? For a weekend? Man, I wish I had a month to do the whole thing, but let's face it, I probably am not in shape anyway!!!
Key word that jumps out at the DAD... "ALONE".
ReplyDeleteI have heard of this pilgrimage,and it sounds intriquing. You know... helping you get closer to God and all. Exactly the kind of thing I would recommend!
Is this the road that seems to follow the border between France and Spain?
ReplyDeleteI say start with a day-long hike and if you like it, do four days or so!
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