A personal journey along the Camino de Santiago

An internet friend and writer for realtravel.com has committed, to a fascinating blog, her experience of walking the Camino de Santiago pilgrimage this summer from St. Jean Pied de Port in France, to Santiago de Compostela cathedral.

Below is a short taster of her experience following which there is a link to the complete blog relating the 32 day journey in detail. This is essential reading for anyone contemplating the Camino and includes tips and advice on everything including the kinds of clothing to buy for the trip. It is a great read and has some fantastic photos.

El Camino Santiago

Galicia's Santiago de Compostela is believed to be one of the world's holy places. In the cathedral in the center of town is a silver casket said to contain the remains of the Apostle Saint James. It is to this cathedral that Camino walkers journey over 500 miles (800 kilometer), and try to live for a few weeks in a place and manner where the divide between God and humanity is narrower.

The route is the thousand-year-old "Camino Santiago", a walking pilgrimage route stretching the entire width of northern Spain. As many as 100,000 “pilgrims” traverse Spain on this trail every year, yet each traveler may feel like the only one, walking for hours without seeing another soul. The hamlets and towns along the trail are ageless, and their reputation for hospitality legend.

There are places along the Camino where you might believe you were walking not only across space, but across time as well. Roman walls and medieval bridges still stand; old roads and churches remain in villages untouched by the centuries. If you choose to walk the Camino Santiago, you will find yourself with a hundred favorite towns, and a thousand favorite stories. I walked the route in the summer of 2007, posting a blog throughout the journey. So these are my stories. -- "Fretless"


Read this amazing blog by clicking on
http://realtravel.com/europe-trips-i4550045.html - A 32 day Camino pilgrimage from St. Jean Pied de Port in France, to Santiago de Compostela. (Unfortunately this link seems to be no longer active.)