"The Way" and My Camino in 2011

Azuelos, house in El Burgo Ranero, 2011

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Yesterday I finally saw "The Way" with Martin Sheen, and it reminded me that I have not posted my promised post-Camino comments on this blog, so I shall use the movie as an introduction to my comments about the Camino in 2011. "The Way" was released in the US while I was still on the Camino, and catching somewhat obscure movies (anything that is not a Maul Movie--any film not made for 14-year old boys) in the slurbs of Northern Virginia, especially films more than a few weeks beyond their theatrical release date, can be difficult. Fortunately the local quasi-art house theatre (Cinema Arts Fairfax) opened it yesterday, and my wife and I were first in line to see it at its first show there.

The film was good entertainment, although like almost all movies a little implausible in places (the bag in the river, the gitano festival in Burgos, ...) and with at times a seriously deranged geography. It was redeemed by good acting, a good story line, attractive scenery and a number of details about walking the Camino that certainly rang true. The quartet of characters more or less randomly thrown together matched the demography I encountered with lots of Irish, Dutch, and Canadian pilgrims and rather few from the United States. I would have added a Scandinavian, French or German to the mix, but movies have neither the screen time nor the budget to do everything that might be interesting. Some commentators have objected to the brisk pace at which Sheen's character walked the Camino, but almost his age and probably in worse physical condition, I managed to walk from Pamplona in 32 days with few problems beyond the usual sore muscles. The motivations of those walking the Camino were cleverly addressed with the recognition that stated objectives and actual motivations are often not coincidental. The film is an entertaining and thought provoking two hours viewing for anyone who has walked or is contemplating a walk on the Camino Frances, and I plan to buy the DVD when it becomes available in order to show it to friends and to see it again.

In its penultimate act, "The Way" includes some scenes at the cathedral that are not presently possible including entry through the holy door, not until the next Holy Year, and a good view of Master Mateo's Portico of Glory. To see that magnificent sculptural assemblage in its original form was one of my motivations, knowing far more about it now than when I walked the Camino in 1998 and 2001. Alas, when I finished my Camino in October, the Portico was mostly covered with scaffolding and only small parts were visible as restoration work is in progress. Placing one's hand on the statue is not presently allowed, and I heard rumor that ancient tradition has been permanently halted due to damage to the carving. Ironically, when I was in London a year ago I made a special trip to the Victoria and Albert to view the cast of the Portico in that museum's famed plaster cast collection, but the exhibit hall was also closed for renovation, so for now I have to be content with pictures in books.

I ended my Camino with a bus trip to Fisterra (Finisterre) but did not go to Muxia. The scenes in "The Way" made me wish I had, for I had already been to the end of the earth in 2001 at the end of my Camino that year. A reason to make yet another pilgrimage!

Over the next several weeks I plan to post several additional brief commentaries about the Camino and my 2011 walk. Keep tuned!

Environment and Pilgrimage

Santiago Matamoros, detail of retablo, Iglesia Santiago el Burgo, Zamora, Spain

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The November 5th 2011issue of the weekly news magazine the Economist has a brief article "Pilgrimages: Hot Steps. Pilgrimages are booming. Time to make them less destructive" (p. 71), worthwhile reading and food for thought for anyone who feels that perhaps the pilgrimage to Santiago is becoming too popular. There are are environmental costs to pilgrimage, and with a world population now said to be 7 billion, there are huge numbers of potential pilgrims to all of the major (and minor) pilgrimage destinations. Perhaps it is time to asses the environmental costs and do something to mitigate them. Otherwise "pilgrims risk destroying the destinations they love."

Santiago to Fisterra

A brief posting for in an hour I am meeting a fellow peregrino for a last beer. He returns home tonight, and tomorrow I begin my way back to Madrid, via Zamora, Avila, and Salamanca to return to the real world next week.

Today was the obligatory bus trip to "fin del mundo." it was a glorious day for the long bus rides. Despite being mid-October, it looks and feels like beach weather. School is in session, and vacation season has ended, so the beautiful bits of beach between Noia and Fisterra were almost empty. A little hazy, it was still a nearly perfect day to walk to the lighthouse and look over the edge of the earth!

Fisterra itself was bustling with numerous peregrinos who made the trip by bus and many more who walked. Two weeks ago I debated walking, but after the climb to O Cebreiro, I decided that would be stretching my luck and my leg muscles too far. I am glad I took the bus and walked the final kms to the faro.

There will be no more postings until I return to the US.

Santiago!

Arrived early this afternoon in Santiago, and what a complicated set of feelings! Happy to have achieved the goal; glad I do not have to face any more 30 + km days anytime soon; relieved my knees will not need to make any steep descents for awhile; sad that I am unlikely to ever again encounter most of the fascinating and wonderful people who have walked on my schedule and been albergue, meal, and trail companions. Those who have never walked the Camino will never know the magnificence of the experience! The walking can be painful and occasionally difficult, but oh the rewards. It will take many weeks to sort my photos, notes and feelings to make full sense of the experience, but all complaints to the contrary, the rewards far exceed the time and effort expended.

An unexpected reward late this afternoon--in addition to seeing many of my Camino companions for a final time--was the swinging of the botafumier at the 6 pm mass. This is the second time my Camino has ended with that awesome display, a fitting coda to a fantastic month.

Arca (O Pino)--Turgrinos

Almost at the end of a dry Camino, not a drop of rain in 31 days. The heat in the first two weeks was difficult, but rain is worse so all who have been on my schedule should be thankful. Today was a comfortable day for walking, and tomorrow promises to be a fine day for the final 20 km into Santiago.

This walk I have been watching turgrinos. The turgrino phenomenon is both fascinating and annoying. Prior to starting, I mostly thought of those who walk a week ot two, using the albergues as inexpensive housing while vacationing. There are many who do so east of Burgos, but not many on the meseta. Having no intention of walking the whole Camino, even in installments as many Europeans do, they crowd the trail and use albergue beds, creating inconvenuences for those intending to go the distance as pilgrims.

In the final 100 km there is a quite different kind of turgrino. These "pilgrims" come in herds off tour busses. The bus driver deposits them at a bar with instructiona to get a sello. They then walk three to five easy km to another bar where they get a second sello in their credencials, climb back on the bus and are carried to a private albergue or hostal for the night. They walk perhaps 20 km but have a credencial allowing them to "earn" a Compostela. Yesterday I counted six such groups, including one where all of the turgrinos wore yellow scaeves.

Portomarin

The rumors are true. A very large number of additional pilgrims, from listening most of them from Spain, join at Sarria in order to walk the 100 km required for the Compostela. Already crowded in tis exceptionally warm autumn, the Camino is almost like a one-way city street. Never today was I out of earshot of chattering peregrinos, and it was rare when no one was nearby. I fear that may be the rule all the remaining four days.

Lots of rather rude people on the path including the Frenchman playing a "boom box" with some of the most vulgar American rap "music" one can imagine. An Irish woman told him he was seriously offending English speakers, but he just shrugged and went on, blasting the noise as he moved forward. Cell phones are ubiquitous along with banal "I am on the Camino" calls to people back home. Why one needs to do this while walking, I will never know. Finally, and most distressingly, the shedding of trash is truly horrific with used tissues in almost every semi-hidden place. Perhaps it is time to institute standards of conduct for peregrinos on the Camino.

Triacastela

Amazing how quickly a week passes when walking the Camino! That is especially true with three difficult days in a row: 1. The steep downhill from Foncebadon to Molinaseca; 2. The long slog through Ponferrada to Villafranca del Bierzo; and 3. The exhilirating but exhausting climb to O Cebreiro. Those are behind me, and now all that remains is the final week through Galicia into Santiago.

It was distressing to se what a tourist trap O Cebreiro has become. Trinket sellers and overpriced food places (4 Euros for a breakfast consisting of a cafe con leche and 2 piece of toast) dominate, and three tour busses with guides speaking English arrived when I was having a beer. It is a lovely village with my favorite church on the Camino. Sadly, it cannot be reserved just for peregrinos.

The weather remains warm to outright hot as it is this afternoon. The Camino remains crowded with albergues full or nearly so. There seems always to be a peregrino or two in sight ahead, and a turn shows one just behind. The mixture of people walking is fascinatibg. Geographically the Spanish, French, and others from the Continent are most numerous, and half the population of Ireland seem to be walking, but the relative absence of those from the US is puzzling.
Canadians are numerous, I have met a dozen or more from BC and even a half dozen from New Brunswick. Many French-Canadians are also on the route. In contrast I have met fewer than a dozen from the US since leaving Pamplona. A great thesis topic would be the mix of nationalities on the Camino.

Leon

Frog, mule and now lion, a veritable zoo. Of course the origins of the names may have little or nothing to do with their current links to familiar animals. While the lion is a symbol of modern Leon (sorry for the absence of accents; have not figured out how to do them on the iPhone), and lions in one form or another are almost ubiquitous in the art works representing the city, the origin of the name is from the Roman term for legion and not linked to large cats.

With glorious weather, a relaxed Sunday afternoon has been spent seeing a few of the highlights of Leon. Great luck allowed a visit to the cathedral without the expected Sunday crowd. Even greater luck brought me ino the Museo de Leon's annex at San Marcos, the church next to the Parador. Its three rooms, the sanctuary, the coro, and the chapter room, are awe inspiring examples of the gothic. Leon is a treasure house for fans of romanesque and gothic architecture, and San Marcos is one of its greatest jewels. I am only sorry that i did not discover it on earlier visits to the city.

Tomorrow back to serious walking and on toward Hospital de Orbigo.

Mansilla de las Mulas

Frogs followed by mules, the great fun of toponomy!

A badly needed light walking day, actually the second in a row. The trek into Leon tomorrow is not a distance challenge either, though it is a challenge to deal with urban places after a week of hamlets, villages and small towns. I almost wish there were a way to avoid cities on the Camino, but each one of the big cities does have charm and importance to the route.

Great steps toward increasing the safety of peregrinos have certainly been made since 2001. While too many crossings of busy roads remain, the walker rarely has to contend with more than a few meters of roadside walking. On todays walk, an overpass brings the peregrino into Mansilla across the busy highway, and a it earlier in the day's walk it was no longer necessary to cross the busy RENFE line at grade. The danger to the pedestrian peregrino is now more from speed crazed bicyclists intent on reaching Santiago day after tomorrow but insisting on riding on the senda rather than the parallell road.

El Burgo Ranero

I have long wanted to use that name in a posting, and this is a chance!

Almost to the end of the meseta, tomorrow it ends at Mansilla de las
Mulas. The crowding has abated a little. Not at all sure where the crowd coming out of Carrion de los Condes has disappeared to.

At a lovely small albergue in El Burgo Ranero, the first not full, I enjoyed the afternoon sunshine, wrote and read a little, and chatted with pilgrims from at least 5 countries, not including the US. In fact, aside from a woman from Miami and her American mother who lives in Brasil, I have encountered almost no Americans. Lots of Irish and Canadians along with a few Australians comprise the English speaking brigade in the great fog of languages on the Camino at this season, a subject to be addressed when not writing on an iPhone.

Calzadilla de. la Cueza

Almost half the way and not a single posting! Blame excessively hot weather the first week, my age and the strain of walking, an iphone as a computer terminal, and lots of people.

The number walking is truly phenomenal. In 1998 and again in 2001 I was accustomed to walking for hours and seeing one or two other peregrinos. This morning, while it was still dark, the parade of peregrinos out of Carrion de los Condes reminded me of the rush to METRO stations a little later in the morning in the DC suburbs. Doing the Camino this time is proving to be a vastly different experience in many ways from past walks. Solitude is not available on the Camino Frances this autumn! When I return,I shall comment at length on the changes. For the moment,composing on an iphone is taking all of the fun out of blogging!

Pamplona

Tomorrow I start walking, today is a rest day to cure jet lag. In the decade since I was last here, Pamplona has become much more prosperous, and it appears as if the Camino has become much more popular. Before the heat of the day, I walked down to the bridge across the Arga and then up the ramparts to take some photos, and the number of pilgrims entering the city in the morning, on foot and on bicycles, was quite amazing, this nearly a month for walkers and at least 2 weeks for bicyclists, prior to Santiago. Of course European summer holidays are still on, and I talked with several only doing a couple of weeks, perhaps going as far as Burgos, before quitting for the year. Hope so, as I do not relish the prospects of a crowded Camino. Walking a decade ago was luxurious, I guess.

Ready to Leave - Labor Day 5 September 2011: Maps

Scallop Shell Decoration on Building, 8th Arr., Paris

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Given the jobless rate, the stagnation of worker incomes, and the demise of unions as a countervailing power to oligopoly capitalism and the plutocratic accumulation of wealth in the US, Labor Day is a rather bitter joke, but this holiday does mark the end of summer. For me it is also the last day before leaving for Spain and the Camino. I fly to Madrid tomorrow evening then go on by bus to Pamplona where I begin to walk on Friday after spending Thursday to recover from jet lag and to once again sightsee in the capital of Navarra. For a change, I am completely packed with everything in order. Usually I fail to finish until a few minutes before leaving for the airport. As always, there will be the thought "what did I forget." Last time it was my jacket, so that was one of the first items into the pack yesterday. 

Spent a little time reviewing maps over the past few weeks, and I had planned to do an entire posting on maps before leaving, but that shall have to wait until I return. For use while walking, I evaluated two map sets currently available, and one of them is far superior to the other. On one or another Camino email list a map set published by Camino Downunder, Camino Santiago: 30 All Weather Walking Maps (ISBN 978-0-646-52975-2) was recommended, though I really do not know why. The set is a handy size and published on water resistant paper, but the maps per se are poor in the extreme. The route is shown in yellow on a shaded relief map but few details are shown. None of the landmarks which might confirm the location of the route are indicated on the maps, and no street maps for the larger towns and cities are included. While the back side of the map pages list accommodations, those are not pinpointed on the maps themselves. At a list price of Australian $39.50 (I paid almost $50 US when tax and shipping were included), the set is not worthwhile. The map pages in the Brierly guide (see the discussion of guide books several postings back) are far superior.

A much better and cheaper map set is the Camino de Santiago Map published by Vancouver's Pili Pala Press (ISBN 978-0-9731698-5-0). Also on somewhat water resistant paper, the maps provide sufficient detail as to be useful for wayfinding and for locating accommocations. Decent street maps are included for the larger towns, and points of interest along the way are indicated. I plan to carry this with me, and at $18 (Cdn $16) it is available from Wide World Books and Maps in Seattle. It is a map collection I recommend.

Where does the Camino Begin? The St. Jean-Pied-de-Port fetish

Route Napoléon, 1998

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Why and how did the peculiar idea that the Camino to Santiago de Compostela somehow starts at the  French tourist-trap St. Jean Pied-de-Port get its start? Most of the guidebooks in English describe the route of the Camino Francés from that point onward (though at least one of them, the CSJ guide, discourages starting there), and all too many reminiscences of walking the route describe the horrors of the Pyrenees crossing  following the Route Napoléon as the first day on the Camino. Several pilgrims of my acquaintance have either terminated their walk at Roncesvalles or seriously considered doing so because of the rigors of beginning in St. Jean, even when walking the Valcarlos route, lower in elevation and somewhat safer in bad weather, into Spain.

While St. Jean Pied-de-Port has its charms, the Route Napoléon over the Pyrenees is the worst of all possible trails for a pilgrim, especially one from outside Europe (or from more distant corners of that continent) to begin the walk to Santiago. Arriving late in the afternoon after a long flight or set of flights and then a long train, taxi, or bus trip, the pilgrim begins the next morning a 25 km alpine hike including a nearly 1300 meter climb followed by a nearly 400 meter descent into Roncesvalles. Especially enjoyable and easy if one comes directly from North America, out of shape from several days of travel and with a 6-9 hour jet lag to recover from! In fact, that combination of distance and elevation change is likely to tax a hiker who is in first-class condition. If penitence is the goal, why not get off the plane in London, walk to Dover, swim the channel, and then walk on to St. Jean? At the foot of the Route Napoléon, the North American pilgrim would then be in reasonable condition to face the Pyrenees crossing.

In the Middle Ages, only the relatively few pilgrims from the local parish would have started in St. Jean. Almost all others following the route would have had days of walking behind them with the consequent conditioning. And those pilgrims were more accustomed to walking and heavy exercise in their daily lives than most modern people are. Following the path of least resistance, early walkers would have likely selected the lower and somewhat less challenging Valcarlos route. Once in Spain, only one section of the Camino Francés offers a similar challenge, the climb to O Cebreiro, and that comes well into the route, after the pilgrim is accustomed to walking carrying a pack (and it is easy to arrange for transport of the backpack to O Cebreiro from Villafranca del Bierzo) and climbing.

And for all the rigors of alpine hiking it demands of the pilgrim, the vistas afforded by the Route Napoléon are pretty but hardly awesome. The true grandeur of the Pyrenees is not apparent until one gets quite a distance further east. The far western Pyrenees have a landscape not too different from the mountains of West Virginia, while the eastern portions compare favorably to the more rugged parts of the Rockies or the North Cascades. If one wishes to include some true Alpine walking as part of their Camino, it would be better to start in Pau, Oloron, or at the top of the Somport Pass, all readily accessible by public transport. Uphill to Somport is challenging but gentler and far more gradual than the uphill out of St. Jean. Downhill from the top of Somport to Jaca is a beautiful walk, and it is followed by several days along the bucolic and lovely Camino Aragonés, with a view of the high Pyrenees in the distance, before joining the Camino Francés at Puente la Reina.

The St. Jean fetish has bothered me since I first walked the Camino in 1998 and discovered what a terrible place it is to begin. My second walk started at Oloron via Somport to Jaca, and it was a far more satisfactory beginning. The Somport route is quite as historic and culturally important as that through Roncesvalles. Some pilgrims from far western Europe, the ones who did not make part of their trip by sea or follow the coastal route,  passed through St. Jean. A huge number of pilgrims from Italy, the Rhone Valley and parts of Europe north and east of there, including Poland, Switzerland, Scandinavia and much of Germany, crossed the mountains at Somport.

Why then do so many walkers work so very hard to arrange transport to St. Jean in order to face the unnecessary rigors of the Route Napoléon? It was but one of the routes into Spain in the great age of pilgrimages, but it has few special distinctions other than offering a somewhat lower pass than is available to the east. The convergence of the St. Jean and Somport routes at Puente la Reina really marks the commencement of the Camino Francés suggesting that the Camino begins there. Most Spaniards consider they have done the entire Camino when they start at Roncesvalles. Starting at St, Jean, in short, makes no sense!

From a practical point of view, using public transport it is easier to get to Pamplona than Puente la Reina, and as a matter of time and personal conditioning, I plan to begin this autumn's walk at Pamplona. If I had the extra time and felt I was in condition to do climbing early in the Camino, I would begin in France at Oloron St. Marie. If it were absolutely essential to pass through St. Jean, I would arrange to do a week of walking on the Chemin in France prior to the ascent on the Route Napoléon.

Camino Aragonés near Ruesta

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Packing for the Trek

Ready to Pack for the Camino, 28 August 2011

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In a week that included a substantial (5.8 Richter) earthquake, with two aftershocks strong enough to be felt, and a hurricane. it is amazing that anything has been accomplished here in ole virginny. In fact I have booked the final details for leaving home on 6 September and starting the Camino on 8 September. Included among my last minute tasks now is putting together things I need to pack. In 2001 I published a packing list on GoCamino, but I have been unable to find a clean copy of that document, so I went to the internet and found several lists that, if not derivative of mine, parallel it closely. A packing list that is for me a little too inclusive is available at On the Camino, a website new to me but one that appears to be at least marginally interesting (do not have time to investigate it now, shall leave that task until after I return). Another is available at the website of Paul Nelson a composer who walked the Camino several years ago. The venerable CSJ website also has a packing list.

Having walked twice in the autumn, my significant addition to these lists for my autumn walk is a pair of light gloves. Leaving the albergue at 6:30-7:00 am means an hour or more of walking before light and in the early morning when it can be quite cool. Layering is also a good idea – a t-shirt, shirt, polar fleece, and a light jacket worked for me and I plan to use that same system this go. Other good packing tips are provided on the three links suggested above, not least a list of things best left at home (hair dryers, jeans, etc.). My goal, perhaps achievable is <12 kilos!

Guidebooks for the Camino I

Camino Guide Books, Old and New, Good and Not So Good

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The photo shows a collection of guidebooks for the Camino I pulled off my bookshelves at random. There remain a number of others on those shelves, and my collection is by no means comprehensive. Writing and selling tourist guides is a big business in the world today, and there is hardly a place for which there isn't at least one readily available title in a major language. Perhaps a book for North Korea does not yet exist, I don't know, for I have not looked for one. Otherwise there are titles on all the countries I have visited, plan to visit in the not too distant future, and ones I may never get to; guides for countries so easy to travel in that  a guide hardly seems necessary and ones for states so dangerous or difficult of access that few tourists venture to them.

The increasing popularity of the Camino means there are countless guidebooks in virtually every major language, and lots in less widely spoken languages, as well as sections on the Camino in more general guide books for Spain.  I have not yet come across Camino guidebooks in Hindi-Urdu, Chinese, or Japanese, but I would not be at all surprised if they exist. Of course guidebooks for the Camino have a very long history, beginning with a section of the recently purloined Codex Calixtinus. The quality of the books currently available is hugely variable as are the topics covered. Preparing to once again walk the Camino, I have been evaluating which one(s) to carry with me.

Walking means one wants minimal extra weight in the pack, and several of the books weigh-in at more than an extra pair of shoes! Some major demands and complaints as I evaluate titles:
1. Maps are essential, so why are many of the guidebooks provided with none or with crude and virtually useless ones? If I have time before I leave, I may post some comments on maps.
2. Up to date is essential, a difficult proposition in the past. With various digital techniques, it is much easier to update content, and good guides should reflect that.
3. Are color pictures really necessary? Indeed, in most cases are pictures necessary at all? In books like the estimable Michelin Green Guides where pictures are used to point out distinctive features of a site, then perhaps, but do we really need a color photo of the cathedral at Burgos or Santiago in a book on how to walk there? Is a pilgrim unlikely to recognize those large and visually dominant structures on arrival? Color printing and any printing of pictures adds to the cost and weight of books.
4. Content should be limited to information needed by the user along with a carefully selected and edited set of additional tips which the user might find of interest or use.
5. Bindings should be flexible and durable. Ideally they should be water resistant.
6. The books should be small and easy to carry.

While they were not perfect, the early incarnations of the Lonely Planet guides met most of my needs when I was young, poor, and bumming around Asia. They were lightweight, directed at backpackers, informative but with little information not of direct interest to the traveler. Their bindings were not great, but overall they were nearly perfect for one travelling light.  Compare that to the company's current guidebook for Spain weighing-in at nearly 700 grams. My flip-flops weigh less than 500! In fairness to Lonely Planet, some of their books can be purchased as pdf files, and I purchased and plan to load the section on the Camino from Hiking in Spain onto my iPhone for consultation enroute.

Based on evaluation of a pile of titles, I am currently considering three guides to carry, each of which meets most of my criteria listed above.
1. The CSJ guide to the Camino Francés which I undoubtedly will carry. Major fault: no maps.
2. Brierly, John. 2011. A Pilgrim's Guide to the Camino Santiago. Forres, Scotland: Camino Guides. ISBN 978-1-84409-192-8. Major faults: color photos and dubious quality binding.
3. Davies, Bethan, Cole, Ben and Hnatiuk, Daphne. 2009. Walking the Camino de Santiago. 3rd edition. Vancouver, BC: Pili Pala Press. ISBN 978-0-9731698-4-3. Major faults: not up to date and dubious binding.

I must say the last title came as a major surprise when I found it at Wide World Books and Maps in Seattle a few weeks ago. A decade or so ago I attended a reading at that same store when the authors gave what I thought was a very poor presentation, badly informed on too many issues relating to the Camino, and I did not even bother to buy their initial book (I am a sucker for books on the Camino as my sagging bookshelves attest). Although it is 2 + years out of date, their 3rd edition is well worth considering as a guide to carry.

Once in Spain I plan to look for titles in various other languages I can read, though this time, unlike on my past two treks where I used guides in German, French, and Castellano in preference to the heavy and out-of-date guides available in English (the CSJ guide was the exception, but it contained no maps, and in those days maps of the Camino were harder to get), I expect to use English language guides. I may just buy guides in other languages and have them sent back for later reading. When I return, I will once again post about guides, afterthoughts.

Ultreia

Scallop Shell Ornament

Sign for St. James Garlickhythe, London

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This blog began as a general overview of pilgrimage designed for use with some courses I taught on that subject. Until now it has been comprehensive, covering numerous pilgrimages in various religious traditions in many different parts of the world. For the next several months it shall be limited to commentary on el Camino de Santiago de Compostela as I prepare to make, and then once again walk, for the third time, the venerable pilgrimage route, the Camino Frances, to the purported tomb of the Apostle .

It is with considerable trepidation that I anticipate beginning in less than than a month the walk across Northern Spain to Santiago de Compostela. While I look upon this trek as more a research expedition than a pilgrimage per se, I shall walk from Pamplona to Santiago in 32 days. As I last walked from Oloron and Somport to Santiago, leaving home shortly after the events of 11 September 2001, I am intensely curious about how things may have changed. I am especially interested in how the city of Santiago de Compostela has changed in the past decade since I last walked the Camino and over the decades since I first visited that pilgrim destination in the far northwest of Spain in the 1970s. It is now not just the site of the shrine, an archbishopric and an ancient university but also the administrative capital of autonomous Galicia and a European cultural center. Changes which may have occurred in the smaller communities along the Camino and in the characteristics of those who elect to make the pilgrimage are also of interest. With plans to teach and write about pilgrimage now that I have more time for the subject, I am in a materials collection mode!

Today a nurse who gave me a vaccination (tetanus, a little overdue in what should be a once in 10 year cycle) asked “do you think you can do it?” I think I can, but I am not in the condition I was in 10 years ago, especially after a broken ankle 18 months ago. At age 66, now living in the hideous climate of Northern Virginia where the July just ended was the hottest ever recorded, getting in condition has proven a challenge. A 10 day visit to the Pacific Northwest in early August provided excellent weather but all too little time for practice walking. I think I can walk 18-30 km days with several hundred meters of climbing on a number of those days, but I do worry a little that I cannot do it. My response is to plan for shorter days and, a real cheat, to pay for my pack to be carried between stops.

That should allow lots of time to take notes, to talk with peregrinos and others along the route, and to take lots of photos. I plan to use this blog to post comments and photos while enroute. I had thought I might carry a small computer or iPad, but I think I shall limit myself to an iPhone and occasional cyber cafes, so postings may come at irregular intervals. Before I depart I plan several postings on issues of preparation, information sources, and some random thoughts about the peculiar human institution of pilgrimage.

Cultural Catastrophe!

St. James (Santiago) image in Codex Calixtinus (Wikipedia Commons)

After months of not writing, I had planned to begin adding materials to this blog as I prepare to once again walk the Camino Frances to Santiago de Compostela this coming autumn. I had not planned to begin by reporting a great crime against the human patrimony. One goal of my forthcoming pilgrimage was to view the Codex Calixtinus, one of the most important documents of medieval Europe, but alas that is not to be. Last weekend the document was stolen from the archive of the Cathedral.

On the Gocamino news group, I posted the following:
Whatever its status and history as the first European travel guide, loss of the Codex is a cultural tragedy. One of the most important extant collections of medieval music, the Codex Calixtinus is a key document for students of musicology. Other materials contained in the stolen document are equally important for scholars in various fields of medieval studies. This theft is at least on a par with the theft of a first folio of Shakespeare from Durham University (see the fascinating display currently on view at the Folger Shakespeare Library in Washington, DC) or the art works taken from the Gardiner Museum in Boston as one of the great crimes against the human patrimony committed against an institution devoted to preservation of that heritage.

One must hope the Codex Calixtinus is returned to the cathedral archive quickly and undamaged, and that it is not broken into pages and then sold to unscrupulous dealers who then sell them to unethical collectors in a vast, and one hears hideously lucrative, market for purloined works of art. Once in that market documents tend to disappear forever. Should the document be irretrievably lost, there are at least good quality reproductions for scholars and pilgrims to see, though those can never convey the thrill of examining the original nor contain the possibility of discovery some new scholarly examination may uncover. Meanwhile the Cathedral needs to evaluate its security precautions, for its archive and treasury contain numerous other items of potentially great value in the illicit art market.

A frequent contributor to discussions of matters related to the pilgrimage to Santiago has posted an extensive commentary on the importance of the Codex Calixtinus to that pilgrimage at her blog Amawalker.