"The Camino provides."

--A commonly heard expression along El Camino de Santiago

Some trips we take for business.  Some trips we take for pleasure.  Some trips are required.  Some trips are our choosing.  Some trips wind up being straight from hell.  Some trips we never forget. And some trips...well, they change your life forever.  Such was my experience on El Camino de Santiago last May, and God willing, I hope to return to Spain in 6 months, this time taking my son Jack with me. 

El Camino de Santiago, or The Way of St. James, is a route across northern Spain that has been followed by Catholics on pilgrimage to the tomb of St. James since the Crusades.  There are multiple routes, the most popular being the French Way, which I walked.  It begins in St. Jean Pied de Port, France, crosses the Pyrenees Mountains into Navarra, crosses the Maseta, on into Galicia, to Santiago de Compostela, and then on to Finesterre (End of the World).  The French Way is about 800 km and usually takes about 40 days.  I walked for only 8 days and covered 188 km.  

I've done a decent amount of hiking and backpacking, but none like what I experienced on El Camino.  Tents are not required.  Pilgrims stay in albergues (hostels), some of which are municipal, some of which are privately owned, and some of which are run by the Catholic church.  I think the most I paid for a night's lodging was 20 euros, about $26.  Food was EVERYWHERE, and I ate lots of it.  Bread. Soup.  Fruit.  The best orange juice I've ever had!  Meat!  The Spaniards love meat.   And people.  LOTS OF PEOPLE.  

A friend of mine who walked El Camino a month before I did asked me what my top 10 Camino moments were, and in thinking back I thought I'd share them with whichever of you poor people are actually reading this drivel...

Here goes....

1.  St. Jean Pied de Port, France.  

This place is really, really old world.  I rode a bus here from Pamplona, Spain.  I'd seen countless versions of this picture while doing my Camino research.  The albergue I stayed in was owned by a Basque named Alain.  He didn't speak much English, but he made excellent home-made bread.  On the right side of the bridge in this picture is a cafe...I couldn't resist asking for a margarita, just so I could see the reaction of the French owners.  Priceless! But they didn't appreciate it. lol.  I was only in France for one night.  About 3 hours into the first day of walking, I crossed over into Spain and left France behind.  

2.  Mario and Kathryn.  

Ironically, I don't have a photo of either of these people, but they were the first two people I met on the Camino.  Mario is from Italy.  I met him on the bus from Pamplona to SJPP...he was the last one on and I was sitting by myself.  He knew more English than I knew Italian, but Google Translate helped.  He didn't have an albergue reserved in SJPP so I told him where I was staying and he stayed there.  Kathryn, an Australian,  was already checked in to our albergue when we arrived.  Mario and Kathryn and I ate dinner that night and talked about the routes we would take back into Spain.  Kathryn and I decided we'd walk over the Pyrenees Mountains, and Mario decided to take the road walk--he said his knees were not as young as they used to be.  I saw Mario only once more after that night, and Kathryn only twice more. 

3.  Walking over the Pyrenees. 

When I got to the top of Col de Lepoeder, I said to everyone who could hear me "this is the hardest day I've ever had hiking."  We all laughed at each other's struggle.  The view speaks for itself.  The Pyrenees aren't as high as the Rockies or even the Appalachians, but it was cool to walk over them.

4.  Crossing the very first Camino marker in St. Jean.

Somehow, putting my foot on this piece of brass as I began that morning made it all the more real that I was actually there.  On the other side of the Atlantic.  Alone.  Boom.  Let's do it.

5.  Roncesvalles

I was fully aware of Charlemagne.  I teach about him in my music appreciation class.  Roncesvalles was where he died in 778.  It was also my destination on day 1 of El Camino.  When I got there, I waited nearly 2 hours to get checked in.  The albergue there has over 200 beds and they were all booked.  The church and the albergue are all one big compound.  It's hard to tell what's 10 centuries old and what's only 5 centuries old.  

This church dates from the 1200s.  I sat inside it for nearly an hour, thinking about life.  Thinking about how amazing it is that there are structures still standing from before the Magna Carta was signed.  In our throw-away world, this was refreshing.  

6.  Will, Trevor, Julie, Augusta, Liv, Beverly, and the UNC crew. 

These were the people I walked with the most.  Will and Trevor are Brits.  Will publishes an outdoor magazine.  Trevor works in aerospace.  Julie is Canadian/American.  Liv is Swedish.  Beverly lives in Nashville.  The UNC crew were students from Chapel Hill and two of their professors.  Great kids! All of these I met on the first portion of the Camino and they were really the only ones I talked and walked with.  After the third day, I took the train over to the final portion of the route and never saw them again.  I didn't really talk to too many people during the final 5 days of the walk other than to say "Buen Camino" or "hey, what's up!" But there's a bond between pilgrims on the Camino.  

7.  Pamplona.  

When I found Will and Trevor at the tapas bar, Will said "Yeah, I don't think anyone in Pamplona's having a bad time!"  I've never seen any other place like it.  Every man, woman, and child looked like supermodels.  Dressed to the 9s and having a great time!  It was like the whole town was the red carpet at an awards show.  And the food was unreal.   Cheerio!

8.  The lady who owned the albergue in Arzua.

On day 6 of walking, kindness came in the form of the 5-foot nothing of a lady who owned the place I stayed in Arzua.  I had blisters the size of silver dollars, but I knew I had to find a pharmacia..so off I went, down the street.  She chased me down and offered to drive me.  I declined but was thankful.  Nothing like being 6000 miles away from home and realizing just how much we take Walmart for granted when we need something.  By the way, a pharmacia in Spain might have blister pads...and it might not! 

9.  Celtic ruins near Palas de Rei.

6000 years BC.  Enough said.  

10.   The cathedral in Santiago.  

After 116 miles of up and down and up down, and up and down some more, I walked into Santiago--which by way DOES NOT mean you are anywhere near the cathedral yet.  I met some dude from Germany and we found the cathedral.  We got in line to get our compostela--a certificate in Latin, and then we parted ways and I toured the cathedral.  Old doesn't even describe it.  Nor does huge.  

It felt good to stand there with my trekking poles over my head, half wondering if the random tourist I asked to take my picture would run off with my phone or not....

The Camino provides, they say.  And it did.  It provided when the albergue in Arzua drove my Crocs to the next town because I left them there--and didn't charge me.  It provided in the Pyrenees when I found potable water.  It provided when my head was about to split open and Julie had Advil on hand right at the moment I passed her.  It provided Burger King and Wi-Fi when I was really craving some American food and wanted to text my kids when I got to Pamplona.  It provided a feeling of community with complete strangers, who in reality weren't strangers at all.  It's an experience that can't be explained.  While I'm not Catholic, it was capital A Amazing to walk and talk with people who were Catholic and listen to them talk with exuberance at the possibility to kneel at the bones of St. James.  El Camino is physical. It's religious.  It's spiritual.  And more.  

While it wasn't exactly cheap, it also wasn't all that expensive.  I spent about 20 bucks each night on lodging.  A three-course menu peregrino (pilgrims meal) was about 10 bucks.  The train rides I had to take were about $45.  And if you use the Hopper app, you can find some cheap air-fare. 

If you're looking for something completely different to do, go experience El Camino.  It'll change your life forever.  I promise.