Where do you want to go and where do you want to leave?

    THE RIGHT YEAR TO MAKE THE WAY OF SANTIAGO

    12th May 2021

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    When the destination... it's the real starting point!

    In the Middle Age the “spiritual paths” were undertaken to ask for clemency or forgiveness. Nowadays, we are still on the move to follow a spiritual motivation, but mostly to satisfy the trend of the moment or to follow the passion for sport, in particular for the trekking. 

    The most important Path, globally known, is that of Santiago, specially the French path: starting from France and winding for hundred of kilometers, through the Pyrenees, the paths ends in the Spanish town of Santiago de Compostela.

    Nothing detracts from the fact that, having the necessary time available, you can start the journey by simply crossing the threshold of the house and start walking, step by step.

    If the idea of doing the path has always attracted you, but you don’t have the right motivation to move your legs….let me say:  2021 is the perfect year!

    The 25th July of this year, the feast of martyrdom of the Apostle Santiago, is on Sunday and when this happens, it is called Compostelan Jubilee Year! It happens every 6,5,6 and 11 years and in the end there are just 14 years in one century. The last one was in 2010, the next will be in the 2027 and in the 2032. On this occasion the most people organise the trip in order to arrived to Santiago cathedral by July 25th to pay homage to relics of the Apostle and to obtain plenary indulgence (Nowadays the jubilee is granted for every sinner that cross during this 12 month the holy door). What are you waiting for?!

    For more than a year the world is facing the covid-19 health emergency and go on an activity like this might bring more serenity and could restore people mind which have been forced for a long time a restriction to freedom.

    Million of people from different ages are walking on, not only for devotion, but also for personal growth: they are driven by sport passion, to get in direct contact with nature, the landscape, the culture of the lands crossed.  Each person has an own personal motivation. But to face this experience is not enough to put your backpack on and move you legs. Absolutely not!

    The web is full of specific sites and published books to drive the travel preparation of neophyte on arrival at Santiago with route maps, distance information, equipment, best period and knowledge of culture and history about the art of places you can visit (romanic street, medieval bridges, gothic cathedrals, hermitages, villages and castles).

    The most important things is to do what you feel good!

    The Santiago path is not the only path, but several born routes that have developed over time, adapting to the changing of historical periods.

    To be able to choose the right path you have to do different consideration. Although the path is for every person, it requires a little physical training (and also a mind training). Then you have to evaluate the single step, the distance, the height different, the equipment (remember  that the backpack and shoes will become your second skin, in addition to sweat and rain) ecc…

    If you are a sport passionate and you have a “physique du rôle”, you can choose one of the  two paths recognized in 2015 by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site. We are talking about the Path of North, where the effort to climb up the Cordillera Cantabrica and the Spanish north coast will be rewarded by extraordinary landscapes, with typical genuine essence villages, and coastline overlooking the ocean. And the Primitive Path, the oldest route (and first Jacobean route) where you have to use your athletic preparation because you have to consider the continuous back and forth up and down the mountains above 800 meters. If you consider the path of Santiago corresponds to a kind of personal mystical purification this is THE path for you.

    Are not you athletically prepared? You can take the French Path, the most used by pilgrims because it is considered the main way to arrive to compostela since the Middle Age. About 800km divided into 25-30 steps (from Saint-Jean de Port on the French side of the Pyrenees) that cross Navarra, La Rioja, la Castiglia and Léon. It is the easiest route, of great historical interest and winds mainly in plan. Well, the soul regeneration for everyone!

    The ancient history passionate can evaluated other option: the English Path is the shortest and easiest way, but however it is rich about history and attraction. It was the way taken by Crusaders and the Templars who, on their way to Jerusalem, stopped along the Galician coast and reached Santiago to ask the Holy Apostle for protection once they arrived in the Holy Land. Or the Ruta De Plata, about 1,000 km (from Seville to Santiago)  along which your eyes will enjoy the vestiges of Roman civilization, your feet will tread for few stretches the original covering of stone slabs and will cross the ancient bridges.

    But unless youre as tough as a camel, avoid it in the summer! In the first part of the route the high temperatures and the few shadow zones will make you feel in hell that even the vision of Santiago will not bring you relief!

    If you want to go along a stretch of coast avoiding the cold north wind and take light steps, then you can venture on the Portuguese Way, little beaten and mainly flat, where you will find refreshment in the shade of citrus groves, olive trees and oak woods. In the northern regions of Portugal there was no real better route, but there were rather many routes, all equally practical and practicable, which is why this road does not follow a well defined path... or even well signposted.

    But whatever path you take, you will reach your goal. At the end there it is…Santiago de Compostela! After grinding kilometers and pouring sweat, you can finally rest your tired limbs, letting the emotions take over, in Plaza do Obradoiro.

    Whether you are a believer or not, don’t forget to collect here the Compostela, the latin document issued by the ecclesiastical authority of Santiago de Compostela that certifies the path has been completed. It will still be a nice memory to frame at home! To obtain it, however, you must have the Pilgrim's Credential, a sheet to be stamped at each stage that you will make along the way.

    Do you want to be able to say that you really do the Cammino de Santiago? Then, don’t stop and carry on! A lot of people when they arrive here they continue on the Jacobean route to deal with the close, solitary and suggestive kilometers. It is this train that the true inner path, the genesis of everything. The last effort that leads to regeneration, to the rebirth of ourselves.

    Santiago is not the point of arrival, but is the starting point. Follow the last kilometers that leads to Finisterre, the last known peace of land, the one the ancients called Finis Terrae. Arrive here with the knowledge that when you finally get to the ocean you will be able to admire not only the end of the known world, but also the end of the old self.

    Now your path is really over... and you're ready for your next adventure!

    If you want to be part of the big family of walkers but you still have some doubt and perplexity, do not be discouraged. Busforfun sees and provides... with two proposals (by plane and by bus) tailored for you!

    IMPORTANT NOTICE: The anniversary of the Xacobeo Year will be extended for the first time to a period of two consecutive years (2021 and 2022) due to the pandemic. To fully enjoy the path, however, it is advisable to undertake the Way if the authorities have removed all possible restrictions, taking the right precautions and following the current rules.

     

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