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  • Users: MichaelC
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  1. MichaelC

    Lucca to Rome - a retrospective

    I walked along the VF last spring, May 16-June 9. It's a beautiful route, and a completely different experience from France or Spain. I haven't been able to put my thoughts in coherent order, even after 8 months, so this is just going to be a data dump. Day-to-day I would start at a coffee...
  2. MichaelC

    LIVE from the Camino A wet start in Tuscany

    I know for some their Camino starts when they leave their front door. For me I’m more in a state of limbo - not home, but not yet on the Camino. But after a 21 hour flight, a night in Florence, and a night in Lucca, it’s finally here. I had originally planned on spending a few days in Lucca...
  3. MichaelC

    Rain gear 2023

    I usually walk or bike to work (5 km each way), and it's been raining a lot this month, so I've had a chance to test out my kit for my spring camino. I scoured a lot of those "ten best xxx of 2023" lists to find what I was looking for. I'm curious to hear what others are finding. Mountain...
  4. MichaelC

    Andrea Bocelli on the Via Francigena

    Hot off the presses! I've been seeing articles in the Italian papers like this one in intoscana: A cavallo sulla via Francigena con Andrea Bocelli: una noava docu-serie su Paramount+ (On horseback along the Via Francigena with Andrea Bocelli, a new series on Paramount+). According to the...
  5. MichaelC

    Interactive Map of Caminos de Santiago in Europe

    MichaelC submitted a new resource: Interactive Map of Caminos de Santiago in Europe - Website with GIS layers Read more about this resource...
  6. MichaelC

    Tips for Tackling O Cebreiro Hill During Your Camino Walk

    In another thread on "when did you feel most like quitting" a number of people have mentioned the long climb to O Cebreiro as one of their more discouraging days. Which is a shame, because it is a lovely walk ... if you do it at the start and not the end of your day. My advice, for those...
  7. MichaelC

    Lucca to Rome, short stages

    I've been collecting notes on how to break up some of the longer stages in Tuscany and Lazio. Some I saw here, some on social media - my apologies for not keeping track of who suggested them. Since the shorter stages don't all have pilgrim accommodations, and so require more advance planning...
  8. MichaelC

    Alternate routes: Lucca to Altopascio to S Miniato

    I've seen references to alternate routes on the Lucca to Altopascio segment, but there's not a lot of concrete information. I'll link to the information I've found online, but I'd love to hear from anyone who has actually walked it. The official route is along busy roads through suburbs and...
  9. MichaelC

    José Luis Corral. El Cid (novel, 2016)

    The epic poem El Cid starts with the medieval Christian knight Rodrigo Diaz de Vivar (El Cid) being exiled from Castille. The first part of the poem is lost. This modern novel tries to recreate the man behind the myth, and spends the first third in the Christian kingdoms of northern Spain -...
  10. MichaelC

    2023 Roll Call for Via Francigena

    I couldn’t hold out any more - I’ve got my tickets for Italy for May 2023. I’d like to start a thread for others who will be walking all or part of the Via Francigena in 2023. My plan: Lucca to Roma. I arrive in Florence Monday May 15. I figure: sleep, head to Lucca for two nights, and start...
  11. MichaelC

    First week / last week on the Camino

    This one is just for fun. First week: Wow, I can't believe I just walked 100km! Last week: Only 100 km to Compostela? That's so close! First week: I can't survive on just toast and coffee in the morning. I need a big American breakfast. Last week: That albergue offered us toast and coffee in...
  12. MichaelC

    New podcast: De Saint-Jacques à Compostelle (French)

    The fifth most popular podcast this week in France is De Saint-Jacques à Compostelle by the actor Hervé Pauchon. He just started walking from Paris yesterday (March 22), and promises to post something each day. I just stumbled on this randomly (I was looking for a new French series), and...
  13. MichaelC

    Coimbra vs Fisterre

    Some close friends will be spending the spring in Porto in 2024, and are interested in following the camino to Santiago. I'd love to join them, but I think I would want (or need) more than ten days! I have the time to add a few more days of walking, and I'm wondering what folks think would...
  14. MichaelC

    The Way of St. James: A Pilgrimage Through Time and Change

    Here's an interesting description of The Way from 1912. It's from The Story of Santiago de Compostela, by Catherine Gasquoine Hartley. It's a free download on Google Books. ---------- The pilgrims who made the journey to Santiago called the star-paved milky-way in the heavens El Camino de...
  15. MichaelC

    When did you first break-free from your guidebook?

    This is a question I've pondered off and on over the years. Some quick background to explain what I mean: I started walking in Le Puy, so by the time we crossed the Pyrenees I was in decent physical shape, and mentally already in "camino space." My first couple days on the Camino Francés I...
  16. MichaelC

    Col du Grand Saint-Bernard details

    I know the Col du Grand Saint-Bernard isn't passable until early to mid June. What I don't know, though, is what exactly this means in practical terms. If the pass is closed, what is the last stop in Switzerland for walkers, and where in Italy do you start again? Or do you bus to St. Bernard...
  17. MichaelC

    Camino appearance in Crusaders: The Epic History of the Wars for the Holy Land

    I always enjoy when Compostela makes an appearance in a non-Camino related book. This time it was in Crusaders: The Epic History of the Wars for the Holy Land by Dan Jones (2019). The chapter in question was following the life and journeys of Ibn Hamdis, a poet from Sicily who fled the island...
  18. MichaelC

    Sarria alternative: Start in Samos

    Sometimes I feel like I walked a different camino when I read all the posts about the crowds after Sarria on the Camino Francés. I walked that route two years ago, and saw more cows than people until the last day. But I was also off-stage from the books. I know that there were many hundreds of...
  19. MichaelC

    Some folks just really don't get it ....

    Here's a conversation I just had with some of my family that caught me totally off guard - and I'm willing to bet I'm not the only one who's had this! The relative: Are you really planning on walking again? Me: Definitely. It was a special time. I really want to walk again. Relative: Let me...
  20. MichaelC

    Nómadas podcast - Santiago de Compostela, fin de camino

    RTVE (Radio y Televisión Española) just released a new episode of the Nómadas podcast - Santiago de Compostela, fin de camino (in Spanish). Nómadas is a Lonely Planet-style podcast, and this episode deals with the city of Santiago itself. There's some interesting bits in there, some having...

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