Eve Alexandra
Veteran Member
- Time of past OR future Camino
- 2017 Astorga-SDC, April 2022 SJPP-Muxia
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And yet another fascinating perspective on the Camino.I knew that member Sillydoll posted an interesting article on being barefoot on the Camino....
And yet another fascinating perspective on the Camino.
I noticed that one of the links within SillyDoll's post has since broken but can be found at http://www.barefooters.org/barefoot-gallery-el-camino-de-santiago-spain-1/.
Thanks for sharing this reference.
-jgp
Never seen it. The only person walking barefoot along the way I ever encountered was sadly mentally ill.
Last year I met a young Australian guy who was walking the whole Camino (slowly) in bare feet. 'Free the feet' he said, ' and free the mind'.
It was autumn. It was Galicia. All those cows. All those spiky chestnuts....he was struggling.
I don't know if he managed the whole way barefoot. I hope he did...
Yeah, you gotta take anything filmed about walking the Camino for entertainment value with a grain of salt. Nothing is real and spontaneous if there's a camera and crew attached.Well I am sort of glad to hear it isn't a thing...I have a feeling my feet will look pretty bad by the end of this trip...no sense baring them for the world to see. lolol
Yeah, as much as I enjoyed the movie "The Way", I wonder how many people watch it and believe that one must bring a stone for the cruz de ferro. One must walk to Muxia. One must acquire a pilgrim family. etc etc etcHow myths start. That and the cruz de ferro.
James from Australia walked the Camino from SJJP to Santiago BAREFOOT and he was quite lucid, young gentleman and a pleasure to walk with, dine with and have a spot of rum with. All who encountered him enjoyed his company. We keep in touch with him since we parted ways in Santiago in Nov.2016 . You might have seen him and his dreadlocks along the Way which seem to have set some people back from him. Their loss !
Actually, Google Translate did a credible job of converting the Dutch to English and made the site very interesting. Thanks again.Thank you for the update . I also got some links on barefoot pilgrimage but they are in Dutch so not very useful here.Even if you can't read it , it has some good photo references.
http://www.tenbunderen.be/bedevaarten/compostelarituelen.html
Actually, Google Translate did a credible job of converting the Dutch to English and made the site very interesting. Thanks again.
-jgp
Ah yes James, he was a good lad. I think it may have been you who introduced me to him at a bar in Santiago where I was hanging out for a few days. Iam the English ex-squaddie anarchist ha ha!
Hope you well, Davey
When I stayed in Puente la Reina in 2013 I crossed the bridge 2-3 times while I was there (to and from the albergue into town) as I was staying in the albergue on the other side, up the hill (a nice albergue too, with a nice swimming pool we swam in that afternoon). I was walking with five Spaniards at that time, and none of them mentioned walking over the bridge barefoot and I never saw anyone doing it.Something being a thing is a powerful thing. I'm glad that you asked this question! When we stayed in Cizur we were told by a friendly and helpful local person that we must walk barefoot over the bridge in Puente la Reina which was our next stop. I'm a sucker for old traditions and was determined to follow his advice but backed out of it when online research did not confirm this and there was also not a single person who crossed the bridge barefoot when I was there. I later thought that he had been playing a joke on us gullible strangers.
Today I decided to google for "peregrinos descalzos" and lo and behold a description of this part of the camino frances turns up on the website of eldiario.es that says (my translation): If you spend the night at Puente La Reina, do not cross the bridge until the following day. Tradition tells us to wait until the morning and do this barefoot. You have to hang your boots onto your backpack and feel the stones under the soles of your feet, just as millions of pilgrims have done before you.
Has anyone heard of this and knows of an older historical source?
Ah yes James, he was a good lad. I think it may have been you who introduced me to him at a bar in Santiago where I was hanging out for a few days. Iam the English ex-squaddie anarchist ha ha!
Hope you well, Davey
For things like this I like to get pre-internet information by searching books.Today I decided to google for "peregrinos descalzos" and lo and behold a description of this part of the camino frances turns up on the website of eldiario.es that says (my translation): If you spend the night at Puente La Reina, do not cross the bridge until the following day. Tradition tells us to wait until the morning and do this barefoot. You have to hang your boots onto your backpack and feel the stones under the soles of your feet, just as millions of pilgrims have done before you.
Has anyone heard of this and knows of an older historical source?
Last year I met a young Australian guy who was walking the whole Camino (slowly) in bare feet. 'Free the feet' he said, ' and free the mind'.
It was autumn. It was Galicia. All those cows. All those spiky chestnuts....he was struggling.
I don't know if he managed the whole way barefoot. I hope he did...
I rewatched 6 ways to Santiago this weekend and noticed that they showed a lot of people walking the last few blocks to the cathedral barefoot. Is that a thing? Or was it just hot the day they were filming?
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