- Time of past OR future Camino
- Francés x 5, Le Puy x 2, Arles, Tours, Norte, Madrid, Via de la Plata, Portuguese, Primitivo
For 2024 Pilgrims: €50,- donation = 1 year with no ads on the forum + 90% off any 2024 Guide. More here. (Discount code sent to you by Private Message after your donation) |
---|
I was asked yesterday what I have seen walking the Camino Frances that I would not have seen travelling by car - we were talking cultural beauty rather than nature. I tried to explain about the tiny villages with unexpected glories in the local church but it seems like people only wanted to hear about blockbuster sights, the Michelin 5 star attractions. Any suggestions?
The Camino isn't just great cathedrals, great hospitales that have evolved into 5 star hotels or even medieval bridges and Roman roads. It is the roaring silence of the Meseta, the goblin whispers in the trees of the Montes de Oca, the sound of Tomas' bell through the mists before Manjarin, mass in a tiny battered iglesia served by an equally battered priest,,,,,,,
Hi Jill - my first experience of "slow travel" was back in 2006 when I was part of a group that cycled from Ho Chi Minh to Phnom Penh. Travelling at around 15-20km allowed us to observe the people working their fields; talk to children also cycling to school and stop whenever we wanted. You can't do this in a plane/train/car. Walking is the ultimate "slow travel" and as Tincat says its the other "little things" - those sun rises and maybe even the sunsets, the little old lady sitting in her doorway - these you will miss in a car and maybe even on a bike. See you on Saturday. MI was asked yesterday what I have seen walking the Camino Frances that I would not have seen travelling by car - we were talking cultural beauty rather than nature. I tried to explain about the tiny villages with unexpected glories in the local church ... Any suggestions?
Hands down, the Ermita just outside of Triacastela when you opt to go in the direction of San Xil. A little gem, along a wooded path.I was asked yesterday what I have seen walking the Camino Frances that I would not have seen travelling by car - we were talking cultural beauty rather than nature. I tried to explain about the tiny villages with unexpected glories in the local church but it seems like people only wanted to hear about blockbuster sights, the Michelin 5 star attractions. Any suggestions?
I was asked yesterday what I have seen walking the Camino Frances that I would not have seen travelling by car - we were talking cultural beauty rather than nature. I tried to explain about the tiny villages with unexpected glories in the local church but it seems like people only wanted to hear about blockbuster sights, the Michelin 5 star attractions. Any suggestions?
This. Times a thousand.I think the person that asks this question may not understand the answer.
That village was Oncina de la Valdoncina, after Virgen del Camino. Yes, what a great surprise to find him there. He told us that he hoped to open an albergue in the village when finances permitted.I agree that it is the details you miss when traveling by car - and the small moments that take on mythic proportions.
One moment of our Camino that stands out is crossing a bridge coming into a very small village and finding a man with a stand set up at the cross roads in the village (this village had 2 streets with a T-intersection) selling freshly squeezed OJ and cafe con leche. He was squeezing the OJ with a small hand squeezer from beautiful oranges in a large wooden box, and making the coffee in a pot on a camp stove. Everything was donativo. This was THE best OJ and coffee that I have ever had.
Yes, this village was accessible by car, so someone could get there without walking. And yes, they could have stopped and gotten coffee and OJ from this guy. But there is no way someone in a car could have had the same experience - absolutely no way. When we walked into this town, it was as though St. James himself had sent this guy down from heaven with his OJ and coffee. It was magical. Of course, this would probably sound ludicrous to most people who haven't walked the Camino. A guy selling OJ and coffee from a stand in a village - neat find, but hardly a religious experience. But THAT is what the Camino does - teaches you to appreciate things like OJ and coffee in a little village.
What can't be seen travelling by car?
Thought you'd like this photo.I agree that it is the details you miss when traveling by car - and the small moments that take on mythic proportions.
One moment of our Camino that stands out is crossing a bridge coming into a very small village and finding a man with a stand set up at the cross roads in the village (this village had 2 streets with a T-intersection) selling freshly squeezed OJ and cafe con leche. He was squeezing the OJ with a small hand squeezer from beautiful oranges in a large wooden box, and making the coffee in a pot on a camp stove. Everything was donativo. This was THE best OJ and coffee that I have ever had.
Yes, this village was accessible by car, so someone could get there without walking. And yes, they could have stopped and gotten coffee and OJ from this guy. But there is no way someone in a car could have had the same experience - absolutely no way. When we walked into this town, it was as though St. James himself had sent this guy down from heaven with his OJ and coffee. It was magical. Of course, this would probably sound ludicrous to most people who haven't walked the Camino. A guy selling OJ and coffee from a stand in a village - neat find, but hardly a religious experience. But THAT is what the Camino does - teaches you to appreciate things like OJ and coffee in a little village.
I started my second CF in 2014 with a friend from Biarritz who originally had every intention of doing the entire Camino with me. Unfortunately he developed some knee problems, dropped the idea and then tried to do the first day with me and didn't even make it to Orisson. He was infuriated that his older brother had completed the Camino on foot and by bike the past summer and got tired of the continuous "blah, blah" he was hearing from his brother. He was determined to see the Botafumeiro swing and the lighthouse at Fisterra this year.I think the person that asks this question may not understand the answer.
A Camino experience is always hard to describe to an "outsider" (for lack of a better word).
Not sure I am answering your question truly Kanga, however,
How about:
The shared smiles of understanding when you show your blisters to others over a cafe con leche:
The encouraging touch on your shoulder when you think you can't go on:
The gentle word of someone who understands the concern you are expressing:
The knowing nod from another who has experienced the life event you have just explained:
The chunk of shared chocolate just when you need it most:
The meal put together from odds and ends and shared by relative strangers:
The sunrise that greets bleary eyes peering out from tired early morning faces:
The look from another that says everything about kindness and understanding:
The fountain that is there at the moment you need it:
The annoying and strangely comforting tip-tap, tip-tap,tip-tap of walking poles:
The whispering of wind through through trees:
The gurgling of hidden streams in undergrowth:
The sweet birdsong:
The patience of others around you:
The tolerance of those whose land you walk through:
The history you can touch, smell, see and be with:
The visions of people doing things their ancestors did, and finally, for the time being,
The absolute joy of seeing, feeling, tasting, living and loving being where you are in the moment you are.
Buen Camino
This is why I sigh when asked for the 100th time to list "the best" albergues, camino sights, restaurants, churches, etc.
"The best" on the camino changes with every pilgrim. The path is not a product, it is an organism. It shifts and changes constantly.
If you step out onto the camino with a list of "must-see attractions," you are taking a touristic, consumerist approach to a journey that will not conform to that kind of expectation. I think this is why lots of people start the journey with carefully chosen equipment, books, and schedules, but don't finish the trip. They can't get their heads around the pilgrim principle:
You have to adjust yourself to the camino. The fewer expectations you have, the more you will gain from the experience.
I was asked yesterday what I have seen walking the Camino Frances that I would not have seen travelling by car - we were talking cultural beauty rather than nature. I tried to explain about the tiny villages with unexpected glories in the local church but it seems like people only wanted to hear about blockbuster sights, the Michelin 5 star attractions. Any suggestions?
Is this a riddle? I'll guess: the underside of the car. Am I right?
This. This is it. At least as close as I've seen yet. Let me know if you mind if I share this when I am stumbling to describe my Camino.
Wow. I'm surprised.I didn't spend much time trying to see the underside of cars whilst walking on the camino. I don't see this as a recommended activity there or anywhere.
What an absolutely wonderful experience this was - to visit the village where your father was born and raised; your memories will be that much more meaningful with your upcoming Camino. You are fortunate indeed. Thank you very much for this lovely post.My late father was born and raised in a village just outside Burgos, and back in 1992 I was lucky enough to go to Spain with my parents. I got to see village life for the first time and it was something I've never forgotten. No big attractions, no crowds or Michelin restaurants. The simple things like the farmhouse where my father was born, where we would all sit in the back yard with the old wood-burning stove and everyone cooked traditional food. The rickety wooden floorboards inside the house which were so badly in need of repair, my mother's leg went right through the floor one morning when she got out of bed! The local village wives gathering at the banks of the Ebro to gossip near the old wash house. Grapevines covering the wooden verandah. Dirt roads instead of paved roads. Muddy paths to the river, where we saw an old rope hanging off a tree which village kids used to swing themselves out into the water. Going to mass in the tiny village church where Dad was baptized. Small pockets of farmland in between houses. The sun setting and changing the colours on the mountains. They might seem like simple things compared to seeing the big sights, but for me it was the highlight of my trip. This is what I'm looking forward to seeing on the walk - the small villages, their people, and out-of-the-way places on foot.
Besides, I don't think I'd be brave enough to get into another car with my relatives in Spain. I had the unfortunate experience of being a passenger when one of my Uncles drove at white-knuckle speed from Burgos to the village on a winding road, and most of the time with his hands off the wheel because he kept pointing to unseen things on either side of the road. We all emerged from the car as pale as ghosts and barely able to walk for a full ten minutes. Of course, it didn't help that I was a tad hungover from a night out in Burgos with my cousins.....
What an absolutely wonderful experience this was - to visit the village where your father was born and raised; your memories will be that much more meaningful with your upcoming Camino. You are fortunate indeed. Thank you very much for this lovely post.
Going to Mass in those thousand-year-old village churches and sitting next to a villager whose family had lived there for those thousand years and probably built the church was one of the most most endearing memories of our Camino. Being there, and being a part of one of those families must have been especially memorable for you. When we visited the 400-year old church in the Italian village where my wife's grandparents came from and where her family has lived since the 1550's, with her third cousin who still lives there, brought tears to my eyes. I'm sure you had a similar experience. The spirit of your father remains with his ancestors, and will be there to greet you when you return next year on your Camino....Going to mass in the tiny village church where Dad was baptized...
Going to Mass in those thousand-year-old village churches and sitting next to a villager whose family had lived there for those thousand years and probably built the church was one of the most most endearing memories of our Camino. Being there, and being a part of one of those families must have been especially memorable for you. When we visited the 400-year old church in the Italian village where my wife's grandparents came from and where her family has lived since the 1550's, with her third cousin who still lives there, brought tears to my eyes. I'm sure you had a similar experience. The spirit of your father remains with his ancestors, and will be there to greet you when you return next year on your Camino.
I was asked yesterday what I have seen walking the Camino Frances that I would not have seen travelling by car - we were talking cultural beauty rather than nature. I tried to explain about the tiny villages with unexpected glories in the local church but it seems like people only wanted to hear about blockbuster sights, the Michelin 5 star attractions.
So much food for thought. We have several friends who are well travelled, cultured, intelligent, thoughtful people. They will travel to attend operas and plays, visit galleries and museums - in short they seek out the best of our human cultural heritage. I find myself floundering when trying to explain why I'd prefer to walk along a mud splattered road through remote villages.
memory of the path....the clouds...the sounds...hills...rivers...villages...grapes....hay bales. ..blackberries. ...dust....No photos can capture or replace those images that seem imprinted forever in my mind.
..
We use cookies and similar technologies for the following purposes:
Do you accept cookies and these technologies?
We use cookies and similar technologies for the following purposes:
Do you accept cookies and these technologies?