A Diary of my ９００ km Pilgrimage in Spain.
This diary is written for the friends I got acquainted with in "camino de santiago.
"Friends of mine with whom I knew during my travel of pilgrimage.
Raul・ Daniel・ Javier ・ Victoria ・Antonio・ Jordi・ Jokin・ Susana ・Gabriel・ Inigo・ Elena・
Jesus・ Elisabeth・ Jantomas・ Lopez・ Teresa・ Marta・ Michael .
Are you all fine?
In the beginning of the 9th century, the grave of Saint Jacob (Santiago),
one of the Christian Twelve Apostles, was discovered in Santiago.
After that, pilgrims came to visit here.
and Santiago became one of the three pilgrimage places along with Jerusalem and Rome,
met five hundred thousand pilgrims every year in the twelfth century.
"Camino de Santiago" is very the road of 900 km long,
that pilgrims used to walk along from the Pyrenees to Santiago de Compostela,
a western city of the Iberian Peninsula.
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"The door is open to everyone.
Open to the Catholic, to heathens, to the poor, and even to the fools.
We welcome them as if brothers regardless of his nationality or his politics... "
(From a lyric poem of Roncesvalles abbey, the first pilgrimage place in Spain)
This is the poem I got attracted with "Camino de Santiago" From this instance,
I have been dreaming of walking this road some day.
I ... though already 53 years old with my wife and two daughters (24 years old and 21 years old) ...
my mind always remains young.
It is sure that we walk less and less in this car society.
I got far from climbing mountains, playing golf, or even from going on a hiking in recent five years.
Many friends of mine were seriously anxious about such me, whether I could walk through 900 km.
(I also found them right if I were in their position.)
My journey, according to my plan, begins at Lourdes (France) and ends at Fatima(Portugal),
two places of miracle in Europe recognized by the Catholic.
Meanwhile, I plan to walk through 900 km on my foot,
from a French town Saint-jean-pied-de-port at the foot of Pyrenees
to Spanish town Santiago-de-compostella,
This is the road of pilgrimage, "Camino de Santiago."
I believe sincerely that the sin I have committed until now can be forgiven
and that I could be invited to the Heaven in the future,
by walking through this road of pilgrimage from the Middle Ages.
Going across a number of mountain passes of more than 1300m high ...
And even now, when one year has passed after my travel,
I am still in a strong feeling of satisfaction which I have not experienced after previous other travels.
And I got acquainted with a lot of "peregrino amigos (dear friends of pilgrimage)" in Europe.
One day I walked 30 km in a wheat field all day long.
How pretty looks a small lovely flower at the roadside!
I couldn't help thanking god for the fact that I lived safe today,
for the fact that I could spend a night in albergue (pilgrims' inn) for rest,
and for the fact that I could have something to eat. I felt grateful day after day...
If you have a plan to go to walk this road, I recommend it strongly.
To assert the conclusion first, this is indeed a safe way to walk even for a young lady.
Forty to fifty pilgrims walk every day in June or in July;
many European young ladies also walk on this road.
A map is not necessary at all. Big signs of yellow arrow are drawn here
and there at an interval of every several ten meters throughout all the 900 km, even in a mountain path.
How many times I felt ease when I see these signs...
I couldn't get any information about the route of the road
itself nor the location of albergues on the route of pilgrimage.
Trials and errors in the first one week. In addition,
(this is the most big nuisance) I don't speak English nor Spanish!!!!!
No hablo espanol! Tampoco hablo ingles! Pero hablo japones muy bien! They say oh! japones dificil!
But I am sure that I could understand the local people by heart though I couldn't speak their language,
while some travelers understand the local people only ostensibly though they speak the local language.
I visited Paris, Lourdes, Oloron, and after that I walked the pilgrimage road in 40 days,
and after that I visited Porto, Aveiro, Coimbra, Nazare, Fatima, Sinta, Cape Roca, Lisboa,
and I returned to Madrid where I stayed for three nights.
Two months would be well enough to walk the pilgrimage road.
(Departure: Jul 7) Saint Jean (France)-Roncesvalles-Erro-Pamplona-Puente La Reina-
-Estella-Los Arcos-Viana-Logrono-Najera-Azofra-Santo Domingo De La Calzada-
-Belorado-S.Juan De Ortega-Burgos-Tardajos-Castrojeriz-Fromista-Carion-
-Calzadilla-Sahagun-El Burgo-Mansilla-Leon-Villadangos-Astorga-
-Rabanal-Molinaseca-Villafranca-El Cebreiro-Hospital-Triacastela-Sarria-Portomarin-
-Palas Df Rei-Arzua-Arca-Monte Del Gozo-Santiago De Compostela (Arrival: Aug. 15)