Most pilgrims who set out on the Camino de Santiago walk it while others
cycle and some go on horseback. When I checked it out earlier this year, I
could almost have swum it. The journey begins where you want it to begin
and ends in Santiago de Compostela, the capital of Galicia. That’s
the bit of northern Spain that sits on top of Portugal like an umbrella, and it
gets more rain than Dublin in the spring. However, when the sun shines it’s hot
to trot – or pedal or walk.
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| MAJOR MILESTONE: The yellow scallop shell symbol of St. James, like this significant one in Finisterre, marks each kilometre along the Camino for pilgrims, below |
Follow the yellow scallop shell signs that mark the Camino de Santiago
and you won’t get lost, except perhaps in your thoughts. You’ll arrive
days, weeks, perhaps even months later in Santiago de Compostela, no doubt
weary and probably wiping a tear. Completing the journey can be a very
emotional experience, especially if you continue on to Finisterre – what the Romans considered to be the end of the known world.
People ‘do’ the Camino de Santiago (Way of St.
James) for reasons of faith or fitness or friendship, to find themselves or
forget, or to raise much-needed funds for worthy causes, and they return home
with a tale to tell. No one, however, has a tale quite like the one told by
life-long best buddies Justin Skeesuck and Patrick Gray.
One Saturday afternoon two-and-a-half
years ago, Justin was flicking through the channels on his TV at home in Boise,
Idaho, when a programme that was just starting caught his attention. It focused
on pilgrims following the Camino de Santiago. Intrigued, he watched it right
through and thought: “I wonder if that’s something I could do?”
Some days later when Patrick called round, Justin
showed him the programme, which he’d recorded. When it ended, he said: “Well,
what do you think?” Patrick didn’t think. Not for one second. He simply turned
to his friend who was sitting in his wheelchair and said: “I’ll push you.”
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| PULLGRIMS: Justin and Patrick get some help from fellow adventurers on this hilly part of the Camino |
When Justin was 16 (he’s now 39, as is Patrick), he
was involved in a car accident that triggered a progressive auto-immune
disorder that left his legs, arms and hands paralysed. But it didn’t paralyse
his zest for life, one in which he could count on the unstinting support of
pal-in-a-million Patrick.
These guys were born 24 hours apart, played together
as little boys, went to school together, grew up together and each was best man
at the other’s wedding. Their wives are best friends and their children could
be forgiven for sometimes forgetting which parents they belong to, such is the
bond between the two families. So Patrick’s automatic response of “I’ll push
you” was perfectly natural.
Justin and Patrick spent two years meticulously
planning their pilgrimage along the Camino Frances – the French Way – from St.
Jean Pied-de-Port in the foothills of the French Pyrenees to Santiago de
Compostela, a distance of 766km (nearly 500 miles). But all the planning in the
world couldn’t have prepared them for the magnitude of the task they’d set
themselves when they began their journey last June 3.
As Patrick said: “It will live on in infamy as the
hardest physical, mental and spiritual challenge I have ever or will ever
encounter. It was mind-bogglingly difficult, but you don’t really know what you
can do until you’re faced with a difficult challenge. Honestly, through some
divine intervention we were given the strength to carry on.”
And that was only the first day.
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| CHAIRLEADERS: Justin and Patrick set the pace out on the road. Below, the guys pose with some pals |
Justin and Patrick faced one obstacle after another
as they continued on their arduous way, including knee-high rivers, cloying mud
and steep slopes that sometimes proved impossible to get up or down without the
help of fellow pilgrims, which was always offered without having to be sought.
At one point, Justin had to be carried all the way up a mountain in an
improvised sling by Patrick and half-a-dozen hikers before they returned for
his wheelchair and hauled it up too.
But despite everything the Camino could throw at
them, and determined to prove the doubters wrong, they made it to Santiago – a
day ahead of schedule.
“There’s
nothing more satisfying than setting out to accomplish a goal and have so many
people tell you it was impossible, and then to achieve what we set out to do,”
said Patrick.
“Just because you have limitations doesn’t mean you
have to be defined by them. You can overcome them if you choose to do so and
let people help you and love you. We knew there was no way we would
accomplish this alone. We were gonna have faith that people would show up and
help and they did, time and again.”
People certainly showed up last July
7 when, 35 days after leaving St. Jean Pied-de-Port, Justin and
Patrick arrived exhausted but ecstatic in the Praza do Obradoiro in front of
Santiago Cathedral. There to greet and embrace them were their wives and
hundreds of cheering pilgrims they’d met on their journey. There too were
total strangers who’d followed the friends’ progress on radio and TV, in the
newspapers and online and wanted to be present to give them a heroes’ welcome.
That’s the true spirit of the Camino de Santiago,
and it can be found all along the way. It’s there in something as simple as a
cheery salutation – “Buen Camino!” – from a shepherd, a shopkeeper or a child
skipping to school or a glass of water from a villager. When the going gets
tough on this toughest of journeys, a kind word can lift the heart and melt the
miles, but three kind words – “I’ll push you” – can move mountains.
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| BUD BROTHERS: An emotional moment for Justin and Patrick in Santiago |
Nearly a dozen recognised pilgrim routes lead to
Santiago and the resting place of St. James the Great in the cathedral. The
three most popular are:
The French Way from St Jean Pied-de-Port via Pamplona,
Logroño, Burgos and Leon (766km). For walkers who don’t have a month to
spare, the last 100km from Sarria to Santiago are enough to earn a ‘Compostela’
– a certificate of completion.
The Portuguese Way from Lisbon via Porto
and Pontevedra (610km).
The Northern Way from Irun via Bilbao,
Santander and Oviedo (820km).
There’s also an Irish Way dating from the Middle
Ages when pilgrims set out from St. James’s Gate at the western entrance to the
city where the Guinness brewery (a latter day place of
pilgrimage itself for more than a million tourists each year) now stands. In those days they sailed to either La Coruña or Ferrol in northwest
Galicia to join the English Way. That sea voyage took a couple of weeks, but
Aer Lingus has regular flights from Dublin to Santiago that take only a couple
of hours.
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| HIGH HORSE: Rooftop equestrian statue of St. James |
Former fisherman St. James, who was one of the
apostles and the brother of St. John the Evangelist, twice travelled to
Galicia, the first time on business when he brought Christianity to the pagan
Celts. When he returned some years later it was, according to lore, on a stone
boat pulled by three angels blowing trumpets. He was an awful show-off – for a
dead man. Known for his fiery temper, St. James frequently lost his head. This
didn’t endear him to Judean monarch Herod Agrippa, who had him executed in
Jerusalem in AD44, thus making the frequent permanent.
His decapitated remains were interred by his
disciples Teodoro and Atanasio on Mount Libredon, where for nearly 200 years
his marble tomb drew pilgrims from throughout Iberia. However, the Roman
persecution of Christians in that part of the empire meant the tomb was
abandoned in the latter part of the third century and soon forgotten. And
forgotten it remained until one moonless night in 814AD when a hermit named Pelagius stubbed his big toe on
a rock and hopped around cursing in a very un-Christian manner.
Pelagius wasn’t in the habit of wandering around in
the woods after dark, mainly because he was allergic to the wolves, lynxes and bears that roamed Mount Libredon, but
he’d seen strange lights in the sky and, almost in a trance, was following
their trajectory with his eyes up and his guard down. And that’s how his big
toe discovered the long-lost tomb, and the remains therein, of James the Great,
patron saint of Spain, Galicia, tanners, vets, pharmacists, furriers and
equestrians.
Those remains are believed to now repose in a silver reliquary in
the crypt beneath Santiago cathedral’s main altar and were visited last year by
almost 216,000 pilgrims and many more tourists. The crypt also houses, according to the faithful, the
relics of Teodoro and Atanasio, who were also elevated to the sainthood.
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| SILVERSMYTH? The silver reliquary that is believed to contain the remains of St. James in the Cathedral |
You’d think that having completed their journey,
modern-day Camino adventurers would be content to sit outside the cathedral,
nurse their blistered feet (saddle-sore cyclists have to be more discreet) and
then spend a few contemplative moments in the crypt. However, for those who are
able, a trek up the 110 steep steps to the roof will prove rewarding,
especially for fans of cult TV comedy series Father Ted, because hidden among
the gargoyles is a medieval version of Kicking Bishop Brennan up the Arse.
During construction – no one knows exactly when –
the churchman in charge was notoriously slow at paying the stonemasons’ wages.
Going on strike was out of the question – they’d have been thrown off the work
crew or, just as likely, off the roof. So they wreaked a rascally revenge by
carving an effigy of the bishop’s backside beneath a gutter and took great
delight in slapping it each time they passed. It didn’t put food on their
tables, but at least it put a smirk on their faces.
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| HOLY SHOW: The effigy of the bishop's backside on the roof of Santiago Cathedral, below |
The cathedral is a magnificent mix of Romanesque,
Gothic and Baroque architecture and the main attraction in this historical and
famously hospitable city (when you’ve been catering
to millions of pilgrims for more than a thousand years you get the hang of
looking after visitors, at which Santiago excels). Construction began in 1075 and was declared completed 136 years later on
April 21, 1211 when it was
consecrated in the presence of King Alfonso IX of Leon.
While the tomb of St. James tops everyone’s list of
things to see in the cathedral, many people time their visit to coincide with a
remarkable spectacle.
Goldsmith Jose Losada, who in 1886 crafted the
reliquary for the saint’s remains, had also produced, 35 years earlier in 1851,
the cathedral’s botafumeiro – one of the world’s biggest censers or thuribles.
Anyone who has attended a Roman Catholic funeral will have seen the priest
circling the coffin at the end of the mass, swinging the thurible – a small,
metal incense burner hanging from a chain. The aromatic smoke from the incense
signifies prayers rising to heaven.
Master Losada didn’t do things by half. His
gleaming botafumeiro (“smoke expeller” in the Galician language), which is made
of a brass-bronze alloy and plated with silver, stands 1.6 metres tall and
weighs 80 kilos. Shovels are used to fill it with 40 kilos of burning charcoal
and incense and then it’s attached to a rope hanging from a pulley mechanism
dating from 1604 high up in the dome. That’s when eight red-robed muscle men
called tiraboleiros step forward and the show begins.
One of the tiraboleiros gives the botafumeiro a
push to get it moving, then each grabs a rope and pulls, setting it off in
ever-increasing swings between the Pratarias and Azabacheria doorways at either
end of the transept. When it really gets going it travels at 70 kilometres an
hour, spewing clouds of thick smoke, and reaches a height of 21 metres, just
short of the ceiling.
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| BEAM ME UP: A spotlight picks out the cathedral's botafumeiro in full swing during a pilgrims' mass |
While all that swinging is going on, fascinated
spectators are sitting there wondering: “What if those knots come loose?” It
has happened on several occasions, though not lately. The most recent mishap
was in July 1937 when the botafumeiro sprung a leak and took on the
characteristics of a volcanic eruption, showering red hot charcoal on the
tiraboleiros. The most spectacular accident, though, occurred in 1499 when the
original botafumeiro broke free on its way to the ceiling and sailed out of the
Pratarias high window, killing and half-cooking a cow that was standing outside
chewing the cud and minding its own business.
Speaking of cows, Galicia – the greenest of Spain’s
regions – produces the country’s most succulent beef and lamb, thanks
to the lush grazing land. That’s why the poshest
restaurants, from neighbouring Portugal and the Basque country to Barcelona and
even as far away as the Canary Islands, take pride in telling their well-heeled
diners that the meat they serve is Galician – and charge accordingly. In
unpretentious Santiago, the prices are a lot more realistic.
Pork has a starring role in Galician cuisine too,
especially in the winter months (pigs are traditionally slaughtered in
November). A popular dish is Lacon con grelos, combining cured ham from the forelegs served with boiled potatoes, chorizo and,
curiously, turnip tops. Galician stew, made with uncured pork, chicken,
chorizo, foreleg ham, salted ribs, smoked pork fat, pig’s ears and snout with
potatoes, chickpeas and, again, turnip tops, will keep out the cold. If you
haven’t yet discovered potaje de lentejas (lentil stew), you’re in for a treat
because the Galician version containing green lentils, chorizo, peppers, onion,
carrots, potatoes and paprika is outstanding.
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| SEALICIOUS: Boiled octopus with paprika and, below, a selection of seafood on the menu in a restaurant |
However, it’s for its seafood that Galicia is
rightly renowned. The fishing fleet is the biggest in Spain, and boats daily
offload hake, sea bass, sole, grouper, monkfish and sardines plus a huge
selection of shellfish, crawfish, crabs and lobsters (you can see what’s served
in Santiago’s restaurants in the lively Abastos Market where all the chefs
shop).
If you’re a sucker for octopus you’re squids in,
because it’s Galicia’s favourite dish. There are many fancy recipes, but it’s
at its best and bursting with flavour when simply boiled, sprinkled with
cayenne pepper and olive oil and served on a wooden board.
The region’s wines are as good as but cheaper than what the big-name
Spanish bodegas produce and include the light young whites and strong reds of
Ribeiro; Albariño from Rias Baixas, which is the perfect accompaniment for
seafood; and Amandi, from Ribeira Sacra, a red the Roman emperors favoured.
To round off a meal, orujo is a local liqueur made
from the residue of wine production that’s drunk as a digestif – or as a dare. It’s potent stuff and highly combustible: from it
the Galicians make a drink called queimada, which involves dropping lemon peel,
sugar and ground coffee into a clay pot, pouring in the orujo, setting it on
fire and reciting a spell against the curses of witches until the flame
turns blue (get too close and the air is liable to turn
blue too).
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| HOT DRINK: Try a flaming queimada, made from orujo |
It’s said that pilgrims catch their first whiff of
burning incense about three kilometres from Santiago and quicken their step,
knowing their journey is almost over. The thought of reaching the city of St.
James, paying their respects at his tomb and checking in to a proper hotel room
instead of a snore-filled hostel dormitory makes the final few furlongs a
doddle.
The ritual is to shower, change out of their grubby
walking gear and go for dinner. It might be octopus, or maybe Galician stew,
washed down with a bottle of Ribeiro. Then comes the coffee, and finally a
flaming queimada. In their giddiness, some get too close to the clay pot and
suddenly realise that the whiff they first caught on the outskirts of the city
wasn’t the scent of burning incense at all – it was the smell of singed
eyebrows.
Ah, well. Buen Camino!
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| PROS AND CORNS: Walking the Camino is good for the soul, but the soles are another matter altogether, as I found out |
GETTING THERE
CaminoWays.com organises walking and cycling holidays for prospective
pilgrims and is behind the big increase in the number of Irish people setting
out on the Camino de Santiago (5,012 last year and many more expected next
year). Among the special deals for 2015 are:
Classic Camino: The final section of the French Way from Sarria to Santiago. From €492
per person sharing for a 6-night walking holiday.
Portuguese Coastal Way: From Porto, along the coast of northern Portugal and through southern
Galicia. From €662pps for a 7-night walking holiday.
Camino del Norte: Try the
section from Bilbao to Santander from €536pps for a 6-night walking holiday.
Prices for these and other options include accommodation on a half-board
basis, luggage transfers from hotel to hotel and a holiday pack with practical
information. Prices do not include flights, transport or insurance.
Optional add-ons include hotel upgrades, airport transfers and bike rental.
Optional add-ons include hotel upgrades, airport transfers and bike rental.
Book by December 31 for a 10pc discount on
self-guided 2015 Camino trips.
FLY
Aer Lingus operates three weekly direct flights from Dublin to Santiago
de Compostela on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday from April to October. There’s
an additional flight on Wednesday during July and August, the busiest
pilgrimage months. www.aerlingus.com
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| SAN FRANTASTIC: San Francisco Hotel Monumento |
STAY
There’s accommodation to suit every pocket in Santiago, from €12 a night
hostels and €40 pensions to top hotels. I’ve stayed in the following two
hotels, which I’m happy to recommend.
San Francisco Hotel Monumento (Campillo
de San Francisco 3). Part of a former convent dating from 1214 and adjoining
the Church of San Francisco, this 18th century building in the historical heart
of Santiago opened as a 4-star, 82-room hotel (with an indoor heated pool) in
2005.
Hotel Compostela (Rua do Horreo 1).
Conveniently located, it’s a five-minute stroll from the cathedral. Free wifi,
and the bus stop for the airport is just around the corner in Praza de Galicia.
Ideal mid-budget choice.
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| HARD TO BEET: My beetroot cappuccino in A Tafona |
EAT
A Tafona (Virxe da Cerca 7, closed Mondays). What
looked like a strawberry milkshake turned out to be beetroot cappuccino, and oh
boy, it was amazing. So was everything else on the tasting menu, the
ingredients bought only a few hours before from the Abastos Market just across
the street. Owner/chefs Lucia Freitas and Nacho Tierna are in the vanguard of
Galicia’s emerging nouvelle cuisine that draws its inspiration from the
region’s traditional gastronomy. A top recommendation.
Cafe de Altamira (Pazo de Altamira
Hotel, Rua das Ameas 9). I would have happily sat in this place all night
dreaming about the foie gras and fig pastry starter, only the staff were keen
to get to their beds. Being a stone’s throw from the Abastos Market, it’s no
surprise that seafood reigns beneath Altamira’s roof, but a Monday evening main
course of slow-cooked pork ribs (the fishing fleet doesn’t go out on a Sunday)
was divine.
Don Quijote (Calle Galeras 20). Here’s a restaurant that
specialises in the best of traditional year-round Galician cuisine and seasonal
game. Want to know what the locals eat from land and sea at home? Don Quijote
has been serving it in generous portions since 1979. One of the specialities of
the house is cochinillo – roast suckling pig – which can be described in many
ways, but I’ll stick with mmmmmmm!
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| MACKNIFICENT: Mackerel sushi and fig in Abastos 2.0 |
Abastos 2.0 (Praza de Abastos, locales 13-18). A small
gastro pub with a big reputation next to the Abastos Market, where whatever
catches the chef’s eye each morning dictates what he chalks up on the board.
Very popular with the young crowd and those who like to share photos of
artfully-presented dishes on social media.
Casa Marcelo (Rua das Hortas 1, closed Sunday evening and
Monday). Michelin-starred restaurant and therefore not the cheapest choice in
town. There’s no a la carte, just a tasting menu that changes daily. Chef
Marcelo Tejedor is known and respected for focusing on how his dishes taste
rather than how they look on the plate.
Acio (Rua das Galeras 28). Chef Iago Castrillon
and co-owner Eva Pizarro are a breath of fresh air and could probably serve
fresh air as a starter, such is the confidence their devoted diners have in
these two who refuse to follow trends. If you want to sample some of the most
innovative cuisine in all of Spain, this is the place, but reservations are
recommended.
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| INKREDIBLE: Sweetbreads cooked in the ink of an accompanying baby squid in Restaurante Acio |
READ
Father and teenage daughter Peter and Natasha Murtagh’s book, Buen
Camino (Gill & MacMillan), is a must-read for anyone planning
to walk the Camino de Santiago. They unusually began their journey from the
summit of Ireland’s sacred mountain, Croagh Patrick, but set out on the Camino
itself from St. Jean Pied-de-Port. Buen Camino is not a guidebook, it’s a
travelogue-cum-diary that charts the Murtaghs’ progress from France to Santiago
and then on to Finisterre. They write refreshingly honestly about the highs and
lows of their adventure, and it’s such an engaging read that I got through all
237 pages in four days.
John Brierley’s pocket-sized Camino Pilgrim Guides (Findhorn
Press) to the French, Portuguese and Finisterre Ways are by far the best and
most comprehensive guidebooks, which is why they’re the top sellers. Buy online
at www.caminoguides.com
My colleague Pol O Conghaile at www.independent.ie/life/travel/europe shares his 10 tips for the Camino de Santiago which
are invaluable. Tip No. 2, “break in your boots”, sounds a no-brainer, but it’s
remarkable how many first-timers end up banjaxed by blisters. Follow Pol’s
advice and prevent your pilgrimage becoming a pain.
Best-selling Brazilian author Paulo Coelho’s The Pilgrimage (HarperCollins)
is a work of fiction and a great bedtime companion. Coelho spins a spiritual,
mystical tale set against the background of a very personal quest, but this
master storyteller weaves in many wonderful descriptions and anecdotes of the
villages, towns and cities his protagonist (him) passes through on his journey.
WATCH
Emilio Estevez’s 2010 film, The Way, starring his father,
Martin Sheen, is an enjoyable and inspirational introduction to the Camino de
Santiago. Watch it for a taste of the camaraderie and scenery that await
pilgrims who give themselves up to the experience. This film will probably do
for the Camino what John Ford’s Oscar-winning The Quiet Man (1952) did and
continues to do for the west of Ireland. You just can’t buy that sort of
publicity.
FURTHER INFORMATION
Turismo de Santiago: See www.santiagoturismo.com for information on what to see and do in Santiago de Compostela
and to book guided tours of the city.
The Confraternity of St James: A
charity established to promote pilgrimages to the tomb of St. James, its
website is packed with essential information. See www.csj.org.uk
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| ROUTE AND BRANCH: The cathedral as seen from Alameda Park, where many pilgrims choose to first view and photograph the city before entering |
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