Time for a Little Walk

January 2016

It’s been while, I guess. I know it hasn’t been that long, but it seems like a decade has passed since I walked the Camino last – and it was only 12 months ago! So, I’m going back. And this time, I am taking the Camino Primitivo – from Oviedo all the way to Finisterre.

I’ve been intrigued by the Primitivo for a couple of reasons: my class at Columbia in Muslim Spain would be the first. I studied the 800-year history of the Muslim Forces in Spain and learned about the caliphates and the various centers of commerce and poetry. I read enough about the kingdoms in the North to know these were very special places. Pamplona is a favorite of mine and I have been there several times, but Oviedo – it’s that place I kept saying, “This time, I’ll go to Oviedo.” But I never got there.

So, I did a little research and started a thread on the Camino Forum to see how early in the year would it be safe enough to try the daunting Primitivo? I know there are many who caution not to walk it in the late fall or winter – my usual times to walk in Spain. And I know only one person who has actually accomplished it.

So, coming up in May, I will be in Spain. I will probably get lost – and that’s ok. I will definitely lose some weight – that’s cool, too. This time, I see myself carrying my iPad Mini so that I can write more easily than I do when I’m carrying pens, pencils, and notebooks. And I will definitely carry a little point and shoot camera. I love to photograph the churches along the way.

It’s a curious thing, pilgrimage. It starts when you say out loud: “I am going to walk the Camino de Santiago to Santiago de Compostela.” And the bonus this time? I can walk through the Puerta Santa at the Cathedral again.

And I will probably cry. Again.

Ultreya!