Milton resident is off to have a "Buen Camino"
First publication in the Milton Times.
By Maria Judge Special to the Times
Since retiring, I've tried to move beyond a structured life of planning, organizing, and managing to a less stressful life of writing, reconnecting, and reenacting meaningful family tra ditions.
Fifty years ago I spent my junior year of college in Madrid. Next week I return to Spain for a reunion with classmates I haven't seen in half a cen-tury and to walk the Camino de Santi-ago with my sister, Brigid.
The study abroad program was rel-atively new to Saint Louis Universi ty-Madrid back in 1975 and classroom space was limited, so our classes were held in a nearby convent. At one point during the day, silence was manda tory while the nuns moved from one part of their building to another. Now SLU-Madrid is the largest American university campus in Spain, and the administration building is a 2-minute walk from where our convent was once located.
Originally my sister and I planned to only walk the Camino de Santiago, a network of pilgrimage routes leading to the Santiago de Compostela Ca thedral where the remains of St. James the Apostle are buried. Luckily the re-union coincided with the pilgrimage, blending my spiritual journey with fond memories of my study abroad in Spain.
Established in the 9th century as a major pilgrimage route of medieval Christianity, the Way of St. James at tracts hundreds of thousands of pil-grims each year. Modern day pilgrims travel mainly on foot and come from around the world. There are hundreds of routes to follow, and those who ar rive in Santiago after walking at least 100 kilometers are eligible to receive the "Compostela," the official certifi-cate given by the Cathedral in Santiago to pilgrims who complete the Camino for religious or spiritual reasons.
Many walkers plan their own route, carry their backpacks and look for al-bergues (hostels) when they reach a town. To simplify our trip, we booked through Follow the Camino, a compa-ny that plans the route, books the ho-tels in advance, transports the luggage, and provides 24/7 support. All we do is walk. That's enough of a challenge.
I assembled a playlist of songs about walking and hiking to motivate me as I walked around my Milton neighbor-hood. In April I was pleased to see that I'd walked 87.3 miles for the month. Then I realized that our Camino sched-ule required us to walk 71 miles (the 100 kilometer minimum) in just six days. That's all the time we could spare between the reunion, a family wedding, my sister's job, and our busy schedules.
When pilgrims pass each other along the way, we wish each other a "Buen Camino," or "good road/good (Courtesy photo) path." We'll be carrying rosary beads and pictures of loved ones, and oth-er meaningful mementoes to help us have a Buen Camino.
