Wandering™
El Camino de Santiago
Nov 10, 2005, 19:58

Forget not that the earth delights to feel your bare feet and the winds long to play with your hair. Kahlil Gibran, mystic, poet and artist (1883-1931).

Micha Frayne, Camino peregrino, at the airport anticipating El Camino de Santiago, a 30 day walking pilgrimage in Spain.

Michael Frayne, also known as Micha, has worked in the creative arts, behind the scenes at Lucas Enterprises, and is presently working as a storyteller.

Micha's stories evoke the history, culture and spiritual dimensions of man. On a spiritual quest of his own, he was recently inspired to join like-minded souls on a spiritual and historic journey along the footpath of the El Camino Santiago de Compostela in northern Spain.

The name of the trail means Saint James of the Star-field for the route lies beneath the Milky Way constellation of stars and has been used by travelers, or peregrinos, since the year 813 A.D.

According to historical legend, pilgrims from all stations of life, including kings, queens, priests, and saints have traveled the Camino route throughout the centuries on spiritual pilgrimages.

This iron sculpture stands dedicated to the pilgrims on Alto del Perdon, the first mountain on the Camino de Santiago.

Traditionally the Camino is one of the primary pilgrimages of the ancient Christian world. Two other routes include a trail to Rome, which leads to the tomb of St. Peter, and another to Jerusalem, to visit the Holy Sepulcher of Christ. Many travelers sought forgiveness for their sins and few pilgrims make such a journey for frivolous reasons.

The Camino trail covers the entire length of northern Spain; about 450 miles. Starting points are located at a variety of places around Europe, though all trails eventually merge into one as they enter Spain. Cities, churches and villages have grown up along the way to provide support to the pilgrims on their journey.

During his travels, Micha took the austere approach of the average pilgrim, which includes a typical 30-day walk carrying a sleeping bag and personal gear. He slept overnight in churches throughout Spain, called refugios, accommodations that varied from the basements to a shack in the mountains, and he purchased food from the villages along the way. Even with these assists experienced hikers find the Camino to be a demanding trip.

Micha recorded impressions of his trip in a series of journal entries and shares them here along with photographs detailing the beautiful and inspiring pilgrimage.

Beginning the Camino de Santiago

My good friend, Ed Shiro, has invited me to take a crazy leap...to walk the Santiago de Compostela in Northwestern Spain. I have always been a peregrino, a pilgrim, a seeker. The 30-day walking trip along the path in Spain takes only a day by train. However, getting there is not the point, becoming more aware of the present is the journey.

March 27, 2005

Backpacks and walkings sticks carried by Micha and Ed Shiro, mark the pilgrims walking El Camino de Santiago.

At home as I prepare for my journey I am measuring the weight of my pack, checking my lists, trying to choose, collecting my kit, which is finally complete at almost exactly 18 pounds, my goal. Whew! It makes me think of the weight of the things I have been carrying in my life up to this point...the things in my garage, my closet, my soul. I feel like one of those runners at the beginning of a sprint, adjusting and re-adjusting his blocks, jogging in place to shake off the pre-race jitters. This is a long-distance trek across the earth and into who knows what inside myself.

Love, Micha

Second journal: Viernes, 08 de abril 2005

The first few days getting here were difficult; little sleep on the plane, spent the night in Madrid. Then, my fellow peregrine, Ed Schiro and I had lunch consisting of melted chocolate in a cup with a crispy sweet doughnut to dip in it at a street side cafe. Then we took the train to Pamplona where we waited for the once-a-day bus to the town of Roncesvalles.

There were mostly peregrinos on the bus with backpacks and walking sticks of various shapes and sizes and high spirits. We stayed in a beautiful old converted monastery building and the people were all very friendly.

Pilgrim essentials include a credencial , or passport, which is stamped each evening at the refugios that operated and maintained by churches throughout Spain.

We went to mass, got our pilgrim credencial, which allows us to use the special pilgrim hostels along the way, and received a special blessing. The priests sang some parts of the mass in chant, which echoed beautifully in the old church. Afterward we enjoyed a pilgrim dinner of pasta marinara, fish, French fries, a cooked whole peach for dessert, and plenty of wine.

After a shower (frio!), I got to bed around 11 p.m., then up at seven, which seemed like a second later, to get out by eight when they closed. We were then on the road. That was eight days ago. After being on my Camino for a week now, I finally feel settled.

On the route we view a turret from the old city walls, which still surround Pamplona, the first "big city" that we walked through. Pamplona is famous for its annual Running of the Bulls festival, which formed a backdrop for novels by Ernest Hemingway. No bulls today though, just a little light rain.

Right now I am sitting eating lunch in a tiny village on a hill. The village is typical of many of the dozens we have passed. I am eating a tortilla bocadillo, which is nothing like the tortillas we have in California, but more like an omelet sandwich, which has become a lunch staple for most of us pilgrims, eating in the various tiny bars along the way.

I am waiting out the rain, which luckily caught us before we started the next six kilometer stretch to our refugio for tonight. I have also walked through many different feelings since then.

I have become a dedicated student of church bells, dogs, and fountains, wandering awkwardly with my microphone blurred and blustered by the capricious wind. Some part of me whispers that simply coming to understand one of these fully might prove to be enough to make an ordinary pilgrim into a good one.

Love, Micha

Third journal: April 5, Los Arcos (Navarra)

The Queen Bridge in Puente la Reina is similar to many bridges throughout Spain.

The Camino route led us across numerous Roman and medieval stone bridges which have clearly stood the test of time. This one, in Puente la Reina, the Queen Bridge, seems to have also given the town its name.

Most restaurants have a Pilgrim's menu, or menu del dia, which consists of a vegetable or pasta dish to start, then a meat or fish dish, then dessert which is typically a creme or custard such as the very creamy caramel-flavored flan which is delicious.

April 9-10 Granon (Rioja)

My friend and I stopped in an internet cafe on Friday to get out of the rain that was just starting, and since it was free for pilgrims, I took the opportunity to catch up on e-mail.

We had agreed to only go the six kilometers to Granon that day rather than try for a full day of walking. Therefore, it seemed that the place was calling us, due to the cold, the sore knee, and the general need for a nice place to rest. We walked very slowly for the pleasant six kilometers, which usually would be about an hour though we took about one and a half hours. When we got there I was completely frozen, and the town seemed deserted. However, Ed remembered reading something about a church with a bell tower.

Historic churches house peregrinos along the route.

We took photos from the Bell Tower in Graņon, where we stayed two nights, both to rest and because the community was so welcoming. The bells still work, and as I discovered, are quite loud when heard up so close! Walking down two flights of stairs from here, a side door leads you into the choir loft of the eleventh century church where we said evening prayers. I recorded my flute echoing within its cavernous walls. This was definitely the highlight of the trip so far, because of the friends we met here. I was almost ready to just stay and start a little contemplative life of my own.

Love, Micha

Final leg of the Camino 27-apr-2005

Hola, buenos dias, amigos del Camino de Santiago.

I felt sadness and joy as I walked the many roads on the pilgrimage, both outside and within myself. My feet have gotten stronger, and I have learned how to use the balm on my knees, how to massage, how to rest. There are so many communications coming from below, small messages I never heard before. However, the Camino seems to amplify small things.

My feet have become accustomed to being on the road and my hands too...so much so that I donated my two walking sticks to the barrel at the front of the pilgrim's albergue this morning. My left hand, and the left side of my face, is a shade darker than my right, evidence of the direction I have been traveling for over 300 miles.

The crosses on the doors of this building are the symbol of the Knights Templar, guardians of the pilgrims in ancient times.

As we passed through another town, we saw a small temple, and I was told that the crosses on the doors were the symbol of the Knights Templar, who in ancient times were the guardians of pilgrims both here in Spain, and on other pilgrimages throughout the Christian world. Later, they fell out of favor with Spanish authorities and though they were considered "officially wiped out" during the Spanish Inquisition, I have heard that the order secretly still exists in some form.

Many times when the yellow arrows marking the pilgrim trail were missing I have had to ask villagers, "Donde esta el Camino de Santiago?" Without fail everyone knew where it was. Whether they were walking it every day back and forth within one tiny town, watching it meditatively as a flock of sheep wandered across, or driving an 18-wheeler down it at 100 km per hour, everyone was on the Camino de Santiago.

Antoni Gaudi is by far one of the most famous architects of Spain, and with his incredibly ornate and fanciful designs, I learned that his work is also the origin of the term gaudy

We saw the famous Palacio Episcopal in Astorga, completed in 1893. Antoni Gaudi is by far one of the most famous architects of Spain, and with his incredibly ornate and fanciful designs, I learned that his work is also the origin of the term gaudy!

I have found I will not be able to walk the whole way on the Camino in the time I gave myself. I am about seven days short. So here, I am in Ponferrada, 542 km after I started, 203 km from Compostela, waiting for my bus to Madrid to catch my flight home.

I want to tell you all so many things. It is too much to say in a missive from the end of my walk at this time. So many joy filled faces wash over me in my half-sleep under the hypnotic influence of the pulsing walk-rhythm...faces, and places, trees and birds and church bells and images, all of whom I have now said goodbye to several times, and seen again at the next town several times.

Castrojeriz, a town in the old Castille region, is associated with legends of Spain such as Don Quixote.

Castrojeriz, in the old Castille region, is one of the many towns we walked through on the Camino. The region is associated with legends of Spain such as Don Quixote. We stopped in at a bar for refreshments along the way where the owner had a picture of Paulo Coelho, the Brazilian author who wrote The Pilgrimage, on his wall.

The churches and fields and tiny forests and giant expanses of mesa and almost all of the pilgrims I have walked with have finally moved on, each at their own pace. Though not without urging me again and again to come and visit them someday...in Berlin, Belgium, Italy, or Spain.

I have gained something that I have planted in my soul, and look forward to showing you all the flower soon. Now I must be silent for a while longer to allow it room to grow. Thank you all for sharing this part of the road with me. Buen Camino, muchas gracias, y hasta luego...

--miguel peregrine

If you plan to take the trip, Micha recommends keeping your total weight to less than 20 pounds. This is do-able with a two-pound backpack and sleeping bag, which does not need to be a warm one. Shirt, shorts, pants, and socks should be fast drying synthetic material. Micha used hiking sticks and lightweight boots, and recommends getting them at least a half size larger than your shoe size, as feet swell when hiking in hot weather or with a backpack...or you could choose to stay in hotels and take a bus or train.

Individuals interested in more information or scheduling a storytelling event can email Micha.

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