Via de la Plata

A Pilgrim’s Rules for Simple Living

To many of us it seems like the world fell off its axis in 2016. The vote for Brexit, Trump and the triumph of Leicester City in the premier league seemed to signal the end of the world. And it's been all down hill since then: a pandemic, a war in Ukraine, high inflation, an energy crisis, the Chinese baring their fangs towards Taiwan, a stock market meltdown, political polarisation and a culture war in the west, and with the possible return of Trump - or the reelection of Biden - it seems like we won't have to wait long for the…

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HAPPY NEW YEAR – A PILGRIM’S PERSPECTIVE

So you thought 2020 was bad? Welcome to 2021. The new year has certainly started with a blast. The Covid numbers are rising faster than the Qatari skyline. Here in Ireland we've had more cases in the first few weeks of January than in the entire first wave. With the whole country on lockdown again and our hospitals overflowing things look as bleak as ever. In America, a deeply fractured nation became even more radicalised when a defiant President Trump provoked a mob to storm Capitol Hill and desecrate the hallowed halls of their democracy. It was a shocking and…

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The Silver Route – Part IV: Travels in Galicia

Facebook Twitter Instagram Tucked away in the northwest corner of Spain, bordered by mountains to the south and the east, and exposed to the ravages of the Atlantic on its coasts, lies the land of Galicia. This is the part of the Iberian peninsula where the Celts came to call home many moons ago. The lush, green, rainswept landscapes abound in vegetation, and look far more like other Celtic countries to the north than they do to most of mainland Spain. Galicia is a land that seems lost in the fog of time. Its countryside is dotted with tiny lifeless…

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The Silver Route – Part III

Facebook Twitter Instagram The life of a pilgrim regularly resembles the life of a soldier in terms of discipline, routine, marching long distances on foot, and living in very basic conditions with meagre rations for sustenance. The main difference is that on the camino no one is normally going to point a gun in your face. But there's a first for everything. One Saturday in late October I was walking a lovely section between Santa Marta de Tera, a pretty little village in the middle of nowhere, to Rionegro del Puente, another pretty little village in the middle of nowhere,…

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The Silver Route – Part II: The Land that Time Forgot

Facebook Twitter Instagram The gateway at Capara Sunbaked landscapes, Roman ruins, scrub forests, snakes, bush fires, cows eating trees, and days of splendid isolation. Only in Extremadura. This is perhaps the least known of all Spain's regions. It has no coastline to draw the tourists, no world famous pulsating metropolises, and no football team to rival the Barcelonas or Real Madrids of this world. Few have heard of this place, let alone visited. Of those who have heard, few dare to come. And of those who do, who would be crazy enough to traverse its length on foot? I was…

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The Silver Route – Part I

I once heard a veteran Italian walker speaking in his native tongue about his experiences on the Via de la Plata, one of the longest but least travelled pilgrim paths in Spain. Though my command of Italian was limited to phrases picked up from The Sopranos, I could still understand the bleak and desolate picture he painted of one of his many pilgrimages to Santiago. One word stood out when he described the landscape: nada - nothing.

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What you find on the Camino

Many people walk the Camino looking for answers. They may be looking for guidance about the next stage in their life, they may be grieving the loss of a loved one, they may be trying to resolve a dilemma in their relationship, or they may be looking for a profound spiritual or religious experience. Or they may just want the head space that a long walk offers. Walking 800 KM to Santiago may or may not solve all your problems. It may give you insights that will help you along your journey in life, and it may assist you in…

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Thoughts on Starting a New Camino

Facebook The Cathedral in Santiago Deciding to walk the Camino de Santiago can be quite a daunting challenge. Although a veteran of four caminos, opting to go on another still raises many concerns and anxieties, which no amount of preparation can allay. I am about to embark on the Via de la Plata, a 1000 KM trek from Sevilla, in Spain's southern province of Andalucia, to the city of Santiago de Compostela, in the northwestern region of Galicia. This is the longest of the caminos, which leads through some of the most isolated parts of the Iberian peninsula, where the…

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