The Majestic!!

They say that the provence of Galicia,Santiago de Compestelo might well be the most magical city in Spain.The mysterious and powerful draw it has had on travelers for over one thousand years is incredible.Pilgrims have traveled this desolate trail for centuries just to see the glorious cathederal! We are elated and thankful to be a part of this.I felt a little twinge of awe and panic this morning.Are plans are finalized. In 12 days we will venture on a journey that I can't even fathom.I asked Donna what she wanted me to bring her back.She said that when I had reached the most spiritual or awe inspiring part of my journey...a place where I had a AHA moment she just wanted a piece of it.I will bring her that...She gets it and me.
The Camino is calling............................................Lisa

12 more days and counting! and our schedule

12 more days and I still have so much to do to get ready. Lisa and I have kept our walking up as best we can with work and summer vacations and we both feel we are physically ready for the trip. Preparing my mind for the journey has been tougher because of my busy lifestyle and I am beginning to think that I will have to debrief myself on the way over. There have been times when I walk when I sense glimpses of the serenity of the journey. Then the third part of the trip is figuring out how we get to all the different cities. We will be flying to Spain Sept 10 overnight and arrive Friday Sept 11 early morning. Lisa and I both plan to sew an American flag on our backpacks to honor those who died Sept 11. After we arrive in Madrid we will drop a bag at the hotel we will be staying at when we return (Mirasierra- Madrid) and then head to the train station that goes to Leon. We arrive Leon around 2:00Pm and will be staying with a lovely lady that I met through couchsurfing. She is hosting us for one evening and has offered to cook us a meal and to show us around a bit. We then leave on another train around 3:00pm to go to Sarria where we will then walk to Santiago. It will take about 5 days and we will average about 17 miles a day- staying in hostels along the way. In Santiago, we are then hoping to stay with another couchsurfer so that we can experience the warmth of a home . We will be there Thursday afternoon until Friday evening at 10:30pm when we will board a train again. We have a sleeping compartment this time because it is an overnight trip. If all goes well , we arrive in Madrid Sept 19 the morning of Lisa's birthday . We will check into our hotel - visit museums and parks and enjoy a nice meal and who knows what else. For anyone who wants to contact us- our room reservation is under Debbie Welch and Lisa will have her cell phone with her. After spending 2 days in Madrid , we return home. I am sure we will feel different than when we started , happy to have completed the walk and sad to leave the trail behind. - Debbie

I thought I'd blog a little more history.If you are reading this you should know that the blogs are dated.It's best to start @ the bottom and work your way up the page.Deb and I have heard that we will hear some very different music along the trip.This is because well before Santiago's time the Celts had their own version of the Camino.They followed the Milky Way to the sea @ Finisterre.The end of the world. As far west as they could go without going in the water.Although this legend is beautiful it is unrealistic. The Milky way only mirrors the Camino for a little while on september nights.In the 9th century the christians seized the Camino,Thus driving out muslims.Also keeping northern Spain from reverting back to their pagan ways.God forbid! The locals also found the Camino to be a big cash cow.Pilgrims were a great target for making money.This promotion of the Camino was a medevil scheme and a great piece of marketing.The Camino became popular again after Jerusalem became un safe.It became so popular with the french that the main route over the Pyrenees fron St. Jean Pied de Port and accross Spain is called the "camino frances"
Santiago was declared a holy city in 1189.Pope Alexander III was responsible for this.Under his edict pilgrims who arrived during a holy year can bypass purgatory.If you arrive in an alternate year you are shit out of luck & only get half the time off. Somethings better than nothing.LOL Lisa

Two Foodies

Alot of you have asked me about the food in Spain.I love this question because both Debbie and I are foodies.We love to eat and will pretty much try anything.I am so looking forward to the paprika spiced pulpo (octopus) served on a wooden platter,washed down by cloudy Ribeiro wine, in Melida.Just writing this makes me salivate!! LOL
The food will change as we amble through the mountains toward the Atlantic ocean.Spaniards are typically not morning people...they are night owls.Breakfast is not a big deal to them.They are big on family and friends.They typically meet @ restaurants between 1pm and 4pm to enjoy food and the good company of their family & friends.You will often see whole families out late enjoying Tapas and concerts.Hence,the much needed siesta!!!I think naps are SO under rated!
As I write this I am enjoying the aroma's of Julia Child' s Beef Bourguignon.On top of walking almost 9 miles today I decided to cook! I am looking forward to bringing back some great recipes and cooking for everyone who will take the risk!!
There is nothing more enjoyable and rewarding than making dinner for family & friends!! So....all you foodies know that I will keep you up to date on what we eat and I will explain in great detail how wonderful it is.
We also plan to take a 15 Tapas/pub crawl in Madrid......I'll need to walk 17 miles a day!! LOL Lisa

Is it quiet yet?

Lisa and I walk almost every day and one thing we talk about is what it is going to be like to take the Camino. We are really looking forward to the quiet. Walking along the roads here- we hear all the noise from the cars as people rush to work . It has been so long since I have heard the stillness of the woods with no other man made sounds that I wonder what that is going to be like. For now we can only imagine but 2 weeks , 4 days to go, we will not have to imagine any more. Deb

Along the way....

My mother asked me the other day what I wanted/hoped to get out my journey.The answer is that I don't know.I really don't want to go with any expectations.I really just want to come to terms with my regrets,my mistakes,my demons.I want peace.A renewed soul.I'd like to leave the last 2 years behind me and move forward into my future with an enlightened soul and a happy heart.I'd like to be a better aunt,sister,friend and lover.
I am not the only pilgrim in my family.My great grandmother left her slovak home at 16 to take a boat alone to America.She married and was widowed young. She raised a family and taught them the meaning of hard work and more importantly un conditional love.I come from a line of very strong and determined woman.
This trip was really not planned.Deb and I started walking on father's day.She told me about a woman who,recently divorced @ 36,decided to take this pilgrimage.When I came home and read her blog I saw that the route of the camino was marked with scallop shells. I took it as a sign.Not really having any idea what exactly we were getting into we bought our airline tickets on wed.The rest is history.
My dad told me he loved Spain.I will walk for him.Just having him in my life was his gift to me. I will walk for my Nanny & Grampy who loved me unconditionally all their lives.Mary(nanny) was my best friend since I was a little girl.I will walk for all my friends that have been there for me through thick and thin,good times and bad.I love you all.I will walk for the two strongest woman I know...My mother and sister.They are my Lions! I want Carly and Chloe to know that nothing is unattainable.That dreams do come true.Just be true to yourselves.I want Lucy to know she's my rock.Billie , my"other mother,"is always a wonderful listener and ALWAYS a good Laugh.Karen you are my direct Line to God.I thank you always and forever for that.Lynda,thank you for being a great partner & friend.I will walk for your daddy.Thank you cathy for your undieing faith in me & tailgating cosmos.Thank you Kim for porch nights.Thank you Mary for sharing blonde moments.All my friends are incredible woman.
In closing you should know that I am walking with an amazing woman.Debbie is warm,funny,patient,and very giving.I am truly blessed.I geuss I do have some expectations! I expect to have lots of laughs and memories from our journey.I expect to release myself from what's been weighing me down.I expect to drink ALOT OF AWESOME WINE!!! LOL
Wish me a safe,blisterless journey my dear friends! Lisa

How do we find the trail?

I think the most common question, I get asked is there a support van? I believe most ask that question because the cancer 3 day has been so successful and everyone I know has either contributed to it or walked it. So , I can understand why the walk reflects an organized event to those who ask, but it is not. When you choose to walk the Camino you become a Pilgram and everyone starts and stops the journey at a time of their choosing and then walks it in their own space and time. The trail does not follow a road but winds through the mountains connected by small villages. The trail is marked with shells-so that you know that you are going the right way. Jodi Schutz has given me a compass so that I return home and it will be the first time I ever had to use one- that should be interesting. We do have a guide book too that tells us that where the sun should be on our shoulders if we are going in the right direction and it also tells us where the hostels are located. Another first for me is that we will be walking with a backpack and packed it will weigh approx 18 lbs. The hostels provide a shower and cot but we have to bring a sleeping bag and earplugs ( I have heard the snoring can be brutal at times!) We have read about how sore our feet will be - walking more than a 100 km in five days and we know that most get blisters and loose toenails. Even knowing all of that - both Lisa and I are ready to accept the challenge of the walk because we believe it offers us a time to reflect on the personal journey of our soul. A time to reconnect with our selves and discover what we may become. My very good friend Caesar in Cancun Mexico emailed me yesterday and offered this- A life without a purpose or meaning is a life non lived.
I want to live! Debbie

My reason for walking.

A lot of you have asked me why. Why do I want to do this, why would I walk so far, why would I fly to Spain to walk this far, why do I walk with Lisa , why, why, why and the answer for me is because I felt drawn to do it. My life now is always busy even when I try to slow it down and I can't. I contemplate that often. I think about when my children were little and when life was slower and I long to get that back. I have come to realize that I did not need many possessions back then to find my happiness and somewhere along the way that changed. I suppose at first I thought I was accomplishing the American Dream and now I know that the Dream came with a huge price tag . Even after I have came to this realization, it was harder to turn back the clock and eliminate the extravagances than I thought . Bill and I are actively looking for ways to trim our lifestyle so that we again may work to live and not be owned by our possessions. It isn't hard to let go of the things but just hard to get out of contracts- cars, phones, mortgages, credit cards. So as we progress and take control of our lives again, as I suspect many of you are doing too, we strive for our goal of living more simply and sharing our lives more with our family, friends and our ourselves. So the rat race made me think about how I got to this place but I also reflected on what is important to me and who I am. My life has been shaped more by my children and family than anyone. Loosing my daughter in 2000 has changed me in a way that I cannot explain and for her I will take the Camino - which means walk by the way- to the church of Santiago. I am hoping that the calm and quiet of the walk will give me the time to finally put some of my grief behind me. I am walking for both of my sons - Jason and James- whom I hold so much hope for. They are both so much smarter than I ever was at their age and hopefully will be able to see my mistakes for what they are and choose never to repeat them. I am walking for Anne Siegels daughter- for the woman in her that longs to have her own children. I am walking for Betty McDermott who I admire because she has raised 4 children with more grace and love than most and now fights cancer. I walk for my husband Bill whom I don't deserve and know I am lucky to have. I walk for my Mom and Dad who have always sacrificed everything to raise me. I walk for the love of my brother whom I am so proud of and my sister whose love I cannot live without. I walk for Alexandra because my heart aches without her. I walk for all my past sins - to reflect on them, to ask forgiveness for them and then to forgive myself because God already has. I walk to start my life anew. So now you know why.
With love to all of you - Debbie

Santiago,or St. James as he is known in english,was one of Jesus' apostles, and after the crucifiction,he left Judea for Spain to spread the gospel. Herod had him beheaded in ad44 in jerusalem,making him the first apostle to be martyred.Santiago's friends managed to sneak (I love this!)his body from under Herod's nose,and put him on a stone boat headed for nw Spain without oars,sails or crew.After a week long journey, the body arrived in Padron on the Galician coast,where his disciples were waiting.They buried Santiago 20km inland form Compestela.After that the local queen witnessed a series of miracles and converted to christianity.Poor Santiago laid forgotten for centuries,while Spain became Christians.He was,many years later (813),declared the parton saint of Spain.It is said that visions of Santiago were seen everywhere.The most famous was at the battle of Clavijo,where he rode a white charger and personally scythed his way through tens of thousands of moors. This earned him the dubious honor of Santiago the moor slayer.Just a little history for all our followers.Fortuneately for us the trip will have no bloodshed and will be peaceful.Let's hope!! Lisa

All of us travel two paths simultaneously-the outer path that hauls our bodoes and the inner pathway of our souls.We have been mindful and prepared ourselves for both.The traditional way of the pilgrim is travel alone,by foot, carrying all material possessions you might need for the journey ahead.Any of you who know me well are laughing right now because traveling light is not my forte!! LOL The 1st lesson for pilgrims is to leave behind all that is superfluous and to travel with only the barest necessities(this will include mascara and chocolate in my case!)We are leaving behind the psychic waste accumulated over the past few years...such as resentment,anger,prejudices and hurt hearts.We (me and debbie)will travel with emptied minds (no jokes please....very different from blonde moments!)and be ready to assimilate the lessons that will come our way.
We are ready to wake up.Despite our chaotic lives or perhaps because of it something has stirred us to walk the camino.I have chosen not to mistake busy-ness for aliveness! The camino offers an opportunity to slow down and take in life.The camino offers us to ask the question-who am I?
and,crucially,it provides the time and space for the answers to be understood. Lisa