Not long after I go to bed tonight, Seamus and Noah will probably wake up and once again hit the trail. I’m grateful to David M. Gitlitz & Linda Kay Davidson for putting together a fabulous book that includes all sorts of intriguing details about the Camino. Through their book I can follow along the boys’ paths and learn some fun things. For example, just a few tiny towns beyond Cizur Menor, where they will begin their journey in the morning, they’ll pass a fountain of water for thirsty travelers near a hamlet called Zariquiégui. Supposedly, St. James once appeared at the spot to give water to a tormented and parched pilgrim. If they get far enough, they will see a neat statue of Saint James at the merging of two major Camino routes. A bit after that, they will have crossed over a pretty Romanesque bridge while exiting the city of Puente La Reina (Bridge of the Queen) - the same bridge that’s on the cover of their Pilgrim Credentials.
The authors of this book hiked the Camino for the first time in 1974 … when they saw NO other pilgrims along the way and very few albergues with beds to sleep on. For their 1996 pilgrimage, they came across hundreds of others on the Camino! The renewed interest is a curious phenomenon … 200,000 pilgrims are expected in Santiago this year! So, the boys should see more and more people as they get closer to Santiago de Compostela.
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