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A Pilgrims Story:

You Can’t Beat This Beaten Path

DOGGR’s Ken Carlson, Wife Walk the Way of Saint James in Spain
 
By Don Drysdale
 
Taking a walk is no big thing. As the swooshy shoe company’s tagline says, “just do it.” You can walk around the block, at a local park, on the beach, at the gym, on the wild side … pretty much, wherever.
 

But if you want a more fulfilling experience – perhaps one that combines the health benefits of walking with the realms of spiritualism, humanities and personal growth – you may have to go the extra mile.
 
That’s what Ken Carlson of DOGGR and wife Mary Lane-Carlson did recently when they walked the Camino de Santiago (Way of Saint James) in Portugal and Spain.
 
“The pilgrimage to Portugal and Spain was an unbelievable adventure of our lives,” said Ken, who supervises the Environment and Facilities Unit in DOGGR’s Cypress office and in September will celebrate his 35^th anniversary with the division. “It was truly an unforgettable experience.”

According to Wikipedia, “the Way of St. James was one of the most important Christian pilgrimages during the Middle Ages, together with Rome and Jerusalem.” Tradition holds that the remains of St. James – one of Jesus’ 12 Apostles and the first to be martyred – were brought from Jerusalem to what is now Santiago de Compostela in Spain.
 
Now a World Heritage Site, the Way of Saint James (actually, there are several routes; the Carlsons took the Portuguese Route) has drawn the faithful for hundreds of years. Major historical events – the Black Death, the Protestant Reformation, and various wars – have impacted the traffic over time. In 1985, only 690 pilgrims completed the route. Last year, the number was a remarkable 237,886.
 
“It was more of a bucket list trip for my wife than me, but I was all for doing it, especially since we were celebrating our 30^th wedding anniversary,” Carlson said. “It was our first foray away from our comfort zone. We’ve been around the U.S., with excursions into Mexico and Canada, but never overseas. Because it was a guided tour, we were very comfortable.”

Although the tour targets the faithful – the brochure offers advice on spiritual preparation and the “what to bring” section includes rosary beads – Carlson said there were many non-Christians, including history buffs and those who saw it simply as a good hike, among the pilgrims. Some folks toted all their gear in backpacks and stayed in hostels; others, like the Carlsons, carried day packs and sent their luggage ahead to hotels.

“The attraction is a combination of everything – religious beliefs, history, culture, food … the total experience,” Carlson said. “There was a lot of see, everywhere. I took more than 4,400 digital pictures.”

The Carlsons’ tour began with a flight into Portugal’s largest city, Lisbon, where the highlights were “a delicious custard filled tart called pasteis de belem” and “underpasses with artistic wall mosaics, made with beautiful colored tiles.” Then it was an hour and a half north to Fatima, where in 1917 three shepherd children saw angels and then visions of the Virgin Mary. Then it was further north to Tui, Spain, just across the border from Portugal and the starting point of a roughly 73-mile, five-day hike to Santiago de Compostela.

“Along the walking trail, which is also Roman Route XIX, we witnessed the beauty and old world charm of Spain’s countryside, with rolling hills of vineyards, olive orchards, corn, kiwi, kale, and lush green forests,” Carlson said, adding that the locals “don’t eat corn; it is grown to feed their animals.”
 
The route is located through the Spanish state of Galicia, named for an ancient Celtic tribe that settled the area. Most people speak Galician, which is more Portuguese than Spanish. That, Carlson noted, made communication a little more complicated for the paragrinos (pilgrims).
 
If conversations between the pilgrims and natives didn’t flow easily, at least the water did. “To quench our thirst along the trail, there were plenty of medieval to modern era water fountains constructed of granite,” he said, noting that wood doesn’t do well in the rainy clime. “Just about everything that is made to be outdoors is made from granite, including their outdoor corn dryers. The artesian water flowing from the fountains is so clean and abundant that locals will drive-up and fill their water jugs to take home.”
 
Mindful of the drought back home, Carlson called the abundance of the water in Spain “refreshing.” Also in contrast to California, he was mindful of the long history of civilization as he walked the path.
 
“The thing about Spain and Portugal – and I’m sure that anyone who has traveled more than I have  would tell you the same thing about other countries – is that we simply don’t have that kind of history in the U.S.,” Carlson said. “People may live or work in buildings that are hundreds of years old and the roads the Roman Empire built are still there. It’s just incredible to walk into a cathedral and see the tombs of people who died in the 1600s … I was thrilled to be part of history, by walking along authentic portions of the original Roman-era stone -- more granite -- and going across Roman-built granite bridges that countless others have done for over a thousand years.”

In Santiago de Compostela, the Carlsons walked through the century old farmer’s market that was constructed of, yes, large granite blocks. While the building was vintage, the individual stalls contained modern refrigerated cases abundantly filled with local fish, cheese, meat and produce. The Galicians, Carlson pointed out, seem to love food as much as making things out of granite. He saw many homes with a pan (bread) delivery box next to the mail box.
 
“We feasted on their local fish called maluza and octopus; both were very tasty,” he said. “As we strolled the winding and very narrow streets of Santiago, we found many specialty shops, including bread – oh, the aroma! -- cheese and chocolate, where they sell huge delicious bars of chocolate that proves God loves us.  And the wine; the people of Galicia drink wine like we drink water.  They serve it at every meal. Well, they didn’t have wine on the table at breakfast, but then again, I didn’t ask.”

The tour group walked anywhere from 7 to 15 miles daily, with one off day. The elevation changes were mild (even a spot nicknamed “purgatory hill” was “no big deal,” Carlson said). The biggest difficulty came on the final stretch, when it rained so hard the party hopped on a train to avoid being soaked to the bone.

“We did a lot of hiking practice before we went – 8-, 10- and 12-mile mile hikes,” Carlson said. “My wife has some mobility issues, so before we went, we checked in with the tour organizers to make sure that wouldn’t be a problem. They assured us that it wasn’t, and as it turned out, we went at a very leisurely pace. If we had driven, we would have missed so much that we saw by walking.”

The Carlsons’ visit benefitted from two strokes of luck: a very favorable dollars-to-Euros exchange rate, and the size of their tour group. The original group was a bit too large, so it was split up.

“We ended up in a nine-person group that included three guides, so we were able to ask all the questions we wanted,” he said. “It was nice to travel in a group of that size.”
They also saw more local churches and cathedrals than you can shake a Bishop’s staff at. “We stopped at all the ones that were open,” Carlson said. “The beauty of those things … They’re not like most churches in the U.S.; they’re much more ornate.  We stopped in one that had so much gold that it seemed like we were celebrating Mass in Fort Knox.”

The Carlsons had such an enjoyable experience that they’re doing it all again next year, albeit from a different route and including stops in Lourdes, France, and Paris.
“At first, we were just stopping in Paris on the way home, but we decided we’d never forgive ourselves if we didn’t spend some time,” Carlson said. “And 2017 is the centennial of the appearance of Our Lady of Fatima, so we’re already thinking about making the trek for a third time.”

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  Reproduced with permission of the author