All Posts for May, 2009
We were talking at breakfast about the rituals associated with the Camino. Amy had noticed the piles of stones on the mojones- or milestones- that mark the way to Santiago and Sandi mentioned that she had brought symbolic stones from home to leave along her way.
The tradition of leaving stones is genuinely popular in the sense that no one tells people to do this and they invent their own reason to explain what it is they are doing. Bob told me last year, as he was placing a stone on a marker, that he took care to find another ‘good’ stone to carry to the next.
“I started doing this thinking about my life and my problems,” he said, “but after a while I got fed up with that. It seemed selfish. Now I dedicate each stone to someone I love in my life.”
This meditation is a part of the internal change that walking along the Camino can bring about. If you are Catholic you could think of each stone as a mediation on the sins you are leaving behind you. Or in a more modern vocabulary you could see the carrying of the stone as the tangible manifestation of a preoccupation that you want to deal with and get over, leaving it behind you once you are done.
The tradition of carrying stones is much older than Christianity: it seems to answer a basic, primeval need, like picking up shells on a beach. The huge heap of stones at the Cruz de Hierro- or iron cross- seems to have its origins in an ancient Celtic practice of carrying stones to high places. Who knows what those hundreds of thousands of people were thinking. Just meditating on the place of your all-consuming preoccupations, symbolised by your stone or pebble, in the light of that river of humanity that has carved the paths of the Camino and raised a mound many metres high gives a new light and perspective.
The results can be visually enchanting. Some people wrap their stone in thread or paint it in bright colours. Yesterday I saw a heart-shaped stone with two names engraved in it and I thought of the care and love involved in the simple tasks of choosing, scratching and depositing it. You might see simple stick crosses lodged in a wire fence, each one the trace of a pilgrim’s passsing. These are not works of craft or art, but when so many people come together in the same direction the result is aesthetically delightful.
And I like to think of all these stones- like the worn-out boots I have also seen- as the living expression of the spirit of the Camino. They show that you take something from the Camino- a stick, a stone, a thought, an idea- and, equally importantly, you leave it behind.
Jason
www.frescotours.com
16 May 2009 in Camino de Santiago, Miscellaneous | 
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Or maybe I should call it Orujoooo joooo jooooo!
This morning we walked out of the town of Portomarin, famous for their Orujo. This potent firewater is like grapa and made by distiling the left over pressings for making wine – stems, skins and seeds. Often times they blend it with herbs, coffee, or honey to add flavor. It is typically drank after meals and is said to help with the digestion – not sure if that is just an excuse for a shot!
Soon we are off to dinner, anyone for an orujo….
Saludos from the Camino,
Alex
www.frescotours.com
14 May 2009 in Camino de Santiago | No Comments
I love Tarta de Santiago. Every bar and restaurant along the Camino in Galicia serves it and I think Alex will vouch for the fact that I have tried most of them. When I got back to Avilés after the last tour I was suffering from what the Spanish call Morriña- that is a special kind of homesickness that people get when they have been away from Galicia for too long. The only remedy was to find a recipe and cook a Tarta de Santiago.
It is surprisingly easy. I’m going to give you the measurements in the easy manner that I like to approach cooking:
3 cups of ground almonds; 3/4 cup of flour; a cup of sugar; 4 eggs; half a pack of butter; a ploff of baking powder; some water; lemon rind. You can put icing sugar on the top but I think that makes it too sweet.
You start off mixing the butter and sugar until it makes a creamy paste and then you blend in the eggs and beat the mixture. Add the water, flour and bakng powder and give it whizz with an electric hand mixer. Stir the almonds in. You can use a mixture of ground almonds and almonds you grind yourself- the rougher almonds in there give it a good crunch! Stir in the lemon rind. Use the zest of the whole lemon because it really zips up the taste.
Put the mixture in a 10 inch sprung cake tin, well greased beforehand and bake in the oven at about 180ºc for 45 minutes or so. If a knife comes out clean it is done, and remember it is a question of taste: if you like your tarta with a slightly moister texture like me, you won’t want to overcook it.
This worked a dream for me and I already have the ingredients ready for the next one. The only problem is that there are four of us at home and they all want some!
Jason
07 May 2009 in Camino de Santiago, Miscellaneous, Recipes | 1 Comment
A couple of former clients / photographers have put together an exhibit of the pictures they took while walking with us last year. If you are in the New York area, check it out…
RiverWinds Gallery and Bannerman Island Gallery have joined together to present, Along El Camino de Santiago: A Photographic Journal, by Mary Ann Glass and Christine Irvin. The Camino is a very personal experience, and the photos Mary Ann and Christine took are intimate stories of their discoveries.
Here is a peek of the video that they put together:
http://animoto.com/play/Mv2IXKKZ4sjd7LkF1bEyLA
Along El Camino de Santiago: A Photographic Journal, by Mary Ann Glass and Christine Irvin.
RiverWinds Gallery and Bannerman Island Gallery, Beacon, NY
May 9 – June 8, 2009
Artists Reception: Saturday May 9, 5-8 pm
Gallery Hours: Wed – Monday 12 – 6pm, Second Saturday 12 – 9pm
www.RiverWindsGallery.com
www.bannermancastle.org
Enjoy!
06 May 2009 in Camino de Santiago, News | No Comments
The 2008 statistics for the people who requested the Compostelana certificate in Santiago have been released and May has now become the 4th most popular month to walk the trail – just slightly edging out the month of June. August, July and September continue to be the busiest times of the year. I’ve put together a little graph showing the trend over the last 3 years.
For complete stats, please visit:
http://www.archicompostela.org/peregrinos/Estadisticas/estadisticas2006.htm#POR%20MESES
Will be back on the trail soon!
Saludos from Spain,
Alex
05 May 2009 in Camino de Santiago, FAQs | No Comments
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