In two days, on the 20th of June, Loïs and I, Lovisa, will start a long walk/journey/pilgrimage with the goal to reach Santiago de Compostela in Spain. So I thought it could be nice to have a blog to be able to share reflections, pictures, thoughts.....
Loïs and I met a little bit more than one year ago, when we walked the Way of Saint James, or as it is called in Spanish - El Camino de Santiago. Ever since the medival time, believers have been walking El Camino. The reason why people did this is because of the legend saying that Saint James, or Jesus Apostle James, was miraculously saved after Jesus death and then carried by boat all the way from Jerusalem to Santaigo de Compostela (Santiago is the name of Saint James in Spanish), and then burried there. A great cathedral was built afterwards to honour the Holy Sepulchre (den heliga graven).
Today, walking El Camino is really becoming more and more popular. It's well way-marked and there are plenty of hostels, and sometimes even churches to stay in along the way. People walking do it beacuse of many different reasons. Some where facing a difficult time in their lives and needed to start again from scratch, and thought that a long walk will be a great new start. And what I heard the walk really helped people. Others where just found there goal and meaning along the way.
Most of the people walking start either in a town on the way, or from the main town Saint-Jean-Pied-du -Port, beautifullt situated at the foot of the Pyrenées. When Loïs and I walked we started in this town, but we met several who started from their homes in Germany, Spain, France and Belgium. Hearing this gave birth to the dream of walking all the way from my home, in Sigtuna, Sweden. There was in particular one Dutch man who planted this seed, and for this I will always be greatful to him. Thank you for making contact that first day in Saint-Jean-Pied-du-Port and for all the inspiration you gave me and the important reflections you shared.
This long walk will not just be a walk without meaning. I don't know anything about my friend Loïs personal goals, but I know much about the goals that we share. So this blog is called "The Green Pilgrims", and the reason behind this is that we want to try to live as environmental-friendly as possible while walking. What we will do in order to achieve this is something I will write about soon, we just have to make sure that my smartphone will charge with the solarpanel charger we bought, ha ha!
Thank you for reading,
Peace and Eternal Bliss,
Lovisa
No comments:
Post a Comment