Last year Andrea Guzzoletti walked 1000 kms across Spain on the Camino di Santiago. In his summing up after he arrived back in Barga he wrote the following: I would like to take this opportunity to share with everyone a few things that touched me most during those 1000km on foot, although I’m not sure I’ll be able to as with all experiences, especially those very profound ones, the only way to understand them is to live them oneself. I set-out on this trip with the knowledge that it would not be without pain, even deep in my soul, and a little fearful not knowing for sure whether I would be able to achieve my goal, then the journey begins and things start to change.
We followed him every km of the way – all his articles are here
Almost a year later and it would seem that Andrea has still not quite worked out some of the reasons behind why he wanted to walk 100o kms to Santiago as news comes this week that he has set off again on another long walk – this time on The Via de la Plata – the longest of the Camino de Santiago pilgrim routes at roughly 1,200 km, or six weeks, and is a good deal less populous than the Camino Frances, affording real opportunities for solitude.
It runs from Seville, across Spain’s parched central plain, passing through the provinces of Extremadura and Castilla y Leon and Caceres, to Salamanca and Zamora.
Soon after Zamora, the trail splits, either going straight on up to join the Camino Frances at Astorga or hanging north-west along the Camino Sanbres through Ourense.
This is the best route for archaeology buffs: a gold-trade route mentioned by Pliny the Elder, large sections of this route have remained unchanged for over 2000 years.
It is scattered from top to bottom with Roman remains and structures, still in use today, and also gives the strongest taste of Spain under the Moors, whom St James is credited with driving out of the country many centuries after his death.
When most people talk about the Camino de Santiago (Way of Saint James), they mean the Camino Francés, a route that leads walkers, cyclists and others across northern Spain, from Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port, on the French side of the border, to Santiago de Compostela in Spain, where the Apostle Saint James (Santiago) is said to be buried.
But the Camino de Santiago is more than just the Camino Francés. It’s a network of routes across Europe that lead to Santiago de Compostela.
Oggi mi sono fatto un bel giro per Siviglia, la città è bellissima ma fa veramente caldo.
Ho iniziato a vedere qualche conchiglia gialla e la cosa mi tranquillizza.
Domattina ore 6:30 si parte per la prima tappa, non difficile ma completamente sotto il sole.
Buen Camino.