Six: Walk El Camino de Santiago

I was 14 when I heard about El Camino for the first time. A higly spiritual friend of a friend decided to run away from home and walk to Santiago de Compostella. The kid has been caught in Germany and delivered back home, but the idea of El Camino de Santiago got stuck in my head forever.

Basically, it's an ancient pilgrim trail, known since the 9th century. The Way of Saint James has many starting points. The most important ones are in France, but one can start from many places, such as Tallin, Istambul, Hamar, Arhus or Lagos. An important part of the trail is Via Regia, a medieval trade road going from Russian Novogrod to Paris. The end and the aim of the pilgrimage is a town of Santiago de Compostela, which is believed to be a place where Saint James the Greater is buried. (It's also believed that he has been miraculously transported there from Jerusalem, in a boat without a crew). In the town there is a huge medieval cathedral, with a chapel containing the Holy Grail... Well, at least one of them.

Why do I want to do it? Because I believe in walking. I've been a scout for 13 years, I was hiking a lot and I can tell you, that walking solves many problems, brings more oxygen to your brain, letting it think clearer and makes your body produce endorphines. Walking this particular trail is also breathing history. We are walking on the footpaths of Charlemagne, Saint Francis of Assisi and Isabella of Castile. It's like touching those legendary times, when people were talking, not tweeting, when they owned as much as they could carry and believed in unicorns because they couldn't google them.