Not Just a Granny

Just a few months ago I became a British Citizen. In fact today is the 3rd monthaversary of my citizenship ceremony.

I have a list of ‘things to do once I have my passport’ and one of those is the Camino.  I wasn’t really sure which section I wanted to do but since I have always wanted to visit Portugal, when I discovered that one of the routes is from Porto I decided to make that the route I would take.

I can’t quite make up my mind whether to walk it all in one go, or rather break it up into 2 stages.  So in September of this year I plan to walk the Camino from Porto to Santiago or maybe just the first stage. It will all depend on how I feel at the time LOL

I am a 61 year-old single parent of a most wonderful daughter aged 35+. Born in South Africa, I crossed the seas in October 2001 to visit my sister and her hubby who were living in Ireland at the time. I loved Ireland and after deciding that London was where I wanted to live, I returned to SA poste-haste to obtain my ancestral visa (my grandfather had the good sense to be born in Wandsworth) and never looked back…..after living and working in the UK for the past 15 years I recently obtained my British Citizenship and relevant passport and hope to put it to good use.

Since getting my passport on 30 March I’ve been from Dover to Calais, specifically so that I could see the White Cliffs of Dover.

My daughter and I went to Paris on 24 April for lunch (courtesy of her and my sisters Sue & Caroline – thanks guys, it was amazing)

My next trip is to Brussels in July to spend a few days with my friend Valy,

and of course I’ve been to South Africa, but since I used both my passports, it only semi counts as a trip post UK passport 😉

It has been my dream for some years now to walk the Camino as well as spending a few days to explore Santiago. My father (deceased 2015) has cycled the Camino a few times, the last being in 2015 a few months before he died at the age of 85…although he didn’t complete the route due to deteriorating health. One of my younger sisters was with him at the time and they managed to fit in a visit to my brother and family in Hungary…..I’m going to visit them in Budapest for a few days before my #Camino2016.

I have lived in the UK for 15 years now and have travelled extensively both in the UK and in Europe and 3 times to the USA.  Prior to my departure in 2001  I travelled extensively in South Africa, and during the 6 months I lived in Ireland between October 2001 and March 2002 we travelled all over the island and then some….I’ve been to just about every county.

I plan to buy a motor-home in 2021 and start travelling the length and breadth of the UK with occasional trips to the Continent. It’s so easy it would be a shame not to.

I look forward to meeting fellow pilgrims in September.

Here is an extract from the site http://santiago-compostela.net/

Walking the Camino

Walking the Camino is not difficult – most of the stages are fairly flat on good paths. The main difficulty is that few of us have walked continuously for 10, 20 or 30 days. You learn more about your feet than you would ever have thought possible!

Origins of the pilgrimage

The history of the Camino de Santiago goes back at the beginning of the 9th century (year 814) moment of the discovery of the tomb of the evangelical apostle of the Iberian Peninsula. Since this discovery, Santiago de Compostela becomes a peregrination point of the entire European continent.

The Way was defined then by the net of Roman routes that joined the neuralgic points of the Peninsula. The impressive human flow that from very soon went towards Galicia made quickly appear lots of hospitals, churches, monasteries, abbeys and towns around the route. During the 14th century the pilgrimage began to decay, fact brought by the wars, the epidemics and the natural catastrophes.

The recovery of the route begins at the end of the 19th century, but it is during the last quarter of the 20th century when the authentic contemporary resurge of the peregrination takes place. There is no doubt that the social, tourist, cultural or sport components have had a great importance in the “jacobea” revitalization but we cannot forget that the route has gained its prestige thanks to its spiritual value.

Buen Camino 🙂