Just a few months ago I became a British Citizen. In fact today is the 3rd monthaversary of my citizenship ceremony.
at my citizenship ceremony in Maidstone
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
My passion is London and the history of the city, and I have explored and visited many of the areas where Chaucer lived and worked,
a wooden structure depicts the Algate house Chaucer lived in
and on one of my recent work assignments I discovered part of the ‘pilgrims way’ and immediately set out to walk the section nearest to where I was working.
The Pilgrim’s Way – Winchester to Canterbury
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.
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)
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 😉
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.
heading for the sun and surf…suitcase following close behind
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 🙂
High above the castle keep, the flag of England with the cross of St George flapped wildly in the wind alongside the Union Jack.
God save our gracious Queen!
And at night the sun sets over the North Downs casting long shadows and highlighting the verdant green fields. Stunning.
There’s as oast-house cluster a stones-throw away that makes a most charming scene at night with the lights shining from the windows. That’s another perk of the countryside, you can leave your curtains open at night and enjoy the darkness, the sky a canopy of twinkling stars on a clear night.
The rest lie on a shelf at home; I made a loss due to the total lack of interest… I put some money into Facebook ads, promoted it on Twitter, on my website, on instagram, but sadly there was no real interest.
Self-publishing is not for the faint-hearted!!! Thanks to my one facebook friend for his support )Peter B, you know who you are 😉 )and to my lovely instagram friend for her support (Jaeden, you know who you are 😉 ). On the plus side, I sent one to The Queen last year in September and apparently she liked it 😉 I even got a letter of thanks from her Lady-in-Waiting. – what a cool title.
I’ve also been invited to previews of exhibitions in the City of London, mostly notably through the wonderful people at Guildhall, and invited to do a few reviews at restaurants…again, what a thrill to receive the invitation. I hope I did them justice.
No…..In the words of Samuel Johnson “Why, Sir, you find no man, at all intellectual, who is willing to leave London. No, Sir, when a man is tired of London, he is tired of life; for there is in London all that life can afford.”
One of my dream journeys, I had previously, with my daughter, watched the Orient Express roll into Broadstairs Station on a couple of occasions – to the wide-eyed envy of the seaside town’s residents.
My daughter who is a genius at planning surprises and arranging things she knows I’d like to do, bought tickets for a trip on this elegant train from Victoria Station to Paddock Wood.
Outside, a band made up of 3 delightful ladies, entertained the waiting guests with tunes from the 40’s. Soon we were all swinging along to familiar tunes! How splendid.
Not Just a Granny 
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