Beebe Bahrami - Moon Camino de Santiago: Sacred Sites, Historic Villages, Local Food & Wine (Travel Guide)

SACRED SITES, HISTORIC VILLAGES, LOCAL FOOD & WINE

BEEBE BAHRAMI

In my many returns to the Camino since my first trek in 1995, I heard a common lament from secular and religious pilgrims alike: that they were in such a hurry to find a bed, and reliant on guidebooks that did not point out the significance of what they were walking past, that they missed many of the Caminos most meaningful elements.

I wrote this guide to the Camino Francsthe most popular branch of a vast network that crisscrosses Spain, France, Portugal, and really all of Europe, destined for the holy city of Santiago de Compostela in northwestern Spainto fulfill this desire for context and connection. I set out to answer not only practical questions (where should I sleep or stop for lunch?) but also deeper, cultural ones (why do locals in Basque Country hang bundles of thistle on their doors, and what do the Caminos Black Madonnas represent?).

The result is a book that balances crucial practical details with thoughtful insights and enriching experiences. In each chapter youll find:

Highlights that point out places and experiences that are not to be missed, such as tasting tapas in Lens Barrio Hmedo, waking up for sunrise on O Cebreiro mountain, and making a detour to the enigmatic octagonal church of Eunate.

Starting points, and detailed recommendations for how to reach each one, if you (like many pilgrims) arent able to complete the entire trek.

Recommended overnight stops, chosen either for their ideal location or for an exceptional experience that adds depth to the pilgrim journey. I also fold in the personal stories of the hosts who serve the Camino, as their commitment to the route (and to pilgrims) is part of what makes this trek so special.

Route options that help you decide what to do when the trail forks. This section also alerts you to worthwhile sights that many travelers miss because they are not well marked or require a short detour off the trail.

Local food and wine callouts that highlight regional specialties, from succulent fresh-caught seafood to hearty stews, and the best places to taste them. (Ive witnessed often how much pilgrims enjoy food and wine, topics that are glossed over in other Camino guides.)

Lists of local weekly markets so you can plan your journey around these festive events.

Folklore callouts that describe the sacred traditions that are distinct in each region of the Camino, with a special focus on pagan rituals that have influenced modern Christian traditions. (Many churches that were built over pre-Christian sites retain elements of the older pagan forms. These are fascinating to beholdif you know where to lookand I make sure to note them so that you do.)

This revised second edition also contains more recommendations for eateries and albergues, more tips on where to find the tastiest local specialties, and deeper insight into the folklore of each region. Also new are lists of wildlife and sacred trees (and where to spot them), suggestions for an eco-friendly journey, and a crowd-dodging itinerary for walking just the last 100 kilometers in high season.

Some things have changed on the Camino since the first edition of this book was written in 2019. Most notably, COVID caused the tragic closure of eateries and albergues along the route. But there were hopeful developments, too: In the thick of the pandemic (June of 2020), a trout fisherman serendipitously stumbled over a 14th century relic in the Sar river near Santiago. Some took the relic, which depicts Mary, Jesus, and two angels and will eventually be on view in Santiagos Museo de las Peregrinaciones y de Santiago, as a signal that Mary is watching over us. And in 2021, perhaps courtesy of the retreating human world due to the pandemic, brown bears returned to the mountains of Len after decades of absence (posing no threat to humans other than to local beekeepers livelihoods as they ransack hives for lucrative honey).

There are new bright spots for travelers as well. In 2021, the Catedral de Santiago de Compostelas stunning western entrance, Prtico de la Gloria, re-opened after being closed for several years for restoration. And because of the pandemic, the Pope declared that the holy year of 2021 would be extended throughout 2022. At this time, the cathedrals east door, called both the Puerta de Perdn, gate of pardon, and the Puerta Santa, holy door, is open for arriving pilgrims and the faithful to pass through to gather full pardons (for believers) and extra grace (for everyone). At the end of 2022 it will be closed until the next Holy Year, in 2027.

In many ways, the Camino symbolizes the act of reclaiming a sense of wonder and beauty in ones life and with the worldsomething we need now more than ever. It is a great road of transcendence open to all and barred to none; a walking meditation punctuated by churches, chapels, shrines, streams, hills, mountains, rivers, and valleys. More than anything, the Camino is an experience to be savored, not rushed. This book helps you to slow down the journey, so that you discover the Camino, your Camino, at its best.

Beebe Bahrami

The Camino de Santiago is a great adventure, a sacred pilgrimage in the footsteps of millions of others intertwined with an outdoor trek across southwestern France and northern Spain. This, its most historic route, the Camino Francs, begins in the town of Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port on the Pyrenean border in France and travels over the mountains and west across Iberia for 780 kilometers (485 miles), traversing daunting mountains, lush river valleys, sweeping plains, striated vineyards, and rolling hills swaying with wheat and sunflowers to the purported tomb of Saint James the Greater in Santiago de Compostela. And the path doesnt really stop there: As the Camino Finisterre and Muxa, it continues another 90 kilometers (56 miles) all the way to the rugged shores of the Atlantic.

The Camino is a rare chance in the busy world for solitude and self-reflection, even for self-reinvention, while traveling in the company of pilgrims from more than 190 nations and while encountering engaging and generous locals who have lived on and served the Camino for generations. It is a path of strange trail magic, where solutions are delivered just as you need them, and where someone walking past spontaneously gives the perfect answer to the very question rolling around in your head.

The Camino is also a paradox. When a person becomes a pilgrimplerin/e in French, peregrino/a in Spanishand temporarily disconnects from normal life to go for a long walk, he or she enters into a deep experience of presence and connectedness on many levels, with nature, with others, and with him- or herself. Many peregrinos marvel that the Camino naturally cultivates such a profound experience, and with it, transformation, just by walking.