Camino Norte 2024

Moments in Time One of the interesting things about the Camino de Santiago is how it becomes a mix of snapshots in time, and also a overarching experience to life. Each camino is a broad brush of feelings of wonderment and exhaustion, comradeship and isolation and so on. But it is also a crystal-clear memory of a person or an experience or a view or a deep look inside. This is what inspired the following memoir about high school. Snapshots  I can not believe how much of three years of my high school life that I do not remember. I have memoired about some big moments at King’s Preparatory Catholic High School:  Mr Weber’s library and how I felt safe there Dachau Concentration Camp Ovens (Dec 2022) I never felt more unsafe in my life. Sr Marie Aimee teaching me Spanish - little knowing the importance of that language later in life Thru-hiked Extremdura, Spain. Entering Castile y Leon I loved speaking Spanish, instead of relying on English. a song about California and running away Dreami

  Preps @ 5 Weeks To Go   Tasks Verify more than 6 months left on passport before it is expired. Read up on current Schengen Zone requirements. ETIAS will not be required in 2024. Validate Global Entry and NYS Drivers License. Travel Insurance: make sure it includes emergency medical coverage ( >= $150,000) and medical Evacuation ( >= $500,000 ).  Selected the Hancock Silver Plan @ $246.00. Order credential(s) from American Pilgrims on the Camino. Prob should have done this 2 weeks ago. Update CBP MPC app (for Customs Declaration) and Global Entry app (for immigration). Download offline maps for Irun to Oviedo. Verify expire dates on any credit/debit cards. Vaccinations / immunizations up to date. Prescriptions filled. Car Registration and Vehicle Inspection Lodging for arrival and one rest day. Open a .gpx file in google maps (browser). Open google drive. Navigage to the folder where you want to put the gpx map. New -> More -> Google My Maps (now available on mobile device

Does The Camino Mirror Art? I think this is a relevant title for an event back in my high school years that taught me something about life. It is a lesson that the Camino de Santiago further re-inforced for me. Don't be afraid to face new ideas; work through it. Don't think that the unknown is dangerous; safely explore. *** I asked my partner to do a proof read of this memoir. Her suggestsions are in the next paragraph. (Editor Notes:) Interesting and timely theme. I’d suggest focusing on the details, making the events you experience and care about vivid for the reader before commenting on them. This will allow the reader to enter the event with you and participate in your experience and learning. I am also thinking that by the end of this, I should have some sense of who the “devil” might be and how you’ve developed sympathy for the devil. Protestors and Chicago Police Officers in Grant Park  DPLA/National Archives at Chicago,  Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons Sympathy fo

California Dreamin' on the Camino de Santiago On many of my camino walks, one of the songs that I have sung to myself (when no one else can hear) is the famous song " California Dream' " by The Mamas and The Papas. To me, the song is not so melancholic but hopeful. That may sound strange, given the lyrics, but in my interpretation, the subject of the song is merely reflecting on the purpose and/or purposelessness of his life.  Many of us on the Camino are reflecting on something: life, love, liberty, longing, lonliness and probably many more "L" words. (Photo from : https://www.california.com/most-beautiful-beaches-california/ ) California Dreamin'  Intro I was at a King’s Prep High School reunion, and overheard someone remark that he did not understand why we sang “California Dreamin’ at our school masses. That is a fair question. I guess we sang it because the 2nd verse mentions a church and praying and a preacher and a penitent who somehow is “saved”

Shakespeare and The Camino  In high school I had to tackle Shakespeare's R&J. Only many years later did I see the pay-off for the hard work in digging into what is behind the play.  There have been many days, more so since I have been walking the Camino outside of Spain, where the pay-off seemed distant if not impossibly far away. Anyway I share this memoir because Shakespeare and the Camino have something in common: they are both very very hard and very very beautiful. Aragon: July 2023 Romeo and Juliet  Intro In my sophomore year at King’s Preparatory High School, English had the usual combination of vocabulary, grammar and, of course, American and Foreign Literature.  I know the Bard of Avon, the great William Shakespeare, was English, but the English in which he wrote was a foreign language to me.  Sr Carol This story concerns Sister Carol Cimino, School Sisters of St Joseph. The odd twist is that, according to my yearbooks, she taught History and Economics, but it was thr

Not English ( Spanish Class and Its Effect on Me )  My Spanish Teacher  Sister Marie Aimee is my Spanish teacher at King’s Preparatory High School. I am going into 9th grade.  Starting High School  I have left behind my K thru 8 elementary school of St Boniface, and am mixed in with others from all over the county. Some are from the suburbs, and some are from the city. Some live in nice houses which all look the same in suburban tracts. Some live in working-class neighborhoods where every house is different. Almost everyone here is Catholic. But we all, everyone of us, have one thing in common: We speak English.  Why Spanish My daily school load is six classes. I had only one choice which was either Spanish (supposed to be easy) or French (supposed to be unspellable). Sr Marie Aimee, as my Spanish teacher, is about to plunge me into another world where I will learn a new, to turn a phrase - “lingua franca”.  The Awakening  “How hard can Spanish be?”, I think. I memorize the words an

 King's Preparatory High School I'm in a writing class which focuses on memoirs. I've been thinking about high school lately, and it may play a part in my upcoming Camino Norte. In high school, I was no jock. I had no athletic abilities whatsoever, and I think that infiltrated into my high school attitude. I was a bookworm, and enjoyed it.  Now I hike Caminos two to three times a year, racking up a couple of hundred miles of through-hiking every 12 months. What a difference!! Anyway with that in mind, here is the first of my HS memoirs. Each will give me pause for thought as I walk this summer from Bilbao Spain to ??? Oviedo ??? We shall see. -_________________________________________________________________________ Safe In The Library I spent three of my four years (freshman to junior / 9th - 11th grades) in high school at King’s Preparatory High School, an innovative Catholic school with a philosophy of inquisitiveness rather than memorization. The place where I always fe

What Draws Me to This Song The nihilism in this song is over-powering. It is not like I feel this way, but the feelings are intensely raw, and at one point in my life - something that I needed to overcome. The Camino de Santiago was the vehicle for that recovery. Photo from Billboard OnLine Bring Me To Life by Evanescence How can you see  into my eyes like open doors?  Leading you down into my core  Where I've become  so numb  Without a soul  My spirit's sleeping somewhere cold  Until you find it there  and lead it back home  Wake me up inside       (save me)  Call my name  and save me from the dark       (wake me up)  Bid my blood to run       (I can't wake up)  Before I come undone       (save me)  Save me from the nothing I've become  Now that I know what I'm without  You can't just leave me  Breathe into me  and make me real  Bring (bring) me (me) to life  Wake me up inside       (save me)  Call my name  and save me from the dark       (wake me up)  Bid my

Flight Travelocity itinerary number:  United: Confirmation Code Confirmation Email: google My Baltoro 75 Backpack Measurements: 25 x 14 x 9 ( not including waist band straps ) Carry-on Bag Requirements: Though you might find an inch or two of a difference with various airlines, the standard domestic carry-on luggage size is 22" x 14" x 9", which includes the handle and the wheels. This size limit ensures your bag — and ideally everyone else's — will be able to be stored safely in the overhead bin for your flight. Not a Plug for United, but those are my tickets. Rochester to Bilbao Total duration: 16h Rochester --> Dulles --> Brussels --> Bilbao Bilbao to Rochester Total duration: 18h 30m Bilbao --> Frankfurt --> Dulles --> Rochester Task List Entry Requirements: Currently, US citizens can travel to Europe for up to 90 days without any sort of travel authorization. Starting with 2025, US citizens visiting parts of Europe will need authorization f

The Camino Norte Travel one of the oldest routes to take pilgrims to pay homage to the relics of St James in Santiago de Campostela. This camino may be older than the well-known and highly used Camino Francés. History Around 820 AD, medieval European kings started arriving at Santiago de Campostela to honor the tomb of St James. These kings used the northern route to avoid the still Moor-controlled other parts of Spain.  As the Spanish kings extended their conquests further south, the Camino Norte continued to increase in importance. At some point in time, though the Norte declined in popularity, use and significance. Today many pilgrims walk the Norte for vaious reasons, to include: avoiding the more crowded Camino Francés enjoying the beauty of the ocean and the mountains. My Pilgrimage Route Along the Camino Norte PV: País Vasco  (Basque Region) C: Cantabria Asturias Galicia From Irun on the French-Spanish border, the Camino Norte runs for 865 km ( approx 520 miles) along the north

Initial Preparations Date Apr 5th, 2024 Total This Camino: 0 miles. Total 2024 Caminos: 103 miles Total All Caminos: 2103 miles Planes: $ 1500 Total Planes / Travel Insurance: $ 1500 Packing List Clothes Everything is quick dry nylon or such. NO COTTON! 2 pr hiking pants with removable lower leg section 2 pr undershorts 2 pr smart wool socks 2 pr shirts 1 outer heavy shirt 1 wool cap, 1 scarf, 2 buffs, 1 pr glove  liners Keane Walking Sandals (for breathability with the feet ) 1 pr running sneakers 1 pr flipflops 1 rain slick Electronics smart phone power adapter for Spain to USA Charging and USB cables Adapters Be very careful of voltage and/or current surges when connecting your electronics to wall outlets.  Best procedure is disconnect your device from the charging cord.  Insert the adapter into the wall outlet, then the power plug of your device into the adapter and only then, connect your device via the charging cable.  It is not uncomon for voltage and / or curr