[Classifieds] [classifieds] Event Feb 19

[MBL Classifieds]

From: "Jennifer Gaines" <jgaines at clamsnet.org> 



Event: Travel Talk: Camino de Santiago 

Date: Saturday, Feb 19, 1:30 

Place: Woods Hole Public Library, 581 Woods Hole Rd 



An illustrated talk about the ancient pilgrim route across northern Spain, the Camino de Santiago, will be presented at the Woods Hole Public Library on Saturday afternoon February 19 at 1:30. The speakers will be Ellie and Rich Armstrong of Woods Hole who walked for three weeks on the ancient route last June. 

Pilgrims have trekked this route for more than 1,500 years, seeking the final resting place of the remains of St. James. The pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela in northwest Spain owes its origin to the discovery, in what is now Galicia, of the tomb of the Apostle James the Great sometime early in the 9th century. It probably achieved its greatest popularity in the 12th century, when it came to rival Rome and Jerusalem as goals of Christian pilgrimage, and though it declined thereafter, it has never been entirely forgotten. In recent years it has seen a renewed surge of interest, and in 1987 it was declared the first European Cultural Route by the Council of Europe. 

The Camino is actually a network of paths beginning in many places in Europe including Paris and parts of Germany, coming together in a few passes over the Pyrenees mountains, and across northern Spain, all the routes finishing at the town of Compostela, in the north-western corner of Spain. Rich and Ellie started on a part of the Camino in south-western France, walking in that country for two days before hiking over the Pyrenees into Spain. By the time they reached the end of their journey, they had walked about 250 kilometres. 

Every fifteen years there are special holy years when even more pilgrims walk the Way. 2010 was one of those holy years and as a result, the Armstrongs met many other people on the trail, walking and talking with pilgrims from France , Holland, England, and Japan, as they all wended their way towards Compostela. Some were on bicycles; one was on a horse. They proceeded through all kinds of terrain, across streams, fields, farms, mountains, and even several cities just as pilgrims have done over the centuries 

Ellie and Rich travelled with ATG (Alternate Travel Groups), a British company that specializes in walking tours, providing guides and luggage transfers. In several cases, when the Camino went through what have become industrial zones, ATG arranged transport for the group. They stayed in a variety of accommodations: pensiones, small hotels, Bed & Breakfasts, all pre-arranged by ATG. The Armstrongs have travelled with this company on several of their other European walking trips and are very satisfied. 

Along the way they were able to visit the traditional hostels for pilgrims, many of them in monasteries and convents. Occasionally they were able to break away from the group when they arrived in towns for the evening and searched for even more of the local culture. One night they discovered colorful flamenco dancers with their clicking castanets accompanied by a guitarist. Another time they entered a medieval church only to discover a rehearsal of a medieval musical group, their harmonies echoing from the ancient rafters. All these side trips enriched their enjoyment of the land they walked through. 

This talk marks the beginning of the Library’s annual series of travel talks. They will all be held in the meeting room on the lower level which is handicapped accessible. All the talks are free and open to the public. For more information either call the Library at 508-548-8961 or visit the website at www.woodsholepubliclibrary.org. 



Jennifer S. Gaines 
Woods Hole Public Library 
Woods Hole, MA 02543 

508-548-8961
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: http://lists.mbl.edu/pipermail/classifieds/attachments/20110204/74fde687/attachment.html 
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: Camino SantiagoLibPR.doc
Type: application/octet-stream
Size: 25088 bytes
Desc: not available
Url : http://lists.mbl.edu/pipermail/classifieds/attachments/20110204/74fde687/attachment.obj