The Road to Santiago de Compostela

I am currently fascinated by the medieval pilgrimage from southern France to Santiago de Compostela in Northern Spain. I have read that Santiago de Compostela translates to “St James the Greater of the Field of Stars” which is poetic beyond belief and enough to make me love the road sight unseen.

I read of it years ago in one of Paulo Coelho’s wonderful books…I think he writes about the road to Santiago in more than one. But I did not really pay attention to the pilgrimage  until working on TO BE QUEEN, because Eleanor’s father takes that road, with disastrous results.

The same themes and ideas come up again and again in my work, and it looks as if the Road to Santiago may be one of them. I am researching an idea for a story that takes place on the Road to Santiago, so I am reading a great deal about that pilgrim road, which was highly traveled in the medievel period, especially during the 10th -12 centuries.

The book I am drawn into at the moment is I’M OFF THEN by Hape Kerkeling, the German commedian, who took time out  to walk this road and contemplate his life. The result, along with whatever personal insights and strengths he gained, is this wonderful, funny, heart-warming book.  Deftly translated from the German by Shelley Frisch, I am finding myself transported by Herr Kerkeling’s journey and his charming story telling.

As hard as the road to Santiago sounds, his book makes want to try it for myself. Research trip? Maybe someday. But I get the very disctinct sense that to walk the Road to Santiago de Compostela, you are more than taking a stroll. You are facing yourself and your life in a way that will transform you. That sounds like a journey that I would like to take.