i went for a week to do part of st. james' way or el camino de santiago in spanish.
my friend and i didn't have too much time therefore we chose la rioja as our lap. we
walked along a devastatingly beautiful region with vineyards-rioja wine-which as you walked into the province of leon changed to wheat fields.
the colors, the wild flowers, the smells, the limpid skies acted as a balsam for our thirst and tired feet. the food merits a chapter on its own.

the unofficial oral narrative along the way, called radio camino, creates heroes and legends.
we met the barefoot pilgrim who was going all the way to santiago barefoot. each step he took was zen.
we also met a very funny pair of women whom we called mother and daughter and the runners who were running all the way to santiago.
there was also a couple walking with two babies and a donkey. the father carried a one year old baby on his back ; the other boy, a two year old, rode the donkey.
they couldn't stay in the pilgrims' hostels because of the donkey so they camped out along the way.we called them mary, jesus and the donkey.
we all kept check on each one, as i imagine they did on us.

el camino is an experience i heartily recommend doing, if not all a part of it. no pressure, it's whatever you want to make of it.
buen camino.