[Gocamino] Via Tolosana

[Blaroli@aol.com]

Hi there,
For some time I've believed that the very best book about the Camino in 
English, bar none, is Linda Davidson's "The Pilgrimage Road to Santiago" (ISBN 
0-312-25416-4).It was my introduction to the Camino, that is, to what has become a 
very rich and lovingly fulfilling part of  my life and I will never be able 
to thank Linda enough for writing it.
Because of my knowledge of  Spanish  my son and other relatives had urged me 
to go to Spain to accompany my sister in law, Liz, who spoke only English, and 
who was resolved to undertake what seemed to be a strange, and suicidal, trip 
by bicycle alone across the north of  Spain on something called the "Santiago 
pilgrimage",  about which none of the rest of us had ever heard.. Since my 
southern sister in law was sure to ride her bike in shorts, a la Savannah 
Georgia, blonde pony tail flowing in the air, amidst all those Spanish men, I, too, 
became somewhat concerned and resigned myself to the need to go  to keep an 
eye on things.  My plan was to follow Liz by car, or bus, and while away the 
time reading under trees and sipping wine at the bars with the locals while I 
waited for her from town to town.
When we got to Pamplona I started leafing through Liz' "travel" books and 
came by Linda's book. 
It floored me!
The book is not a travel guide, nor a historical or artistic text, nor a 
pilgrim's diary..... and somewhat it is all three, in a most practical and 
irresistible way.
It begins with description and information, stage by stage, of the 
"Aragonese" part of the French Camino, that is the route that begins at the port of 
Somport and contends until the Puente La Reina where it joins the one that begins 
at SJPP.
My sense, from reading the book, is that Linda admired and enjoyed the 
Aragonese Way as much as those of us who have had the fortune of walking it.  The 
world-wonders that are found on that part of the Camino, such as the monastery 
of  San Juan de la Pena, carved out of sheer rock on the top of a mountain, can 
only be believed when seen, and the spiritual exultation that responds to the 
several-times-a-day Gregorian chants heard at the magnificent Leyre Monastery 
 is almost a rebirth of one's senses.
Linda's book covers the Aragonese route in a mere 50 pages (not all full), 
qnd yet nothing is missed.  With an impressive talent for narration and 
description and  a keen eye for, and apparent love of, art and history,  Linda 
provides the historical background of the sites and towns traversed, their relation 
to the Santiago Camino and the outstanding churches and monuments located 
there.  The book also mentions, when pertinent, the topographical characteristics 
of the stages of the Camino as they may challenge a pilgrim.

I have spent, literally, hundreds and hundreds of hours translating portions 
of the book for many professors, priests, writers, artists and architects in 
Spain interested in the Camino.  They have often expressed to me their deep 
regret that the book is not available in Spanish.  Even Don Juan Jose Cebrian, 
who runs the Sociology Department of the Santiago Archdiocese and who has 
written  more than thirty (yes, thirty) Santiago and Camino-related books, and his 
brother, Don Genaro, who is in charge of Pilgrims' affairs in Santiago, have 
expressed their admiration for those portions of the book which I have read to 
them  and have said, repeatedly, that those of us who can read the book are  
very fortunate.
And., indeed, we are.
Anyone who reads  the portion of the book that covers the Camino from Somport 
to Puente La Reina will not be able to wait to get going.
Regards,
Rosina