[Gocamino] Via Tolosana

[Patricia Rush]

Rosina--do you mean The Pilgrimage Road to Santiago: The Complete Cultural 
Handbook, by David Gitlitz and Linda Davidson?  The first section is on the 
alternate routes to Santiago which meet at Puente La Reina.  Yes, it is a 
wonderful book.

Patricia Rush
----- Original Message ----- 
From: <Blaroli at aol.com>
To: <pgrant38 at yahoo.com>; <GoCamino at oakapple.net>; 
<saintjames at yahoogroups.com>; <jdufour at videotron.ca>
Sent: Friday, April 28, 2006 3:43 PM
Subject: Re: [Gocamino] Via Tolosana


> 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
>
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