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<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2><SPAN
class=340401917-03072001><snip></SPAN></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial><FONT size=2>Well, 31. However, and this is a big
"but," I bussed from Burgos to Leon. <BR>Yes, I admit it. I
cheated, and for a variety of reasons. <SPAN
class=340401917-03072001><snip></SPAN></FONT></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><SPAN class=340401917-03072001><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff
size=2><snip></FONT></SPAN><FONT face=Arial><FONT size=2> It looks
like I am going to have to do at least 20 miles a day in order to make <BR>it.
I really do not want to cheat. It would mean a lot to me personally
to <BR>complete the whole trip on foot. <SPAN
class=340401917-03072001><FONT
color=#0000ff> <snip> </FONT></SPAN></FONT></FONT></DIV>
<P><FONT face=Arial><FONT color=#0000ff size=2><SPAN
class=340401917-03072001>Occasionally the issue of "cheating" on the pilgrimage
comes up as a topic; sometimes it's disguised as who is a "real" pilgrim and who
is not. Let me weigh in with my humble opinion before this becomes
overblown again:</SPAN></FONT></FONT></P>
<P><FONT face=Arial><FONT color=#0000ff size=2><SPAN
class=340401917-03072001>The "official" Church rules are that you have to walk
the last 100 miles or so, and carry a pilgrim's passport which is stamped at
least twice a day to "prove" that you made the pilgrimage, in the way that THEY
intended. If it is important to you to get the Compostela and be an officially
sanctioned by the Church, you should follow their rules. To do otherwise and
then try to get a Compostela is truly "cheating", because you have used
deception to try and obtain something you did not earn according to their
rules.</SPAN></FONT></FONT></P>
<P><FONT face=Arial><FONT color=#0000ff size=2><SPAN
class=340401917-03072001>If, however, you're interested in doing the pilgrimage
for your own reasons, you may do it however you like. Kings and queens of the
middle ages didn't suffer carrying their backpacks, eating poor food, or (gasp!)
walking--they often rode horseback or in carts, they brought along their retinue
of servants, and their food was probably of the same quality they ate on a
regular basis. If they had had access to air-conditioned, fancy tourism-style
busses, I'm sure they would have used them. Common folks would have ridden them
too, had they had the money. So there is no such thing as "cheating" on the way
you do your pilgrimage unless you 1.-- practice deliberate deception in trying
to get the Compostela, or 2.-- tell all your friends "I walked the whole camino
from Roncesvalles to Stgo" when in truth you rode a bus a large part of it.
In the case of #2 you're still not technically "cheating" you're just stretching
the truth (lying) to impress your friends back home.</SPAN></FONT></FONT></P>
<P><FONT face=Arial><FONT color=#0000ff size=2><SPAN class=340401917-03072001>My
advice would be to decide from your own personal viewpoint just what aspect of
the pilgrimage is important to you. Remember that of the Big 3 pilgrimages
(Rome, Jerusalem and Santiago) it is only Santiago where the *process* seems to
have been as important as the actual arrival--since St. James' miracles did not
occur at his tomb but in the real world.</SPAN></FONT></FONT></P>
<P><FONT face=Arial><FONT color=#0000ff size=2><SPAN
class=340401917-03072001>Maryjane</SPAN></FONT></FONT></P></BODY></HTML>