Easter in Santiago

I’ve been so immersed lately in the detail of this tour – organising hotels, places to eat, checking routes, locking in support facilities etc – that I seem to have overlooked one really important thing –

We’ll be walking into Santiago de Compostela on Easter Saturday, and we’ll be there on Easter Sunday for the Semana Santa celebrations.

The Catholics in Spain take Easter more seriously than Christmas.

They have parades, processions, they do recreations of the Christ story with huge effigies, and on Sunday there’s feasting, dancing, and all manner of festivities. It’s a crazy time evidently.

And we’ll be right in the thick of it.

Yes there’s the walking, yes there’s the camaraderie, yes there’s the good food and wonderful wine – but we’re also walking an ancient pilgrimage route. And we’re arriving in one of the holiest cities in the world, on one of the holiest days.

As most of you might know, I’m not Catholic, and I’m not even sure I’m a Christian – I veer towards Buddhism – however I think walking the Camino into Santiago at Easter will be pretty damn cool…

Cathedral clouds