Buen caminho!
If everything goes according to plan, I will be setting out on my very own Caminho this September.
I deliberately say ‘Caminho’ rather than ‘Camino’. Caminho is the Portuguese word for ‘path’. In this case, it refers to the Way of St James. And that is exactly where it all begins: in Portugal. More specifically, in Porto.
Below, I’ll explain to you how and why this was almost impossible, and how and why it’s suddenly possible after all.
Or, to put it in the words of the protagonist from the book I’m currently writing: “Your journey always begins with a first step”.
Because I was ill for a long time. Starting in 2000, I suffered from recurring kidney stones (12 in total), which required hospital stays and urological operations to remove...
A staged examination involving a blood sample taken via a catheter inserted into the groin directly at the parathyroid gland yielded an unexpected result: the level there was...
A few years ago, I visited the ruins of Heisterbach Abbey. I was already quite limited in my mobility at the time and could only manage the short circular walk around the...
I was standing on the Oelberg again. This time, though, I didn’t stop on the way up. Straight to the top from the monastery ruins. And in the distance, Löwenburg beckoned...
