In 2015, Michelangelo Cao embarked on a spiritual journey aiming to find new awareness and enlightenment that would help him through some life-changing decisions. Far from familiar faces and places, he wanted to experience silence both within and around him, to live through something authentic down to its intrinsic essence and absolute simplicity. With this resolution in mind, the author walked the ancient “Way of the Stars” to Santiago de Compostela, from the Pyrenees to the Atlantic Ocean, crossing the northern regions of rural Spain. What he found along the way was a kaleidoscope of encounters, images and emotions, which he faithfully documented with his camera. Organised chronologically following each stop in the journey, the book allows the reader to follow in the footsteps of a modern pilgrim offering a collection of portraits, street scenes and landscapes personally selected by the author to represent what he lived and felt during the 30 days of his pilgrimage. For a deeper and more complete understanding of the author’s experience, the photographs are accompanied by his personal diary, together with accounts from his fellow pilgrims.
Friday 31 July
Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port
A solitary soul amidst other solitary souls. This is me as I wander through the damp, winding alleyways of Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port one drizzly mid-summer afternoon.
Inside, I feel lost, empty, and yet somehow free.
Hoping to silence the endless flurry of thoughts that race incessantly through my mind, I enter the small church dedicated to Saint Jean. Assembled in two ancient stone braziers, countless candles cast a warm, glimmering light, representing the prayers, vows and hopes of those, like me, who are preparing to set off.
With this image of the ancient link to the divine, my journey begins. [...]
Saturday 1 August
Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port to Roncesvalles, 25 km
[...] Enveloped in sheets of fog, the path becomes uncertain; I continue along the road as it winds its way into an age-old wood where the sun struggles to break through the knotty web of branches. Nature imposes itself with imperious authority here, making the place seem cut off from the rest of the world. [...]
For me, the Camino de Santiago and music represent similar paths; paths without flags or borders. This is perfectly demonstrated by the fact that though the girls were French and I Spanish, we didn’t need any words to communicate.
Music and the Camino de Santiago have granted me the most beautiful moments of my life. ¡Ultreya!
Luís Borraz, Spain
Tuesday 4 August
Pamplona to Puente la Reina, 23.5 km
[...] Beyond the outskirts of the city, the road slowly scrambles its way up until it reaches an arid summit, the Alto del Perdon. Here, a series of bronze metal forms are silhouetted against the sky, depicting a motley crew of pilgrims in gaunt, sharp lines.
I stop for a moment as the heavy wind batters my step and I gaze out at the boundless fields of sunflowers. [...]
Wednesday 5 August
Puente la Reina to Estella, 23 km
It’s all over in a matter of seconds. Men racing between the protective barriers; cries of encouragement from crowded balconies; the heaving breath of the galloping beasts.
The running of the bulls is the climax of the festival that welcomes me when I arrive in Estella. It is a day dedicated to the patrons, and the inhabitants – proud Basques that they are – honour the tradition by wearing only white and tying a bright red handkerchief around their necks. [...]
I feel like an ancient Japanese warrior, a samurai. The traditional oriental hat I wear is called “sugegasa”. All the pilgrims who walked by my side wrote their name on it. This is my treasure. I wouldn’t be able to reach Santiago without their help. When I decided to do the pilgrimage, I chose this T-shirt for its Japanese writing “さいごまでがんばるばい”. It means “I will try my hardest until the end”.
Takashi Anan, Japan
Wednesday 12 August
Rabé de las Calzadas to Castrojeriz, 28 km
[...] When the warmth of the sun finally manages to break through, the boundless landscape of the mesetas opens up before me, dazzling me with the intense yellow of the grain and the delicate blue hues of the sky. [...]
Saturday 15 August
Sahagún to Mansilla de las Mulas, 36.5 km
A straight, never-ending road merges into a horizon of limitless fields of golden wheat and Magrittian skies. For over 25 kilometres my only companions are the burning sun and my own shadow. The monotonous landscape is interrupted only by a small flock of sheep, the ruins of an abandoned railway station and a few drunk youngsters in a battered jeep, making their way home after a night of partying. [...]
Sunday 16 August
Mansilla de las Mulas to León, 18 km
The magnificence of a gothic cathedral.
After the barren rural landscape of the mesetas, crossing the threshold of this imposing house of God is a confusing, disorienting experience.
León is a chaotic, bustling place. Tourists, residents and pilgrims mingle in the streets of the city, gathering in its bars and shops.
Today is a new beginning. Or, at least, I sincerely hope it will be. The last week has been particularly challenging and the enthusiasm that had kept me going day after day is starting to wane.
Will I finish what I have started?
Will God hear my voice?
[...] Every time I talked to another pilgrim I was overwhelmed by stories of breathtaking sunsets, of the straight, dry paths of the mesetas, of group singing and communal dinners at the end of the day. Just when I thought I no longer had the strength to place one foot in front of the other, a yellow arrow would emerge out of nowhere, I would catch sight of a sunflower with a smiling face or a hardy pilgrim would join me, ready with all the support I needed. “Courage!”, they would say, because everyone knows that 15 kilometres are nothing when in company. [...]
Jessica Mammozzetti, Italy
Wednesday 26 August
Melide to O Pedrouzo, 33 km
[...] We are in the municipal albergue at O Pedrouzo, even if it looks more like a municipal discotheque with all the celebrations going on. Half the hostel have been drinking wine and beer, and singing and dancing since 4 p.m. One guy’s playing the ukulele, another is playing the singer-showman-clown, and another – wearing pyjamas – is playing the drums with a pan. They are the life and soul of the party, which is still going strong at 2 a.m., though it’s moved to the kitchen now as the hostel closed its doors at 10 p.m. [...]
Daniel Cardena, Spain
Saturday 29 August
Negreira to Olveiroa, 33 km
The ancient Vía de la Plata, the long and solitary Camino Portugués, the little-known Primitivo, the jagged Ruta de la Costa and, of course, the classic Camino Francés. All the roads to Santiago converge here, in the last kilometres leading to Finisterre. The carefree atmosphere and complicit enthusiasm that had marked the start of the journey seems to remerge, right before the end. Even the weather is milder and, after so many days of rain, warm sunshine accompanies and brightens our way.
The stories of the pilgrims I meet are different, fascinating. Simply new. I sense the subtle, bittersweet taste of an ending.
