Jennifer Fontanella Summer Update Part II
7/21/2011 12:00:00 AM | Synchronized Skating
July 21, 2011
Photo Gallery from Fontanella's Hike
 Jennifer Fontanella pictured on the roof of the Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela.  | |
After six weeks of regular classes that I'm taking through Miami University in Oviedo, Spain, some of my classmates and I went on a 10-day bike/hike through northern Spain on what is part of a religious pilgrimage called the Way of St. James.
People throughout the world come to walk the path that starts in Roncesvalles, France and ends in Santiago de Compostela, Spain. The remains of Saint James are said to be in the Cathedral of Santiago, which is how the pilgrimage started many years ago. We studied St. James Way in my Cultural History of Spain class, but actually getting to experience part of this hike was an amazing experience.
For the first five days we biked, which proved to be a very challenging experience for us. We had to climb some very steep hills. We walked and carried our bikes up many of them. Some down hills were difficult because of the gravel sand and rocks that covered them. We started biking in a town about half an hour from Oviedo called Aviles. Every day we biked an average of 40 kilometers to small towns along the Way of St. James.
 One of the many shells along the Way of St. James to find the way to Santiago. | |
Along the Way of St. James in northern Spain there are shells. These shells guide the way to Santiago depending on which way the shells point. When I first learned about how the shells guide the pilgrims to Santiago I figured it would be easy, but I was wrong. The shells aren't the clearest indications for what direction to go and many times we found ourselves lost. But the natives are incredibly nice to lost pilgrims and helped us get back on the trails towards Santiago.
We met lots of pilgrims from all over the world on the way. There was a group of boys walking the Way of St. James from Madrid. There was a Japanese man decked out in a white robe with characters on the back, and I even spent some time speaking to a man from Brazil. One of the most exciting experiences we had was meeting pilgrims in one town and seeing them again a few day s later in a different town and exchanging stories about the few days we had.
The last five days we spent walking. I am glad we walked for part of the way because while we were biking we didn't have a chance to have conversations with other pilgrims or really focus on the landscape that we were passing.
When we arrived in Santiago a feeling of accomplishment filled the atmosphere. I remember there was a big group of men who rode into the main plaza in front of the Cathedral of Santiago and two men stopped and hugged, one almost in tears. I could just feel the pain they must of gone through to bike 500 miles in just a little more than a month. In the ten days that we biked and walked the way, we traveled 300 kilometers which is about 190 miles. This was an incredible experience that I hope to one day have the chance to do again perhaps starting from Roncesvalles, France, cross the Pyrenees mountains to make my way to Santiago.
I am so glad I had this wonderful opportunity to experience a pilgrimage. The professors at Miami that were on the hike with us were so friendly and helpful and really encouraged us during our harder days on the bike or while waking. Much like skating for Miami, this experience was unique, challenging and in the end very rewarding.
(Throughout the summer a few of the Miami University synchronized skaters will be updating MURedHawks.com with what they are doing and where they are traveling.)
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