The traditional concept of the pilgrimage is that it’s for Christians looking to connect with and understand their spiritual journey as they walk one of literally hundreds of potential routes to Santiago de Compostela, in Galicia in northern Spain.
Those who take up the challenge, do so for wide and varied reasons: some indeed wish to do it to enhance their faith; others do it for health and exercise and others just want to go off on a ‘long walk’ (800km 😊) and step out of the ‘rat race’ for a while.
Earlier this year 14 people signed up to complete various sections of the walk (roughly 100km) to help raise funds for Tabor House. Arriving on Monday, May 22nd the team crossed the Spanish Border and began their trek at Roncesvalles at the end of the Pyrenees. Staying in various towns and cities along the route the team trekked various sections of the walk near Pamplona, Zariquiegui, Irache, and Burgos (amongst others) before arriving into city of Santiago de Compostela on Sat. May 27th. Along the way the group stopped off at Santo Domingo to visit the Cathedral to see the tomb of St Dominic and hear the legend of the roasted cock; in Burgos, the group visited the Cathedral and the tomb of El Cid, the Golden Staircase and the Flexible Crucifix and took in the wonderful sights of Northern rural Spain as they trekked through the countryside.
The walk organised by Marian Tours on behalf of Tabor House included a donation of €200 of the booking fee for each person who signed up – a total of €2800 was raised via this thread. In addition, a number of the walkers raised sponsorship through an idonate web site that was set up specifically for the event. This resulted in €9,200 being raised and special thanks is due to PJ & Marie Finn, Mary Corrigan, Philip Maguire and Terence O’Donnell; their efforts and the contributions of their supporters are greatly appreciated.
All in all, a total of €12,000 was raised for Tabor House and interest is already being expressed for doing another ‘long walk’ in 2018 – watch this space!
