Destination Santiago Peregrino 60

 Day One Many pilgrims choose to begin at the Basilica de Santa Maria in Alicante and obtain their first "sello" there. However we started out at 7.30 am during a Spanish heatwave and well before the Basilica was open. The Cafe opposite didn't have a stamp so we just moved onwards following the guide - which is good on this opening section, we passed through the famous "Mushroom Street" and having tried cafes, shops and a bank seeking a sello, all without sucess, the Camino provided! A  Valencian Government building was open, the IVAJ, an Albergue of the Instituto Valenciano  de la Juventad. The front desk staff were delighted to provide us with a stamp, even more so when I said it was "El Primero Sello". We were relieved as the stage beyond Alicante has no real opportunities for a stamp before Orito - our destination later in the day 25 km down the track. We stopped for water just before passing the Cimentario de Nuestra Senora del Remedio. The poet M...

 Camino del Sureste Well a lot has happened since the last Camino four years ago. I have retired, run a few half marathons, moved to the countryside in the province of Alicante, Spain, learned how to cultivate our olive trees, make olive oil from our own olives and begun to learn a little Spanish. Having seen a number of Camino signs locally in Aspe, and visited Pilar de la Horadada which is the starting point of the Rana del Sureste and looked at the map of Camino routes across Spain which sits on the wall above my desk... ...and knowing Sam - a friend on mine-  who has also walked a Camino (Ourense to Santiago), was coming to visit... you can probably work out what's coming next... ...as you will know if you have made a Camino to Santiago it reels you back in to come once more, to learn a little more, to see rather than to glimpse, to appreciate rather than take for granted, to be a little closer to God And so it was that on Thursday 18th June we began outside the Basilica d...