INTRODUCTION
Hi ! Welcome to the Belgo-Puerto Rican connection !
Let us present ourselves:
Victor is from Puerto
Rico , a small island in the Carribean at the height of Central
America.
Sylvia is from Belgium
, a small but important country situated right in the heart of
Europe. Victor is an artist painter and a Court Interpreter.
Our home is in Bergenfield, New Jersey.
We met in 1995, while trekking along the
last nine days on the road to Compostela; a pilgrimage route
that has been around for over a thousand years.
There are four main roads across France,
and they come together within the Basque country, at the frontier
between France and Spain.
This single road known in Spain as the "Camino
Frances", goes for over five hundred miles culminating in the
Celtic city of Santiago of Compostela.
Why Celtic?
Because the Romans never reached that far during
the expansion of their empire, thus leaving the north west mountains
for the celts pirates that raided must of that area during the
fall of the empire, around the fifth century.
that starts in the Pyrenees in France and goes
through Northern Spain, crossing Navarra, La Rioja, Castilla
y Leon until Santiago de Compostela in the western reaches of
Galicia.
When we met, it was like a dream, it happened almost accidentally.
Just before Villafranca
del Bierzo, there is a waterstream named Arroyo Valtuilles.
We met there one afternoon while Victor rested on the bridge over
the calm water. From that day, we walked together about ten days
under heavy rain before arriving to Santiago. We've been in love
ever since. As we enjoyed so much the experience, we decided to
do "El Camino" again in 1996, this time starting together in Saint
Jean-Pied-de-Port in France. As a result, we walked together for
about 800 km (about 500 miles) to Compostela.
Should you have questions, related to this experience or should
you consider going as well, we will be more than happy to help
you.
We are also constructing a page dedicated to "El
Camino", collecting links to pilgrims all over the world,
sites with general information, associations and bibliography
.
See you there !
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