Episode Transcript
[00:00:02] Speaker A: The Michael Hatfield re max team presents real estate and more.
[00:00:07] Speaker B: Bay Area real estate is different than in all of America. And why? What's up with homebuyers? What's on sellers minds? How is the market and much, much more.
[00:00:18] Speaker A: Now here's your host, Michael Hatfield. Welcome to the real estate and more show. I'm so glad you're here today. Weve all heard about the Camino de Santiago trail, but much may remain vague. Most do not know that there are seven main trails and a few more other ones for the popular pilgrimage across Europe. What is the Camino de Santiago? What is its history, purpose? Why do it? And today I have my good friend and colleague, frequent guest Pat Vitucci, to shed light on the walk of St. James. As he has done it. He welcome back.
[00:00:57] Speaker C: Well, thanks, Michael. It's always a pleasure being on your show.
[00:01:00] Speaker A: Absolutely. Well, I want to hear more about this Camino de Santiago trail and what it means and such. What is it? What is the Camino de Santiago trail from?
What's it about? Tell me.
[00:01:14] Speaker C: Well, it started out a couple centuries ago as a spiritual pilgrimage only grown in pop in popularity because I think there's a real appetite for some introspection in our lives. And you could do 100 miles. The whole thing is a 500 miles walk, which is pretty aggressive, by the way. You can walk, you can ride a bike, you can ride a horse. I think 90% are walkers. And my wife and I did the 100 miles. We started in Spain and went through Portugal, and then you end up back in Spain. So we took the coastal ride. There's a whole host of different routes you can take, but so it's about 15 miles a day. We did it in six days. And I'm not in great shape. I'm in decent shape. My wife actually is a much faster walker than me.
But it's not about speed. It's not a race.
It's a reflecting time. And you're supposed to be quiet and kind of reflect on your life and your life relative to whatever your spiritual life is. It's not just for Christians or Catholics. It happened to start out as a catholic pilgrimage, but we all hopefully have some spiritual life, whatever God you believe in.
And so during the six days, which is pretty physically enduring, I mean, about 15 miles a day, we start out at 07:00 in the morning or so, and you stop and have coffee along the way or have lunch along the way. Again, you walk through these incredibly cute little towns and you see a lot of really backwater towns that are not even on the map.
And while you're quiet most of the time, you run into people from every country you can imagine, China, Russia, Canada, Australia.
And you exchange stories. You know, where are you from and what's your purpose for doing this Camino de Santiago walk?
So it's an interesting time for introspection, but also interacting with people from around the globe.
And what drives people to. To take this walk. It varies from, from couple to couple or individual.
The entire walk is 500 miles. Good friend of ours did the 500 miles walk twice, so she is extremely motivated, by the way, she happened to lose about 50 pounds the first time that she did it. We did kind of the, kind of this soft way. We had our luggage brought from town to town. You stay what are called a peridor, and peridors are basically mini castles from many years ago, from. From centuries ago. And so we cheated, and we had our luggage brought forward. All you carry is water and maybe some snacks along the way. But we happen to go in September, which I think is a really nice month ago. It's, you know, you're beyond the summer heat. You're beyond all the. All the traffic that typically goes to Europe in the summer with kids and everything else.
[00:05:04] Speaker A: Well, I understand that the walk is. It actually originated during the times of Jesus Christ and that his number one apostle, St. James, the one that actually was put to death first, was actually buried and is entombed at the Santiago de Compostela location in Galicia, Spain. And that is the destination for all of these crazy trails. There's like seven main trails, all of different links. And you were on the one that's the Camino de Portuguese, and you were in the northern part of portuguese territory, and then you went on to the. The church. How interesting can that be? It's called the way of St. James.
[00:05:49] Speaker C: We took. We took the coastal route, and you got a coastal breeze, got a lot of great views of the coast. You're high up in the, up in the mountains. And we've talked about doing it again, maybe taking, obviously, a different route. But there's little tiny signs. It's almost like a cement post. It tells you turn right or turn left. A couple times, we kind of got lost. You missed these little tiny insignias. But my wife happened to take pictures, and she's putting together a kind of an art form of all these different doors, pictures of doors with different shapes and sizes, and I flowers around them, and you stop along churches along the way, and everybody's very, very friendly. The people open up their garage and they turn it into a cafe. You stop and have a cappuccino and a little piece of danish or whatever your pleasure is.
[00:06:59] Speaker A: Oh, those Danish, those pastes. Oh, look out. Those are terrible. You know, about those past pastries that they had in Portugal and in Spain, they were built by. Originally in the recipe by the monks, and they had all of this really cool stuff in them. And they still exist, especially in Portugal. They're unbelievably good. So don't eat too many of them. You won't be losing those 50 pounds.
[00:07:26] Speaker C: Well, my weakness is a biscotti. Had all different kinds of biscottis. And, oh, by the way, after 100 miles, I was anxious to get on the scale, and I lost zero pounds. Of course, you know, at night, you have some pasta, you have a couple glasses of wine, but I didn't gain weight. So how's that for a trade off?
[00:07:50] Speaker A: Oh, yeah.
[00:07:51] Speaker C: But we started in a town called Bayona, which is right on the spanish coast.
Again, that night, we stayed in a pandora, and we went to the town of Vigo, which is in Portugal. We went through Rondonella. We stopped at Pontevedra.
Our next stop was Calais de riz Reis. And then we went to the town of Padrone and ended up in Santiago to Compostela, where you get your. Your kind of a passport they give you when you start, and you get it stamped in each of the little towns, so you know it's authentic and you're not bsing anybody. And then they give you a nice certificate when you go to the county clerk's office. And it was. It was just a great experience, a week of reflection. And, you know, when you're. When you're not in the far. In the middle of the forest and you can't see the trees. Right. This is kind of takes you out of that. It really puts kind of your life in perspective. And so that reflecting time, I think, is.
Is really refreshing. Michael and I would encourage you to do it with that. You guys could do it easily, but I'm not sure I'm equipped to do the 500 miles. Francois, again, you take a month, literally a month off, and you. You would do the 500 miles in a month, which, on a daily basis, it's about ten or 12 miles a day.
So you got to be in relatively decent ship. You got to kind of prepare for it. Before we left a couple months before, we would do 810. Twelve mile hikes a day. Really good shoes are important. Great socks are important. Right. And, of course, drinking a lot of water throughout the.
[00:09:55] Speaker A: You weren't drinking that green wine that they have over there?
[00:09:58] Speaker C: We did not touch that at night. We had a nice dinner with some wine, some pasta, whatever. But I'm not good drinking alcohol in the sun.
[00:10:10] Speaker A: No, you gotta be real careful.
[00:10:12] Speaker C: I'm not sure if I would have made it if I start drinking, but a lot of cappuccino to give you that caffeine hit.
[00:10:20] Speaker A: You know, I understand that St. James was the patron saint of spanish pilgrims, and he was the protector of spanish knights. When they went out to drive the moors away from their homeland, he was considered their protector. He was viewed as really a great person, as an apostle as well. And Santiago again means Saint James in Spanish. And it's the way. The way of St. James is the same as the Camino de Santiago. Pretty interesting, if you ask me, to go back all the way to the time of Jesus Christ.
[00:10:56] Speaker C: Yeah. You know, if you want a little insight into the Camino walk, there's a movie called the Way, and Martin Sheen was the story. It was probably filmed 20 plus years ago.
So if you want to get a little insight into what it's like to walk along the trails and meet lots of different people and different vistas, Martin Sheen did a real good job on that movie called the Way.
[00:11:25] Speaker A: Wow. Wow. You know, it's believed that saints. St. James actually preached the gospel in present day Galatia, Spain. And on return to Jerusalem, he was actually beheaded by King Herod at the time. And that was in 44 ad. A little bit of history there. His followers are said to have transported his remains to northern Galatia, where they lay undiscovered until 813. A little before your birth, right?
[00:11:55] Speaker C: A couple years before, yeah. The other interesting stop for me, I grew up as a catholic boy, and so we always prayed to Virgin Mary, the Virgin Mary of Fatima. And we happened to go through the town of Fatima on a Sunday morning. And it's this giant area, probably a couple football field lengths in size, and they happen to have mass on a Sunday morning. And it's just a beautiful, whole facility dedicated to Mary of Fatima, which, you know, the three poor children.
Fatima appeared before the three children, and I think it was in the 1957 or 50. 819.
[00:12:49] Speaker A: 17.
May 13.
[00:12:52] Speaker C: Wow.
[00:12:53] Speaker A: 1917. And there were three shepherds.
We're going to take a short break.
[00:13:02] Speaker D: We'll be right back.
[00:13:04] Speaker A: Three max. And here's Michael Hatfield.
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[00:13:51] Speaker C: Get help with buying or selling by calling the Michael Hatfield remax support team at 1800 857.63. That's 1800 857 63.
[00:14:02] Speaker A: And now back to our show.
Second one was Francesco, Francisco. And Jacinta. And Jacinta. And Francisco passed away within three years of the time of the sightings and the visions from the Virgin Mary. And then Lucia lived into her nineties. Interestingly, in Fatima, she did not divulge the third big secret that was given to her by the Virgin Mary. And finally, in. I guess it was 1957 or thereabouts, was ordered to do so by the head of the Catholic Church. And she said, well, you know, I'm not sure I have that authorization from what I was told during these times. And then she eventually did it, and then when it became public, everyone said that that really wasn't the way it was. But the Catholic Church said, yes, it was. So it was. It was always of contention of what was actually said, but it was actually a forecaster of world War one, World War two and the doomsday in the world. Pretty interesting place. Nancy and I have been there ourselves. Just an amazing sense of the almighty when you go there. Just an amazing place. And actually, the trail goes right through there all the way down to Lisbon. So I don't know. That's a long, long way, if you ask me.
[00:15:34] Speaker C: That's part of the 500 miles trek.
[00:15:39] Speaker A: Do you know the miracle of Santiago de Compostela?
[00:15:44] Speaker C: I may have known it, but I.
[00:15:45] Speaker A: Can'T think of the fates of both. A young german man and his parents were in the hands of Santiago de Compostela. Then the first miracle happened. When his parents came close to his body, the young man, who was supposedly deceased, spoke and told them he was alive and that he had been saved by the grace of the apostle St James. I didn't know that either until I started looking at this. So you felt that the trail was beautiful. It was scenic, but it was coastal at the same time. Were you ever able to put your feet in the water?
[00:16:23] Speaker C: No, we didn't get that close to the ocean.
We were up maybe 10 miles up in the mountains. So it was cooler, which was very pleasant, and it was just cool. We took a lot of pictures of, you know, farmers along the way and just, just general ordinary folks tilling. Tilling the land or horses grazing little tiny farms.
It was, I think, getting some reflection on how people live in that part of the world was so enriching and so much part of the experience. You know, we, you know, whiteman, you go to Europe, you go to Paris, and you go to Rome, but when you go to these little tiny towns and you walk through the middle of their town or down these side streets and you see the little tiny houses and clothes hanging out on the line, I mean, it was, for me, it was like going back to 1950 when I, when I grew up on the east coast. I mean, it was.
[00:17:35] Speaker A: I thought that was 1850.
[00:17:36] Speaker C: Well, one of those, but it just gave you a real snapshot of life for most Europeans. Let's face it, most Europeans don't live in Paris and Rome and Milan. They live out in the burbs and out in the country tilling the land.
So that part of the reflection really gave you some roots as to what a lot of Europeans look like.
[00:18:10] Speaker A: So you were in the heartland? We really were, yeah. And a lot of people still growing grapes and making their own grapes and making their own food. They would grow the livestock and they would, you know, slaughter the livestock and make their own food from that as well as till the land. Still that way, even in the two thousands, it's amazing.
[00:18:34] Speaker C: People still have their feet on the ground and they don't know what a 401K is or an IRA. They're living week to week and month to month, and I think they're pretty happy with their lifestyle. And for you or I, we've probably couldn't go back in those times and live like that. We've been kind of spoiled with, with starbucks on the corner and, and all this fast food, and there's none of that in these little country towns. But it's just a, just a beautiful life for them. They're not affluent necessarily. It's very simple lives. And, you know, you sit and you talk to some of these people along the way, and even with language being somewhat of a barrier in some cases, in some cases, people speak some English, but that was part of the enriching part of just talking to a lot of the locals.
[00:19:39] Speaker A: Do you know the average age of a person that undergoes this walk, this.
[00:19:44] Speaker C: Hike I think it's like 35 to 60 or something like that.
[00:19:48] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:19:49] Speaker C: By the way, only 60% finished the 500 miles hike. So, you know, people stop with blisters or they get sick or they get tired or they get sick and tired.
So they. There's.
Now, I don't know what I would suspect. People finishing the 100 miles is a much higher percentage.
But we saw people along the way quitting because they had blisters on their feed and just weren't prepared physically or maybe mentally.
We struggled through it. If you think about 15 miles a day, Michael, and I was never a runner or a hiker per se, but I can do seven, eight, 9 miles now. But to do 1215 miles, that's pushing it for me.
[00:20:41] Speaker A: Yeah, we've been. If you're like me, you've been behind the desk a bit too much, and this would just be really good. What would you say were the common mistakes of hikers, walkers of the way of St. James? What are some of the mistakes that they make?
[00:20:55] Speaker C: Well, probably not having the right footwear. That's really important. You know, blisters are fairly common, so you've got to have, you know, really good athletic socks and hiking boots because it's not all paved, it's rocky, and it's hilly and cobblestones, and so you got to be prepared for. I would not call it a moderate walk. I would call it, you got to be in fairly good shape.
Of course, hydrating along the way is real important. Eating the right kinds of foods and just sticking to it mentally, it's as much of a challenge as it is physically.
[00:21:39] Speaker A: So it's more of an endurance race. It's not a sprint race. And so you start off too fast. Also, you would just kind of blow all your energy and not have any more to complete the. Complete the race, by the way, it's not a race.
[00:21:54] Speaker C: You're not racing against anybody else. It's going at your own pace. If it takes you 10 hours, if it takes you 5 hours, you know, stopping along the way, I think, is important. And the little tiny cafes that, serving cappuccino and or lunch, and you get your. Your little Camino walk passport stamped along the way. They all have their stamps, and it shows when you go to the county at the end and you authenticate it, they're looking at, you know, all the stamps along the way.
[00:22:28] Speaker A: They check them all out.
[00:22:29] Speaker C: So you can't. You can't cheat, michael. You can't get uber halfway through it and get your certificate.
[00:22:39] Speaker A: Well, so how much sleep did you do every night?
[00:22:42] Speaker C: Typically, we'd start at seven or so. In the morning, we'd hike for five or 6 hours. We'd get there 15 miles in.
We go home, take a shower, take a nap, and then go out and.
[00:22:56] Speaker A: Have in the castle in these little.
[00:22:58] Speaker C: Parrot paradors, these little castles. And I would take a nap or get a massage. There was typically a masseuse.
And then you go out and have a great dinner and you do the same thing following day.
Again, it was physically demanding, but I think. I think you got to underscore the spirituality and the reflecting time of who you are, where you want to be. Where are you in this stage of life?
And are you comfortable with where you are in this stage of life? Or do you go home and pivot and say, no, I'm not happy with my life. I want to do this. I want. I want to do that. So it kind of puts your life in perspective and how do you want to spend the rest of your days?
[00:23:46] Speaker A: Yeah, I noticed you said so much about the church of Fatima. What about when you arrived at Santiago de Compostela?
[00:23:55] Speaker C: What did you feel you finish in the center of the town? It's got, of course, big, big churches. Like all towns in Europe, the center of most of these towns was a church of some sort, typically a catholic church. Right. It's catholic churches dominate Europe. And so, of course, you finish in front of this giant catholic church and you're chatting with other people who have just finished it and hugging and kind of.
[00:24:29] Speaker A: You made it. No helicopter. Helicopters.
[00:24:32] Speaker C: It's kind of a celebration environment because not many people even do make the hundred miles. So it's something to be proud of.
And then you get your little passport stamped and you get your certificate, and it's probably in the bottom drawer of my kitchen, one of my kitchen drawers right now.
[00:24:56] Speaker A: Did you feel any, did you feel any presence when you arrived at the destination of this trail that you took, where the other seven primary trails end up? Also, did you feel when you approached the church that, you know, the apostle of Christ was buried there? Did you feel anything?
[00:25:21] Speaker C: I'm going to divulge something. I'm a catholic boy, and so I have a daily prayer regime that I go through, and I was able to go through it repeatedly every day as part of my reflecting time. And so it was pretty moving to finish it, to complete it.
A little pride in finishing it. Right.
But it was just all around physically draining, spiritually enhancing experience. I would encourage your listeners to try it out. It was a pretty moving time for me and my wife.
[00:26:10] Speaker A: So, in conclusion, is there something that you would like to say other than that did. Is there something personal you'd like to share about spending the time to walk that portion of the way of St. James?
[00:26:24] Speaker C: It was just. It was heart, heartfelt time for me because we're all busy, we're all running, we're working and taking care of all the daily stuff that's thrown in. You know, you got to go to Costco, you got to get to the cleaners, you got to get.
[00:26:39] Speaker A: Pick up the gas, stop at the gas station.
[00:26:42] Speaker C: So this was a completely different week and devoid of all the things I just mentioned. So it's kind of a cleansing of your schedule, cleansing of your. Of your mind, and it really opens up your thought process, and that's always healthy, I think, to kind of reflect on where you. Where you've been, where you're going, where do you want to go for the next chapter of your life? And I think that part was so enriching and so rewarding that I would encourage your listeners, if they get the opportunity to do the Camino walk, select.
[00:27:24] Speaker A: The trail that best suits them. If they like something through the mountains, there's a mountain trail. If they like something on the coast, there's a couple trails that do that, and you can work it to wherever you would like to. So, in conclusion, there are seven primary trails, but there are more trails, and they're made up from various people that wanted to have the pilgrimage during the centuries to the Santiago de Compostela. And all the trails are said to be simply amazing and a wonderful way to take your exercise and reflect on your life with direction and have a reason to do it. One can choose whatever trail one would like or fit them best, but make sure that you've covered the mistakes that most people make when they make it. So we've heard our friend Pat speak of experiences on the Camino, and I might just have to do one myself one day. Not the 500, though. Someday. Thanks for being on the show, Pat.
[00:28:26] Speaker C: Thanks, Michael. I appreciate it.
[00:28:27] Speaker A: We'll be right back with our next special guest. Stay tuned.
