Walking Our Magical World, Tasting its Treasures
A few years ago I had the opportunity to take a walking tour that began in Porto, Portugal, following the Portuguese Camino de Santiago trail (both French and Spanish Ways) into Santiago de Compostela.
As I walked through the beautiful La Bruja Mountains and visited the remarkable Royal Monastery of Santa Maria de Oia, I learned that walking permits you to see more clearly and absorb more deeply. Whether painting tiles, touring the old quarter of Santiago, or walking into the magnificent cathedral, the trip was truly magical, and one of those trips that truly touches the soul.
They say the Camino de Santiago changes you, and really speaks to your soul. I honestly had no idea what that meant prior to actually experiencing it. The hikers you pass that are soul searching or perhaps on Day 90 of hiking this ancient pilgrimage, to the ever changing landscape and the beauty of you and the earth around you.
Your day can start as a leisurely walk through the rolling countryside where you see farmers tending to their livestock, to walking up a tree-lined road leading to a mountainside estate owned and operated by a Count. Every smell, every sight, every bite, everything was captured on a whole new level by being outdoors, by walking instead of driving.
Now, if you are like me, and want to end your day of exploring trails by foot by staying in a beautiful hotel such as a Relais & Châteaux hotel at night full of being wined and dined, keep reading. Between dining at charming local restaurants, partaking in mountainside picnics with regional wines and cuisine, to savoring a delectable meal by the owners of a countryside estate, your culinary crazes will be brimming.
Since that lovely trip, we have had the great pleasure of advising and sending clients on different cultural walking, hiking, and biking trips to countries like Morocco, France, Spain, and England, to name a few. Often we do not realize the beauty we have in our own back door here in the USA. From experiencing Yellowstone and the Tetons, to walking through wine country in California, we truly are blessed with so many opportunities to experience every aspect of this magical world by foot.
