THE SANTIAGO PILGRIMAGE

Lace up your hiking boots, limber up your legs and set out on an unforgettable pilgrimage to the Spanish HOLY city of Santiago de Compostela. Join knowledgeable and experienced guides Judy and Juan Carlos on the walk of your life as Spanish Steps traces the centuries-old footsteps of pilgrims who have ventured across the expansive landscape of the Iberian Peninsula for 1,200 years.
Spanish Steps is a guided pilgrimage that offers a rare sense of history, dramatic sight-seeing and a comfortable daily regimen of hiking across the Spanish countryside. The peaceful pace of foot travel provides an unusual perspective on this fascinating part of the world.
Based on the folklore of a religious vision from the 9th century when a lone shepherd discovered the bones of Saint James illuminated by a celestial beam of light, the quest to Santiago de Compostela has become a popular modern day trek. For some, the religious motivation is still strong, but for most adventurers, WHO follow the trail of the pilgrims, the Camino is a grand pleasant journey that leads to a unique cultural immersion.
We will meet in the Basque capitol of Pamplona, world renowned for the traditional spectacle of the running of the bulls and brought to life by Ernest Hemingway in his famous novel, The Sun Also Rises.
After becoming acquainted with this charming city, Spanish Steps will travel north to the base of the Pyrenees and the scenic town of Roncesvalles. Here, nestled in this dramatic mountain range that forms a rugged border with France, we will secure Pilgrim's Passports and set off from the steps of a famed monastery.
We will focus on the most beautiful portions of the Camino, averaging nine to twelve miles per day and providing gourmet roadside picnics from a fully provisioned support vehicle. Tour guides will be available at landmarks and cities along the way, offering expert background on the route millions have followed to the shrine of the Apostle.
Most of the terrain is flat, so walking is easy, allowing hikers to gaze across the rolling hills of northern Spain at farm fields, small villages, and ancient castles. Pilgrims will be encouraged to wander the back streets of villages, sip coffee at charming plaza cafes, and sample local wine and tapas from popular bodegas.
Spanish Steps will guide trips during the Spring and early Summer, when the poppies are blooming and the grapes are budding on the vines, and in the Fall, when the fields are bustling with the activity of the grape harvest . Personalized group trips will be available upon request.
We look forward to hearing from you. Hasta Luego, Pilgrim.

your guides

Judy Colaneri, owner of Spanish Steps and Roman Roads, is also a culinary trained chef in the ski mountain town of Aspen, Colorado. She spends eight months of the year working in Europe, personally guiding adventurous travelers through her favorite part of the world. Her love of exploration and hiking, joined with her passion for language and the culinary arts, will make your trip a walking-gourmet odyssey.

Having walked the Camino de Santiago five times, Judy knows every inch of the way. Her first experience was in 1994 from the heights of the Spanish Pyrenees. The following year, a 1,000-mile walk from Le Puy en Velay, France into Spain along the Camino Frances led her to Santiago de Compostela. In 1996, she began her pilgrimage in French Pyrenees. In 2002, Judy walked the Camino solo through Spain two times, following both the inland route and the less-traveled El Camino del Norte, which follows 300-miles of beautiful coast. To date, Judy has led 55 groups of pilgrims to the steps of the cathedral in Santiago.

Judy studied the Spanish language in Barcelona, Spain; Sevilla, Spain; and San Miguel de Allende, Mexico. While Spanish is her second language, Judy is also familiar with a number of other Romance languages, including Italian.

Having visited more than 25 countries around the globe, Judy has found Spain to be the most exciting. When Judy isn't whipping up gourmet meals for her Aspen clientele or leading her pilgrims to Santiago, she can be found hiking the high mountain routes of Aspen or walking the back roads of Europe. Her prior experiences on the Camino de Santiago and trekking in Tuscany led her to the idea of forming this company with her walking partner Juan Carlos Fuentes-Pura of Valladolid, Spain.

Lorriane Miller works with Spanish Steps teaching our Camino “WALK AND TALK” participants the Spanish language while in route. Lorraine believes that learning a new language opens the mind to new people and places so she makes this an exciting and fun experience while instilling in her student the desire to become life-long language learners. Her classroom, whether with or without walls, is a non-threatening enriching environment to acquire a second language through interaction, interplay, and intercambio. Intercambio is Lorraine's unique way of bringing two languages and two cultures together to learn from each other. In Lorraine's class everybody is both a teacher and a student.

Lorraine is a native Californian, who now makes her home in Aspen. Her expertise in language instruction spans over 12 years and two continents. She has lived and worked in Spain, teaching executives English in Malaga, Madrid and Valencia. She has taught English in California, and intensive Spanish courses in Costa Rica and Baja California. She is currently a full-time assistance professor at the community college teaching English as a second language and Spanish.

Leo San Sebastian was born in the mountains of the Basque country and made his home in Jaca, Spain, the heart of the Pyrenees, 25 years ago where he spends the winters on backcountry skis taking intrepid adventurers into the high country or teaching skiing on one of the nearby peaks. He has guided several groups along the GR-11, a long-distant trail spanning the entire length of the Pyrenees from the Mediterranean Sea to the Atlantic Ocean (a 48-day endeavor). He has taken numerous groups trekking in Nepal, Morocco, Tanzania, Peru, Chile, Venezuela, Pakistan, India, and in the French Alps. In Chile, the Alps and in Aspen, Colorado, Leo taught skiing. He is an international certified mountain guide (UIAGM) and a professional ski instructor (ISIA). Spanish is his first language but is fluent in English, French and Basque. When he is not off on some exotic journey, Leo and his wife Azucena are busy teaching their four year old daughter Irene to ski.

Roberto Rodriguez has been teaching Yoga and Chi Kung since 1992 in the small Castilian city of Valladolid, located in central Spain. He has studied with the likes of Godfrey Devereux, David Swenson, John Scott and Belén de los Ángeles. His personal yoga practice is Ashtanga, however he works with students of all levels accommodating their individual practices and needs, focusing on alignment and breath.

He collaborates with the Spanish edition of Yoga Journal in a column called Crónicas Iberyóguicas. His travels throughout Mexico led him to study with several direct students of Carlos Castaneda, and with various shamans of Huicholes, Otomíes, Apaches y Lakota nations. Roberto will be leading our July and August Yoga/Hiking Holidays at our B&B in Asturias, Fuentes de Lucia. The yoga classes will be held in Spanish and English, providing a great opportunity for both students and teachers to learn a bit of the Spanish language directed at the yoga practice. His knowledge of the Sanskrit vocabulary is commonly used to describe various yoga poses throughout the classes.

Roberto is a graduate from the Universidad de Valladolid with a degree in Medieval History.

Joanne DeVito is a certified yoga instructor and has been teaching Kripalu Hatha Yoga for twelve years. She had led yoga trips abroad for eight years - including such destinations as: Tuscany, Amalfi Coast, St. Lucia, Costa Rica, and Tortola.

Joanne describes her yoga philosophy as the integration of mind, body, and spirit -practiced on and off the mat. It is not just a stretch, but a lifestyle. She has a nurturing and gentle approach which encourages her students' freedom of choosing their level of individuality and intensity. Her workshops are a transformative experience.

Susan has been a yoga student since 1992, a teacher since 1997 and has owned her owned Asana Yoga Studio in Golden, Colorado since October of 2002. Most recently she has taught workshops in Spain and Mexico and has future projects in Italy and Argentina. Susan primarily teaches in the Vinyasa style but her students love her ability to adapt her classes to their specific needs. Her classes have been characterized as "full of vitality". Susan believes the focus of her classes are about being able to draw your attention away from the outside world and into yourself as you explore the boundaries of your ability while respecting your limitations.

Virginio Corsi accidentally came across the Camino de Santiago in 1997, while studying in Spain. He gathered a small group of friends and together embarked on the journey of a lifetime to Santiago de Compostela.

His curiosity about this route increased. After finishing his degree in foreign languages, he realized that it was finally time for a fuller experience on the Road to Santiago.

The enthusiasm for the pilgrimage was so strong that the adventure didn’t end for him in Santiago or Finisterre. He set out a second pilgrimage aimed at writing a guidebook about the Camino, complied and published with the efforts of a very motivated team of intrepid travellers and writers.
To further his insight into pilgrimage and the Camino, he volunteered as a hospitalero for two seasons at an albergue (pilgrim shelter) in Burgos.

While working on his Phd in History and The Culture of Travel, Virginio turned his focus toward pilgrimage, collecting an indepth bibliography and vast knowledge about the Way to Compostela. After his doctoral dissertation he set out once again on the road to Santiago, where he spent the next couple of years continuing his research.

He is currently living in both Spain and Italy, his native country. When not guiding, he teaches language and the culture of travel at Università della Tuscia in Viterbo, Italy.

Kate Goad trained in Pilates in her native England at The Pilates Institute in London. After a lifelong enthusiasm for all outdoor pursuits she took up Pilates and has been teaching and developing her mat-based classes in both the UK and Spain for the last 7 years. She has taught all levels, ages and abilities and enjoys adapting and designing exercise programs to meet all needs. Currently living in a beautiful mountain village in Asturias she divides her time between teaching Pilates in Spanish and English and running community based fitness classes from Spinning to exercise for older people in isolated mountain villages. She also works as a guide on the Camino for Spanish Steps which combines her love of the outdoors, Spain and meeting new people. When not teaching she can be found running in the hills, cooking food from her vegetable garden or catching up on village news with her neighbors!

If you want to get fit, get rid of some stress and maybe even learn a little Spanish in a magnificent mountain setting, then Bootcamp is for you! We will start each day with an enlivening Pilates session followed by stretching exercises to prepare us for a mini outdoor circuit class. After a break for a healthy lunch we will take to the hills for a walk along the numerous stunning trails in the local area. We will return back for a relaxing stretch based Pilates class before enjoying our evening meal. Plan to hike approximately 10 to 15 miles per day and practice 1-2 hours of Pilates in the yoga studio of Fuentes de Lucia. Seven breakfasts and seven other meals are included in the tour price. No previous Pilates experience is required and exercises will be adapted to all levels.

If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to contact us:
In SPAIN: Tele: (34) 617 08 15 70
eMail: SpanishSteps
In USA:EMail Spanish Steps
Telephone Contact: 970 923 6859
Box 8653
Aspen, Colorado 81612 USA
877 787 WALK