Image: Marco Degl’Innocenti
Walking the Camino de Santiago alone with coeliac disease left Marco Degl’Innocenti, a 50-year-old box factory employee and keen trekker from the Italian town of Empoli, carrying his own gluten-free food across nearly 1,000 kilometres. He began at Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port on the French side of the Pyrenees, following the most famous, ancient and frequented route to Santiago de Compostela entirely on his own, setting off on 26 July and returning home on 23 August after his employer granted him a month’s leave. His wife Martina then joined him in Santiago to cover a further 100 kilometres together towards Muxia and Finisterre. His friends from the amateur football team 4 Mori backed the plan with a celebratory shirt, which he wore in his moments of relaxation and which drew plenty of interest and amusement from other pilgrims. Image: Marco Degl’Innocenti Degl’Innocenti usually set off at about 6.45 and aimed to reach the next stop in the early afternoon, which left time to visit its most characteristic places.
Because blisters and knee trouble are normal, especially in the first days, it also contained technical walking gear, a poncho for the rain and some painkillers,. Because of a height difference of 1,200 metres and a downpour that accompanied him, the first stage, which crosses into Spain, was also the hardest, Degl’Innocenti said,.
Degl’Innocenti told La Nazione that the idea took shape after he fell badly during an excursion and hurt himself. Degl’Innocenti said his rucksack held a hat, sunglasses and moisturising cream, which he massaged into his feet before each departure. In some stretches, he said, food suitable for coeliacs was practically impossible to find, so he had to bring it with him. It felt, he said, as though they were with him the whole way.
Once he had recovered, he decided the pilgrimage would happen when his fiftieth birthday came round. Then came the food. He covered the route in twenty-nine stages, fewer than the usual thirty to thirty-five. For company, he and his friends had created a WhatsApp group, where he sent a photo every day, and they exchanged a couple of jokes. From there, the route is marked with yellow paint arrows, something he credited to the historic parish priest of Cebreiro, Elias Valiña.
Walking alone became therapy as grief surfaced, with tears in the final stretch before Compostela
Because it lets you reflect on many things, walking alone, he said, is therapeutic.
He cried a great deal along the way, especially over the last kilometres before reaching Compostela, when he told himself that he had made it. Giving up never crossed his mind. Physically, he felt well throughout and kept a good pace. For him that included a bereavement.
Asked for the loveliest stretch, he pointed to the Rioja region, with its endless sunflower fields, red earth and low vines. He also praised the city of Burgos, the fountain of water and wine at Irache and the grandeur of the cathedral in Santiago.
Running to his wife, quieting a snoring pilgrim and joking about the North Cape for next time
He would do it all again, he told La Nazione, partly for the chance to meet people from other countries and swap opinions and experiences. Reunited with his wife, the first thing Degl’Innocenti did was drop his rucksack and run towards her with open arms. Along the way, he helped a woman who was struggling to breathe. One night in a hostel, he used gestures to persuade a Chinese pilgrim, whose snoring was keeping the whole dormitory awake, to turn onto his side. The next morning, the other occupants thanked him. As for the next adventure, he joked with his cousins that if a sponsor turns up, he will head for the North Cape. You use AI every day. Now get your AI Quotient. Take the AIQ test.