Three Random Observations about Spain
During our pilgrimage across Spain there were a few observations we made that didn’t make it into a post—and one which wasn’t complete until we had been done for over a week. But they help complete our impression of the country. Metal Window Shutters Many homes in Spain sport rolling exterior window shutters. They provide […]
Cleansing of the Pilgrims
The faithful (and skeptical) that attend mass at the Santiago de Compostela cathedral look forward to seeing the botafumeiro hoisted high and swung high across the width of the church. This incense censer is one of the largest in the world. The tradition of burning incense at the pilgrim masses dates back nearly a millennium. […]
Day 72: Because Together…
Porque juntos somos imparables. Spanish for, ”Because together, we are unstoppable.” Today we are going to let you in on a secret of ours. Years ago Laurie and I faced a crisis together. After we weathered it, we started saying, ”Because together, we are unstoppable,” and then translated it into Spanish as in the quote […]
Day 71: On Final Approach
Some of our fellow pilgrims left Arzua this morning and walked all the way to our final destination on this pilgrimage: Santiago de Compostela. We opted to break the 25 mile leg into two sections as we’d like to arrive in the morning for breakfast, and not arrive exhausted. We stopped about seven miles short […]
Day 70: Welcome to the Zoo
Today we arrived in Arzua—only two days from our destination. Our guide book warned us that we would go from about 50 pilgrims a day on our Camino del Norte to about 500 as the main camino—the Frances— join in this town. The bad news is the crowds, the good news is the people watching. […]
Day 69: The Highest Point
Midway through today we reached the highest altitude on the Camino del Norte—about 2329 feet. A landmark like that deserves an appropriate monument or marker. You would think. Not even a paint line with a note. Where are the graffiti artists when you need one? It didn’t help that we had a Relive failure (this […]
Day 68: Land of the Celts
Everywhere is walking distance if you have the time. Steven Wright Bagpipes are often associated with Scotland and Ireland but we often see them here in Galicia. The Celts were an iron age people predominantly of the British Isles, but they also settled in Spain and their influence remains strong in Galicia. One trademark of […]
Day 67: Resting our Heads
It seems that in the six years since our last camino in Spain that the albergues have improved. It was pretty common on our first camino to have a timer on the shower that shut it off after a few minutes—at which point you had to reset it. Laurie grew adept at doing it with […]
Day 66: Symbols
Get your kicks, on Route 66… From the song by Bobby Troup Or in our case, the camino. On day 66 it is fun to ponder some of the symbols that surround us. The scallop shell (concha in Spanish) is a symbol of the camino for many reasons. One is that many trails combine in […]
Day 65: The Home for Bad Husbands?
Yesterday we entered Galicia, our fourth and last region of Spain on this camino. It is know for great seafood—including octopus—and distinctive homes for…bad husbands. At least that’s what we were told on our first camino in 2016 when we entered the Galician region when we spotted the distinctive hórreos of the area. These elevated […]
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