Walking the Camino de Santiago
A turn of the head, and suddenly you see the high altar of Navarrete’s Iglesia Nuestra de la Señora Asunción de María. It is a Baroque masterpiece, and it is very difficult to photograph well. I took any number of pictures, and this one is the closest I came to being in focus. It is simply overwhelming. And there are […]
» Read more
Once in through the main doors of Navarrete’s Iglesia Nuestra de la Señora Asunción de María, you are confronted by this colourful altar with polychrome busts of Saints Justa and Rufina. These third-century martyrs from Seville are venerated throughout Spain and have long been a subject for local artists. My suspicion is that these are reliquaries, but I don’t know […]
» Read more
This is the entrance to Navarrete’s great Iglesia Nuestra de la Señora Asunción de María. The door to the left, like one in the Cathedral in Pamplona, was designated as a Holy Door for the Jubilee Year of Mercy. They were only the second set of Holy Doors we encountered on our Camino, and these were by far the best […]
» Read more
This is the signage that the town of Navarrete uses to mark the Camino on the sidewalks along the route. This is by far my favourite symbol of the Camino, incorporating both the traditional shell and the cross of Saint James. At some point, I will finally get my Camino tattoo, and it will be based on this image. Edited […]
» Read more
I just love the towns that provide maps for pilgrims! As you can see, the town surrounds the base of Tedeón hill, on top of which once stood a great defensive castle. This is not the first, nor will it be the last, town on the Camino that is arranged like this. Nowadays, mostly the hill is used to graze […]
» Read more
Just of the left of the road as you approach Navarrete, there is something that looks like a short wall, or the outline of a building. It ranges from one to two meters high. This is all that’s left of the medieval hostal San Juan de Acre. You can sort of see it in this photo. Over the centuries, albergues […]
» Read more
After the industrial wreckage, junkyards, and highway crossings, the beautiful little town of Navarrete finally hoves into view. The town is built around the base of a hill, like several other towns we walked through. Three years ago, our little group stopped here for lunch and got our photos in the paper. Today, this is our destination. Date: 07 April […]
» Read more
Specifically, we are about to walk across the N-120 at a place designated on the map as Alto de La Grajera. More of a run than a walk, actually. As you can tell by the supplemental photo below, Francine is not exactly thrilled about this. Only two lanes, but there’s a curve to the right and visibility isn’t great. Huzzah! […]
» Read more
There is, as you can see in the photo, a giant bull that looms over the Camino (and the nearby N-120 Highway) on the way to Navarrete. The Toro de Osborne is 14 meters (46 feet) high and was originally erected to advertise a kind of brandy. Eventually, the EU forbade roadside signs advertising alcohol, but by then the bulls […]
» Read more
Although I’ve spoken several times here about the strange zombie hands coming from the ground in Navarra and La Rioja, I don’t think previous photos adequately communicated just how frightening and dangerous they truly are. Here you see Francine in the clutches of a giant zombie hand, grasping her with ill intent. Fortunately, we got her out just in time. […]
» Read more