Walking the Camino de Santiago
The village of Lavacolla is now basically a suburb of Santiago – in fact, it’s where the airport is located. In earlier days, however, this stream was considered the last place before the end of the pilgrimage to wash up before the cathedral. Supposedly the name of the village comes from lavar (to wash) and cuello (neck), meaning “to wash […]
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Hórreos were made primarily to store grain and hay and such. They’re up on stilts to help prevent rats and other critters from getting at the goodies. You will find hórreos in both wood and stone all over rural Galicia. These days, they’re just as likely to be a general storage shed or a tiny home as they are to […]
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It is said that no plan survives contact with the enemy. To this I would add that no plan survives contact with the Camino. Nevertheless, and with some sense of trepidation, I offer here my plan for my “long Camino”. This is a total of 65 days walking (plus a scheduled Zero day in Burgos). Some days are short/half days. […]
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Early this morning, I had my follow-up visit with the podiatrist. He was extremely pleased and somewhat amazed with my rapid progress. We discussed a Cortizone shot, but given the level of improvement, he wasn’t too enthusiastic about it. So that’s off the table. Most importantly, he cleared me for my Camino. I am convinced that my rapid recovery is […]
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We’re still about 12km from the Cathedral, with some villages and suburban sprawl to go before we even hit the city proper, but to me this marker is the first real sign that the end is nigh, so to speak. In subsequent years, I believe that they’ve moved this marker a little closer to the city, possibly more than once. […]
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The last morning’s walk is in and out of tiny villages while walking through forest and farm with lots and lots of new pilgrim friends. The big bump in numbers happens at Sarria, of course, but by this final day several other Camino routes have merged in. Everybody’s torn between the thoughts of finally arriving and not wanting this journey […]
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Like it or not, the Camino is full of graffiti that runs the gamut from profound to silly. This message was on the side of a farmhouse. I can’t imagine the owner appreciated it, but I found it quite moving. Date: 02 May 2013 Place: between O Pedrouzo and San Paio (Province of A Coruña, Galicia, Spain) Today started: O […]
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We began the final day of our 2013 Camino early enough. We had planned that this last day walking would be shorter than average – about 21km – since we wanted to make it into Santiago de Compostela as early as possible. This photo gives you a good idea of what the town of O Pedrouzo looks like. It’s fairly […]
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After failing to turn left, we walked a ways into the forest before turning back and taking the correct turn to O Pedrouzo and our albergue. Here we see a happy Francine with a dessert of Tarta de Santiago. She’s exhausted but content, as am I. The next day, we would walk into Santiago de Compostela for the first time. […]
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There is a rather infamous intersection that always trips me up. You’re walking a forest path, and it crosses a fairly major road. You see this sign with all its (mostly) left-pointing arrows. Just across the road is a yellow arrow pointing forward to continue along the forest road, rather than left. What do you do? Well, it depends. Are […]
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