Author: Thom

Although I’m not completely certain, I believe this magnificent old tree – possibly an Ent – is in the village of As Pasantes. It’s difficult to know for sure, since this decentralized village stretches for almost a kilometer along the Camino, and there’s little to indicate where it begins or ends. I do know that we took another photo at […]

Although I’ve said it before, it’s worth repeating: cows have right of way in Galicia. Through much of this region, the Camino follows local roads and paths often used for herding cattle from their barns to the fields for grazing. They are large and apparently unaware of where their bodies end and the outside world begins, so be careful out […]

After a slight break for a little vacation involving hockey and bookstores, we’re back! We took our second breakfast at the café of the Albergue Filloval with Anya, when who should we see walking around the corner but Eamon! I started walking with him waaay back on my first day on Camino, but we hadn’t seen him after our short-cut […]

All along the Camino in Galicia, you will see these tiny waterfalls – springs, really. The air is alive with the sound of splashing and trickling as you walk. The ground here is absolutely saturated because, as the saying goes, “the rain in Spain falls mainly in Galicia”. Date: 26 April 2013Place: between Biduedo and Filloval (Province of Lugo, Galicia, […]

In the village of Biduedo (or Viduedo, depending on who you ask), the locals have found a solid use for their old, obsolete farm equipment. Here, they’ve built a fence of it, but there are other places in the village where they’ve set them up as monuments. Date: 26 April 2013Place: Biduedo (Province of Lugo, Galicia, Spain)Today started: Fonfría (Province […]

No, I can’t properly explain why I find old rusty farm equipment sitting outside to be so photogenic. There’s just something that appeals to the romantic in me, I suppose. Like the bones of some dinosaur embedded in a cliff face, they are reminders of a world gone but now freshly remembered in its remains. Date: 26 April 2013Place: between […]

As we started walking that morning, the mists of Galicia closed in around us. There’s something both mysterious and intimate in those mists that I find difficult to explain, but once you’ve walked there, you will understand. Date: 26 April 2013Place: Fonfría (Province of Lugo, Galicia, Spain)Today started: Fonfría (Province of Lugo, Galicia, Spain)

The next morning, we asked the hospitalero to take a photo of our little Camino family. From left to right: me, Iain, Francine, Bob, and Anja. There’s a fork in the road coming up, and while some of us are heading directly to Sarria, some of us are instead taking the alternative route to the ancient Benedictine abbey of Samos. […]