Walking the Camino de Santiago
Just off the plaza, the Portal del Castilla faces into the setting sun and towards Santiago. In fact, the Camino itself goes through this gate on its way out of town. We were hanging around the plaza waiting for the church to open when I wandered out the gate and snapped this photo. Date: 05 April 2016 Place: Los Arcos […]
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Our first major stop of the day is at the medieval monastery in Irache, which stands next to the last functioning wine fountain on the Camino. More about that tomorrow. This is not it. This is the gate to La Forja de Ayegui, a modern-day forge and smithy. Sadly, it appeared to be closed as we passed by. In their […]
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All along the Camino, I took photos of numerous doors. There’s just something about liminal spaces that draws me in, and nobody does them quite like Romanesque architects. This particular door is to the Iglesia San Miguel in Estella, where Katy and I went to evening Mass for the Solemnity of the Annunciation. Although I took quite a number of […]
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I don’t recall if Cirauqui was the first town we encountered with stepped sidewalks, but it certainly had more than most. This archway, a gate in the medieval wall, leads into the central portion of the town, crowning the hill upon which it’s built. On the gateway, you can see one of the ubiquitous yellow arrows pointing out the Way. […]
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Puente La Reina’s Calle Mayor ends in this little archway, which in medieval times formed part of the town’s defenses. Through this gate is the actual Puente La Reina itself – the Bridge of the Queen. There is some confusion about which queen the bridge is actually named for. The most common story is that it is named for Queen […]
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This main entrance of Pamplona’s Cathedral of Santa María la Real was designated as Holy Doors for the Jubilee Year of Mercy. You can see the banners on either side of the doors. We had come to the Cathedral this morning for Mass and to visit the Diocesan Museum. Although the outside of the Cathedral is solidly neo-classical, the interior […]
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Welcome to Pamplona! The transition from outside to inside the walls is stark and sudden. This gate is really the most surprising of the liminal spaces on the early part of the Camino. You just don’t expect to turn a corner and suddenly find yourself in a city. Date: 01 April 2016 Place: Pamplona (Navarra, Spain) Our current position may […]
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During both of our Caminos, I look a lot of photos of doors. There’s something about such a liminal space that just draws me in. They are full of endless possibilities. This particular door is at the end of a lovely stone bridge, and it leads into the Basilica de la Santísima Trinidad de Arre. Arre used to be a […]
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Finally, I’ve gotten all of my Camino photos up on the Flickr page. To celebrate this rather dubious achievement, I think I might try to post a photo a day for awhile, maybe with explanations. I’ll try not to post the boring ones (though your opinion may vary), and I’ll probably skip the pre-Camino photos as well. They might not […]
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(from my journal) Rabanal del Camino 21 April – Sunday! Francine’s second day, and the Benedictine connection continues. It was a rough day, and we only reached El Ganso – our intended lunch target – at 2PM. Broad path between road and horse path gave way to walking beside the highway. The views were spectacular – the mountains got larger […]
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