Category: Map

As the Camino skirts around the castro of Castromaior, we walk through a scrubland filled with familiar flowers. Not as pretty as yesterday’s roses, this is scotch broom. Endemic to our home state of Washington, it was odd to see here and in such quantity. Until, that is, somebody mentioned to me that the plant was originally native to Europe. […]

We kept a terrific pace, arriving at Castromaior by eleven. These roses grow in the crowded little graveyard behind the rustic Romanesque parish church here. They were absolutely stunning that spring morning. Date: 29 April 2016 Place: Castromaior (Galicia, Spain) Map of the Day:

This is the Irexa de Gonzar – the little parish church of the village of Gonzar. The building behind and to the right is the busy peregrino bar where we ate our second breakfast. We were pleased to arrive and pleased to be firmly back on the Camino after the morning’s misadventure. The church was sadly locked up, but I […]

This is not your usual Camino marker. By this point, the Camino had rejoined the highway, so at least we on the right path, even if we had been lost most of the morning. We were being much more careful about our route now and weren’t likely to fall for this false arrow! Date: 29 April 2016 Place: Somewhere between […]

I‘ve often said that Galicia is a Catholic country. Here’s Exhibit A: the coat of arms of Galicia is the Blessed Sacrament. Most of the regional arms also feature the Eucharist in some way. You see it everywhere. Sometimes this is a little disconcerting, especially when the local municipality embosses their trash and recycling bins with their arms, but overall […]

Somewhere in the fog, we missed a marker. We ended up walking on the highway for considerably longer than strictly required. I’ve a sneaking suspicion that we did the same thing in 2013. In our most recent Camino, we actually managed to follow the correct route, which came as something of a surprise. Date: 29 April 2016 Place: Somewhere between […]

To enter the town of Portomarín, pilgrims must cross this bridge. Cars zoom by, making this seem more dangerous than it actually is. At the end of this road, pilgrims are expected to walk up a long flight of stone stairs into the heart of the town. These stairs were built using the stones of the ancient Roman bridge that […]

The pilgrim saying is, “always take the alternate path”. Many times, the Camino will temporarily split, and the “alternate” is a longer, more scenic way. Always take those. Sometimes, however, it’s a shortcut, like this goat path killing field down into the Río Miño valley. Don’t ever take those. I mean, it probably would have been okay with some snow […]

The stalwart pilgrims espy the town of Portomarín in the valley below! Of old, Portomarín was a river crossing, the first bridge having been built by the Romans to help secure the routes to their mines in this part of Hispania. In the 20th century, a hydroelectric dam was built and the river at Portomarín became a lake. The entire […]