Walking the Camino de Santiago
The Café Iruña is a magical place. Even a simple beer and sausage is somehow an elevated experience. It is the Platonic Ideal of a café, and every other café but a shadow or an echo of this perfect place. This is, no doubt, why Hemingway favoured it. Or, perhaps, this is just the ravings of an exhausted pilgrim. Date: […]
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Evening approaches, and we head back to Café Iruña for some refreshing beverages and perhaps a snack. Here we see Ali, Cliff, and Petra perusing a menu outside the doors. Date: 03 April 2013Place: Pamplona (Navarra, Spain)
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This shop is located just off the Plaza del Castillo. The area has a number of unusual or eccentric shopfronts, including some in full-on art deco or art nouveau style. Date: 03 April 2013Place: Pamplona (Navarra, Spain)
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The route of the running of the bulls in Pamplona is well-marked. Better marked, I daresay, than the Camino is through the city. I’m not sure this photo needs much of an explanation. The bulls run in July for the festival of San Fermín. In April, there are no bulls, so we decided to “run without the bulls”. The photo […]
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The city of Pamplona is famous for its annual running of the bulls in July. Since it was April, no bulls were in evidence – except at the tourist shops. We saw dozens of shops like this with bull t-shirts, plushies, magnets, and other various geegaws. This one, with its cartoon bulls and runners, is one of my favourites. Date: […]
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As I wandered through Pamplona that afternoon, I chanced upon la Basílica de San Ignacio de Loyola. This church was built on the spot where the saint was hit by a cannonball. Most of the entrances were locked up, but one open door led me to a chapel of Perpetual Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament. I sat there some time in prayer before […]
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This statue of King Carlos III stands in the Plaza del Castillo in Pamplona. What I find interesting about this statue, is that Carlos was not King of Spain. No, he was King of Navarra from 1361 to 1425. The plaza in which he stands is named after an entirely different Kingdom. Having in my ignorance always thought of Spain […]
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This music kiosk, built in 1943, rises from the center of the Plaza del Castillo in Pamplona. The plaza itself has undergone many changes over the centuries. Back in the early 2000s when they were converting it to pedestrian-only (and building a carpark underneath!), archaeological remains were unearthed of a menhir, Roman baths, a Muslim cemetery, a section of the medieval wall, and the remains of […]
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The Café Iruña anchors the northern side of the Plaza del Castillo. It’s exterior is colourful and festive, while the interior shines in full 19th century splendour. It is “a gilded ghost of the 19th century, vast polished mirrors affixed to its walls, Arabesque pillars rising to ornate ceiling, black-and-white tiled floor scuffed by decades of chair-legs scraping backwards.” (source) […]
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After settling into our albergue, showering, and washing our clothes, we headed off to see the sights. We were immediately drawn to the nearby Plaza del Castillo, which is the main square for the old city of Pamplona. It’s one of the great public spaces of the city and, indeed, the world. This is just our first glimpse. Here we […]
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