Pilgrims on the Way

The wind, our nemesis for days – weeks? – suddenly stopped as we entered Castilla y León, which we all took as a good omen. Since it was just past noon and lunch beckoned, we pushed on with all possible haste towards our first Castillian village. Date: 10 April 2013Place: approaching Redecilla del Camino (Province of Burgos, Castilla y León, […]

After charging hard all morning into a bitter headwind, we rested here at the sign for about ten minutes. Here we see Viola putting her pack back on as we steel ourselves to get moving again. Almost immediately after passing the sign, the awful wind that had been tearing into us for days suddenly stopped. Date: 10 April 2013Place: between […]

Just how big is that sign? This big. Since there’s so little of anything nearby, it dominates the landscape. Here’s a rare photo of me, standing in front of a really big sign. It has a lovely map of the Camino through Castilla y León. For reference, we’re at the bottom of the map, walking towards the top. The flat, […]

As the Camino has continued its journey from the Pyrenees to the Meseta, the terrain has been getting flatter and flatter. These hills are a shadow of the wooded hills of early days, and the forests are nearly gone now. This is what I consider great walking terrain. Or it would be, if we weren’t still walking into strong winds. […]

This is the Iglesia de San Juan Bautista in Grañón, the site of the town’s famous albergue. We had by this point decided to press on walking, so I would not stay here until 2016. Just what is going on out front is anybody’s guess. Giveaway for the poor? Rummage sale? Closing up of market day? Date: 10 April 2013Place: […]

This building in Grañón is typical of the construction of many older buildings in this stretch of the Camino. It’s clearly not built with standardized anything. There’s a rough charm of this type of construction that I really appreciate. I mean, the plaster needs a new coat, and if it were me I’d do something to seal up those timbers […]

We were feeling good. Before we could make any decision about whether we were going to stay here or press on, we filled up our water bottles at the local fountain. We were all feeling surprisingly strong. We’d walked 11km, it was only 11:30, and we weren’t even ready for lunch. Date: 10 April 2013Place: Grañón (La Rioja, Spain)Today started: […]

After yesterday’s difficult and long walk, we initially decided that today we would take it easy. We didn’t even start walking until almost 10 AM. Our little party now consisted only of myself, Eamon, and Viola. We had expected to end the day in Grañón, the first town we came to, as we had heard great things about its albergue […]

Being a Christian pilgrimage route, the Camino has many, many roadside crosses and shrines. This particular one exists as the result of a medieval boundary dispute between the towns of Santo Domingo de la Calzada and Grañón. This site gives one popular version of the story: It is said that, many centuries ago, there was a dispute over an extensive […]