Walking the Camino de Santiago
It might not be obvious in the photo, unless you can see the bending of the long grass, but we spent a great deal of the early afternoon walking into a strong wind. No doubt it slowed us down and contributed to the utter exhaustion that would overtake us by the end of the day, but for now it was […]
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This picturesque hill town – village, really – is typical of those we pass on the Camino today. Salinas de Pamplona has a population of just under 300 people, and it’s the capital of the municipality of Galar. The village is dominated by its fortress-like church, the Iglesia de San Nicolás. I’ve heard that the church is worth visiting, but […]
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As we joyfully head out over the rolling hills of Navarra towards our stop for the night, only another 17.2 km away, we utterly fail to notice what’s coming up in about 8.4 km. Cue dramatic music. Date: 04 April 2013 Place: Somewhere past Pamplona (Navarra, Spain) Map!
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This photo was taken almost exactly twenty minutes after yesterday’s photo. Since we were walking at what I like to call “Camino pace”, that’s just over one kilometer away. We went from walking through a modern urban area to this – and it’s green fields and rolling hills as far as the eye can see. Date: 04 April 2013 Place: […]
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After a long walk down the relentlessly urban Avenida de Pío XII, the edge of the city suddenly appeared. It’s quite something. You’re just walking through a quiet urban neighbourhood, you cross the last street, and suddenly you’re in the Spanish version of Tuscany – all gentle rolling hills swathed in shades of emerald, each hill topped by a shining, […]
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On the way out of Pamplona, the Camino passes the Portal de San Nicolás, a seventeenth century Baroque gate into the city. Just before reaching this point, I spent some time lost for the third and final time on our way out of Pamplona. It was only because some locals started waving at me and wildly gesticulating towards the proper […]
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On the way out of Pamplona, I stopped into a shop to pick up some souvenirs – light ones, as I would be carrying them in my pack for the next 700km or so. I left the shop, and turned the wrong direction, getting quite lost in the maze of streets in the old city. I backtracked and found the […]
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Yesterday I was sick, so here are two photos for today! First breakfast, then to the Cathedral for Mass. The Mass didn’t start until 9:30, so we had a very late start on the day, the day I would categorize in my journal as “the day my pilgrimage actually began”. The cathedral is a wonder. The photo doesn’t begin to […]
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We headed back to the Café Iruña for dinner. Here we see two happy pilgrims raising their glasses of vino tinto. Spanish red wine is a Camino staple, and most pilgrim meals come with a half bottle ration per person. The entire region around Pamplona has been surrounded by grape vines since Roman times, and their wine is so good! […]
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Here’s just one of those bulls from yesterday, up close and personal. And life-sized! Date: 03 April 2013Place: Pamplona (Navarra, Spain)
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