Walking the Camino de Santiago
Just after the Noon Mass at our parish of Holy Rosary, Deacon Jim Fish bestowed the traditional Pilgrims’ Blessing on Francine and I – not to mention our “rucksacks”, “staves”, and shell and rosary. The blessing itself is ancient. In its current form it appears the Missal of Vich Cathedral, Barcelona, Spain, dated to AD 1078. We’re extremely grateful to […]
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With just a few days to go before we set off on our next Camino, this is our last “Camino Photo of the Day” for awhile. We won’t be able to finish out the photos of our 2016 Camino before setting out on the next! Watch this space for news from this year’s camino. We’ll pick up the series in […]
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This statue of Santiago was erected by the government of Galicia in 2001. It’s a pretty good example of the public art of the Camino that you frequently find in the towns – and sometimes villages – along the way. Here, Santiago seems to be thanking God for his arrival in Portomarín. Our experience today echoed that of the saint. […]
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We leave for Spain on Tuesday, and we’ve definitely entered into scramble mode. Equipment purchases, refinements, and testing has gone on for months, but it always seems like there’s something breaking or not working at the last minute. Our rigourous training schedule has gone by the boards this week due to increasingly frantic work pressures. And of course, there’s always […]
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As you can tell from the name of this church, Galician is similar to Spanish in the same way that French isn’t. Only with more X. This church, located in the center of Portomarín, was originally built by the knightly Order of Santiago in the twelfth century. It is crowned by battlements, as this area was in constant danger of […]
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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 […]
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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 […]
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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 […]
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Just a reminder that Galicia is primarily a rural country, where pilgrims don’t necessarily have right of way. We met these sheep, with their sheepdogs and shepherd, near the village of Parrocha. We are heading for the valley of the Río Miño and our destination for the evening: the town of Portomarín. Date: 28 April 2016 Place: Parrocha (Galicia, Spain)
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The day dragged on. By the time we reached our planned second breakfast village, Mercadoiro, it was past lunchtime. So we ate lunch and revised the plan for the day, targeting the town of Portomarín as our stopping place, rather than Gonzar 7.5 km beyond. This photo is the interior window of the restroom of the bar in Mercadoiro. The […]
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