Pilgrims on the Way

Second breakfast awaits us in the village of Ventosa! It is built up the side of the hill, with the village church at the very top. This time, we didn’t climb the hill, but three years ago Eamon and I spent some time exploring the tiny and rustic church. The village lives up to its name – both times I’ve […]

Some signs on the Camino are more obvious than others. In my first Camino, we stopped for the night in Ventosa and had a memorable experience with good friends and much wine. Dirt cheap (the people who run the albergue own a winery) and so very tasty. This time around, Francine and I had our second breakfast in the village. […]

This particular morning was by far the coldest part of this Camino. I mean, we’d seen snow when we were crossing the Pyrenees, and it was nowhere near this cold. I took this selfie shortly after we left the cementario. Here’s a pair of maps of the day, as we walk from Navarrete to Azofra: Date: 08 April 2016 Place: […]

This is a closeup of one of the columns at the cementerio I posted yesterday. Very Romanesque. Also, very damaged. Some of this might be due to the simple passage of centuries, or damage incurred when the edifice was moved. However, anti-Catholicism and anti-clericalism is a feature of some of the factions of the several civil wars in Spain, and […]

The towns in Spain seem to use their coats of arms on everything. These are the arms of the Ayuntamiento (town council) of Navarrete, found on a lamp post near the town center. I particularly enjoy the cannons. They make sense, since the town was formed when King Alfonso VIII of Castile moved the people of the nearby villages to […]

Happy Valentine’s Day from House Pistachio! Every morning on our Camino, we took a morning selfie. Most of these are on Francine’s camera, but a couple are on mine. Here we are making silly faces for the camera on a cold and rainy morning as we leave Navarrete. Here’s a pair of maps of the day, as we walk from […]

Here we are walking through the utterly charming streets of the town of Navarrete. It was raining and cold. Fortunately, it’s not yet raining hard enough for us to pull out our strawberry troll outfits. Francine was kind of cranky because the albergue was cold and she didn’t sleep well. You see her here, head-down and warming up by walking […]

A brand new day! Apologies for the blur, but it was early. First breakfast is done, and we are getting ready to leave our albergue in Navarrete for a brand new day of Camino adventure! Here’s a pair of maps of our upcoming day, as we walk from Navarrete to Azofra: Date: 08 April 2016 Place: Navarrete (La Rioja, Spain)