Pilgrims on the Way

These tiny ruins – farmhouses? Way stations? Bodegas? Dot the top of a ridge looking down into the valley to our left, which is filled with grain fields and vineyards. The further down from the Pyrenees you go, the more vineyards you see. Our winding path through the hills and vales will take us through many of them over the […]

Well, that flat, even ground couldn’t last, could it? While there were numerous hills throughout Navarra, they didn’t usually come with warning signs like this one did. Still, at least it was downhill. Date: 06 April 2016 Place: Somewhere near Ermita de la Virgen del Poyo (Navarra, Spain) Map of the day:

This is probably my most consistent and least photographed view during the whole of the Camino. It was a sunny day and a relatively even path, so I snapped the photo. Date: 06 April 2016 Place: Somewhere near Ermita de la Virgen del Poyo (Navarra, Spain) Map of the day:

We’ve played enough RPGs to know that when you see a dodgy sign in a mysterious wood, your best bet is to continue past as quickly as you can. No doubt the trolls had set this out as a trap for us. Date: 06 April 2016 Place: Somewhere near Ermita de la Virgen del Poyo (Navarra, Spain) Map of the […]

On some portions of the Camino, the local authorities have sometimes made “improvements” to the Way. Some of these are great. And some of these are slippery concrete walkways on hills that become staggeringly dangerous when it rains. Today, it did not rain. Date: 06 April 2016 Place: Approaching Ermita de la Virgen del Poyo (Navarra, Spain) Map of the […]

Some of you may remember my post about Eunate. Well, the church of San Andrés in Torres del Rio is the second octagonal Templar church on the Camino. It even has the same alabaster windows. Like Eunate, it wasn’t open either. It’s just around the corner and down the block from Casa Mariela, and we spent some time hanging about […]

Here at the Casa Mariela in Torres del Rio, we ran into Phil from the Evergreen State College – he’s the one in the grey hat. Right behind us was a herd of his compatriots from the Evergreen State College. A Greener reunion took place, with shouts of joy and ukulele chords. Francine and I pushed on. Date: 06 April […]

After Sansol, it’s a relatively quick walk to the next town, Torres del Rio. It’s another hill town, literally on the next hill over. This sign stands 1 km outside of town, and it says an awful lot about some people view the Camino. I thought it was clever, but I’m not sure I agree with the sentiment. Date: 06 […]

And there it is – the town we spent about an hour and a half walking towards. Sansol! It’s another one of those tiny Navarran hill-towns that we keep walking through. We had our second breakfast in the first bar we found in Sansol. There we met up with some students from the Evergreen State College – small world! – […]

This was the day that we discovered that it’s always easier to walk when you can see your destination, no matter how far off it is. Even though the first town after Los Arcos, Sansol, was 7km away, it was an easy walk. This was partially due to the cool, gorgeous weather and the relatively flat and even trail, but […]