Walking the Camino de Santiago
We stayed in Saint-Jean at a pilgrim hostel named Beilari. You must reserve the night well in advance, and you must eat a communal dinner there with your fellow pilgrims. Our genial host Joseph made sure that we felt very welcome – our bunks even had mints on the pillows! Date: 29 March 2016 Place: Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port (France) This photo was […]
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After exploring the town a bit and purchasing our staves and Opinel at the aptly named Boutique du Pelerin, we sought some sustenance. We wandered a bit before talking with a lovely woman at the tourism office. We asked her to recommend a local place, and we weren’t disappointed. Date: 29 March 2016 Place: Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port (France) Café Ttipia is on […]
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After exploring the town a bit, Francine and I climbed up to the old citadel that looms over Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port. The original medieval castle was knocked down in one of the innumerable border skirmishes between France and Spain in the Renaissance era. The current structure was built in the seventeenth century using the very latest in modern anti-cannon design. Date: 29 […]
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I hesitate to call the Rue de la Citadelle the main street of Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port, but it is the street that the Camino takes through the town. Most of the buildings date to the mid-18th century, and many of them have the date carved in the stone lintel above their front doors. The citadel itself looms over the little town – […]
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Finally, I’ve gotten all of my Camino photos up on the Flickr page. To celebrate this rather dubious achievement, I think I might try to post a photo a day for awhile, maybe with explanations. I’ll try not to post the boring ones (though your opinion may vary), and I’ll probably skip the pre-Camino photos as well. They might not […]
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A month ago today, May 2, we arrived in Santiago de Compostela. I still haven’t uploaded all of the photos to Flickr. Perhaps in my head this will be the action that ends the Camino, though it’s long over. I also haven’t finished unpacking, either physically or mentally.
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It is now eighteen days after our arrival in Santiago. I’ve been back to my previous life and job for two full weeks now. Early on, somebody asked me “how’s re-entry been?” I’m not sure I gave a coherent answer at the time, and I’m not sure I’m going to give one now, either. In short, it’s been difficult. I […]
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Praise God in His angels and in His saints! At about 3:00 PM on the Memorial of Saint Athanasius, the second of May 2016, we arrived at the Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela. On the way in we met Anita, who escorted the three of us – Francine, Rebecca, and myself – to the cathedral Plaza. Afterwards, secured beds […]
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Galicia has been uncharacteristically cool and sunny, enabling us to do some fairly decent long-distance days. Oh, the forests of Galicia! So beautiful, and so otherworldly. As we came down from crossing our third mountain range, the clouds poured into the valleys below us like the sea lapping on the shore. Stories and poems have tumbled through my head […]
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Only 17.5 km today, but the last 8 km included a rough, rocky climb of almost 700 m as we left El Bierzo behind and entered our fourth Spanish kingdom: Galicia. We left early and had our second breakfast in Vega de Valcarce. By the time we stopped for a drink at a funky albergue/bar in La Faba called “El […]
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