Pilgrims on the Way

Pilgrims are funny people. You’ll often find that somebody has placed some sort of token atop the Camino markers. Mostly, it’s rocks. Here, however, we have acorns sorted by size and how much of the acorn is actually present. Is it the life of the acorn? The evolution of the acorn people as a species? Acorn hats for chipmunks sorted […]

Five minutes down the road from our previous wheels, we come to more wheels! These are a bit larger than the previous wheels we looked at. As recently as the 1990s, the carts formerly attached to these wheels were ubiquitous throughout rural Galicia. Farmers used them to haul… well, everything, really. Nowadays, it’s cheaper – not to mention faster – […]

This photo was taken in the same yard as yesterday’s photo. You can, perhaps, see where the top of the gate came from. This wheel, however, remains a wheel for the moment. These sorts of cart wheels – sometimes with the cart still attached – may be found throughout rural Galicia, though they are usually considerably larger than this specimen. […]

We had lunch here at Casa Calzada. As I wrote in another place, the Camino is littered with various cafés and bars, and they’re especially thick on the ground for the final 40 or 50 kilometers. I think we’ve stopped at this one in Calzada on each of our Caminos. I think it’s because you become extremely conscious of the […]

Warning! Googly-eyed cows ahead. Who may or may not answer to “Mona”. Date: 01 May 2013 Place: somewhere past As Barrosas (Province of A Coruña, Galicia, Spain) Today started: Arzúa (Province of A Coruña, Galicia, Spain)

After leaving Arzúa, the Camino took us back into the Galician countryside, a land of farms, fields, and forest. Good news: it wasn’t raining! There was a bit of mud, but we were definitely used to that by now. This morning was an easy, gentle walk through springtime greenery. Date: 01 May 2013 Place: Arzúa (Province of A Coruña, Galicia, […]

After spending a lovely evening in Arzúa, we headed over to the local church of Santiago. I was particularly captured by this side altar, which has a type of depiction of the Blessed Virgin with the child Jesus that I’d never seen before. Saint Roche is in the top niche of the retablo, but I’m not sure who the others […]

Throughout the Camino, you will see many eras of sculpture represented on and in ecclesial and civil buildings. Much of this tends to be Romanesque, Gothic, and Renaissance, with some spectacular Baroque outliers. But even 20th century styles can be found, such as this delightful Art Deco cherub. Date: 30 April 2013 Place: Arzúa (Province of A Coruña, Galicia, Spain) […]

In the city of Arzúa, which we fondly call “cheesetown“, you may see this fountain, featuring a statue of a stubborn lady with her even more stubborn cow. The second person-cow pairing seem to have a much less contentious relationship. The statue is located in the plaza of the church of Santiago, which you can see in the background. It’s […]