Category: Camino

08 April 2013 Short, difficult day today. The roads were fairly easy, but all of us are feeling yesterday. Logrono is a big city, and getting in and out of the cities is a lot of walking on concrete. No fun. Cliff left first and was soon out of sight. Charlie is staying a couple of days in the city […]

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07 April 2013 Having been to Mass in Los Arcos, today a rather large group of us set out first thing in the morning. We walked 28 km. From Los Arcos it was a delightfully easy 7 km to Sansol. Onward, we wlked over easy roads through olive groves and vinyards, culminating in a steep, undulating descent into our lunchtime […]

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Given the continuing tech issues, my plan is to post short little posts to catch everybody up to date, and to add a “progress” to show where I am and where I´ve been. Still very little luck on the photo front, though I´ve now taken over 1200 photos. A couple of them are even good.

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I´m currently in the town of Los Arcos. Four of us set off from Estella this morning in high spirits and falling snow. While it wasn´t heavy or constant, it was thick, gloopy stuff. Flakes the size of walnuts! It didn´t stick to the roads, but did most everywhere else. We climbed a bit of a hill today, so we […]

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Just a quick note as we leave Estella. It´s been raining on and off since I arrived on the Camino, though yesterday was clear and gorgeous. This morning, however, the Camino has a new surprise for us. It´s snowing. It´s not sticking, mind, but big wet flakes of snow are falling everywhere. Buen Camino!

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We continue to be confounded by technological problems. Lack of wifi is not allowing me to upload the several hundred photos I´ve taken. I´m blogging from the Albergue Municipal in Estella at the end of day 4, but what I´d like to do is tell you a little bit about yesterday. Truly, I haven´t yet processed it all, so I´ll […]

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It´s funny, but the pilgrim hostels (“albergues”) either have wifi or a computer lab. With the lab, I can use a proper computer with a proper keyboard, but unfortunately I cannot upload my photos. So I´m here in Pamplona, after walking another 21.5km, staying at the Albergue Jesus y Maria, which is perhaps a block from the great Cathedral. Day […]

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After my arrival in Roncesvalles, I quickly made friends with a young woman from Germany, who had the bunk above mine. She had walked through the snows from Saint Jean, and she helped me get oriented to albergue life. So Linda and I shared the pilgrim’s menu: first course of a wonderful potato soup (possibly they had once been introduced […]

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No photos yet, sorry. The albergue in Roncesvalles has a computer room but no wifi that I can find, so I can´t upload my photos from the camera. I arrived here about an hour ago, and have had my first stamp on my pilgrim´s passport and a long, long shower. Items still to do include laundry and dinner. Getting here […]

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When in April the sweet showers fall And pierce the drought of March to the root, and all The veins are bathed in liquor of such power As brings about the engendering of the flower, When also Zephyrus with his sweet breath Exhales an air in every grove and heath Upon the tender shoots, and the young sun His half-course […]

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In less than a day, my flight will be taking off. I’ve gone through various stages of nervousness, elation, and even fear in the past few days. More than once I’ve asked myself, “what, are you crazy, Thom?” Add to that the emotions that inevitably come with Holy Week – the Mass of the Lord’s Supper, Stations of the Cross, […]

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Time grows short! We`re back from Stations at church and doing all sorts of last minute errands. Among these are the dreaded final packing. I like to be all packed for trips at least a full day before going somewhere. This way, I tend to discover all the things I forgot still laying about the house. This post is also […]

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Back in August, a buddy and I had what I called “an inadvertent Camino day”, where we sort of accidentally walked 25km. While there’s no such thing as a “typical” day on the Camino, 25km is a pretty fair shot at it. Well, today I intentionally walked 25km with full pack. Francine (who is a couple of weeks behind me […]

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Pilgrims on the Camino carry a Credencial, or pilgrim’s passport. They are issued by various Confraternities of Saint James, and you can also get one at Cathedrals and other places along the Way. The idea is that you get it stamped each day – ideally several times a day – to record where you’ve been and to prove that you’re […]

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The photo here was taken by a pilgrim yesterday at Roncesvalles. The passes are choked with snow, and at this point people have to walk on the highway to get from Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port to Roncesvalles. And it’s taking them two days. I won’t have that kind of time, and I’m leaving in just over two weeks. Even assuming the snow is […]

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Francine and I were sick most of the week with a cold that would not quit. I stayed home Wednesday and Thursday. An attempt at working from home on Friday was a spectacular failure. Needless to say, our whole training schedule this week was a shambles. And by shambles I mean this: on Wednesday I walked a block to the […]

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