The World is Quiet Here

Our first view of the city and the cathedral spires came on Monto de Goza – the mountain of joy. We sang “Holy God we Praise Thy Name”, and a rainbow broke out over the city. We fairly well bounded into the city, despite the urban slog. So many people! There are several conventions and a festival happening in the […]

This portion of the Camino seems to be a near constant series of bars and cafés. They have certainly multiplied since the last time we were here! After a most delicious breakfast at the albergue – and the Albergue Santa Irene is probably the finest on the Camino – we set out before dawn. This is only the second time […]

Yesterday began with rain and getting ourselves lost, adding two kilometers to our day before we even left Melide. Morale was low, and this cartoon posted on the wall of our lunch spot in Castañeda captured it perfectly. But then we ran into a delightful Australian family that we had been meeting up with now and again over several days. […]

So the plan always was on this Camino that we would take short days. I’m not sure what happened today. This is what happens when I leave Francine in charge. (I kid, I kid!) Today we walked 26 km. We’ve several longer Camino days over the years, but that was not the plan for this year. Oh, well. Today was […]

We left Portomarín in fog and mist that persisted for several hours. There’s something magical about the misty Galician forests that even highway walking can’t dispel. The dew condensed in hair and beard, and fell on us from the trees. The day was constant hills. The highlight of the day was undoubtedly exploring the Celtic pre-Roman ruins of Castromaior. Inhabited […]

Of the 30,000 or so steps we took today to arrive in Portomarín, these 58 were probably the most difficult, coming as they did at the end of the day. The Camino climbs these steps into the town. They are made from the remaining stones of the ancient Roman bridge that used to cross the river here. Speaking of bridges, […]

We left the village of Samos as the clocks were striking 8 AM. First, the monastery bells, then a moment later the clocktower at the town hall, and finally a distant church. Most of the day’s walk was through a tapestry of forest and farmland. It was absolutely lovely. Magical. We passed through innumerable places that explored the hazy difference […]

Today we walked about 17 km from Filloval to Samos. Last night’s sleep was a little rough thanks to a German pilgrim with a mighty snore! So we started late and sauntered through a haunting forest landscape dotted with tiny rural villages and tottering ruins. It began raining about noon, and by the time we arrived at Samos in the […]

Distances on the Camino are often a matter of conjecture rather than fact. For example, according to the Michelin map today we walked 16.9 km. The guidebook pegs it at 16.5 km. My Fitbit, on the other hand, puts it closer to 21 km. In any case, we are in the tiny hamlet of Filloval. And when I say tiny, […]

After three days of airplanes, buses, and one miraculous taxi, we have finally arrived at the start of our pilgrimage. Francine in the baptistery of the church in O Cebreiro It is late in the evening on the feast of Saint Francis of Assisi. We have obtained our pilgrim shells, and we attended Mass in the local church of Santa […]

It is the eleventh hour of our twenty-hour Atlanta layover. We spent much of it getting our Madrid boarding passes, getting to a hotel, and sleeping. Our Atlanta greeter Before that, however, and before our flight, our Camino began with one of those crazy bits of rhyme the Lord seems to love throwing our way. We took a Lyft to […]