The World is Quiet Here

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 […]

After Rabanal, we crested the Cordillera Cantábrica at Cruz de Ferro. Traditionally, one leaves a stone at the foot of the cross there. This is the accompanying prayer:  Lord, may this stone, a symbol of my efforts on the pilgrimage that I lay at the foot of the cross of the Savior, one day weigh the balance in favor of my […]

We arrived in Rabanal del Camino three years to the day since the last time we were here, though not by any conscious design on our part. We have been walking with a young Dutchman named Stijn, and we ran into our old friend Rebecca again a couple of times during today’s walk. It has become a glorious, sunny afternoon. […]

We are spending the night in Sahagún. For those of you who are fans of “Babylon Five”, this will sound uncomfortably close to “Z’ha’dum“. It was a beautiful day for walking – cool and sunny. A welcome change from the recent weeks. We had our second breakfast at the Albergue Jacques de Molay in the village of Terradillos de Templarios, […]

Each day of our pilgrimage, it has pleased God to send us a new trial. If it is not hills to climb, then it is rain. If it is not rain, then mud. If not mud, then a driving wind.  Today, it pleased God to send us all of these in succession.     To these trials must be added the […]

This morning we arrived in Burgos, and we immediately went to tour the cathedral. What can one say about this magnificent edifice? It is simply one of the marvels of architecture and art. Eventually my photos will load, but this is hampered by lack of wifi and lack of bandwidth.  To give a small idea of its splendour, consider this: the […]

It has been several days and 10 journal pages since I last posted. In that time, we’ve walked 64 km. The Camino continues to teach new lessons every day. Here are three.  God speaks through whom He will. If necessary, He will send updates and clarifications.  Several days ago, an issue with which I have been wrestling was answered by the […]

After a lovely morning in cool, overcast weather, we had an endless afternoon as the Way curved around hill after hill after hill, hiding from us any view of our day’s destination until we had suddenly arrived.  In the midst of that endless, depressing afternoon, we met a Friar whose positive impact on my day was immediate. Other impacts, I’m […]

A day of rain and mud. We left Puente la Reina about 8 am, and it was raining by 9.   We walked with Emilio and Katy. Second breakfast in Mañeru, and lunch in Lorca. Sadly, most of the churches we passed today were locked up. Between Mañeru and Ciraqui we were on and off a Roman road. Like everything else, […]

Today we took another short day with Emilio and Katie, from Zariquigui to Puente la Reina, only 13 km. We tackled Alto de Perdón first thing, and it was much easier than I remember. Of course, back in 2013 it was raining and the path was more of a river than a road.    Today it was cool and dry, […]

Today was meant to be a rest day in glorious Pamplona. We went to Lauds (chanted Latin) and Mass (first half Latin, second half Spanish) at the Cathedral.           Then, I took about 200 photos (see the link in the side bar – totally worth it). We visited the cloisters and the cathedral museum. As I said, it […]

Arrived in Pamplona about 3:30 PM, so it was a brisk day. The weather was beautiful – cool and mostly overcast. It was perfect walking weather.   We set out from Zubiri at 7:40 after breakfast and a quick meet up with Billy, Becky, and Penny. They weren’t going to leave for a while, so we  pressed on without them. […]

Yesterday was warm and sunny. Today we started with rain that soon became a day-long downpour. A very cold downpour. Ponchos came out at second breakfast in Bar Fronton in Burguete. Despite hail and freezing rain, we made very good time in the morning, lunching in Biskaretta. We even stopped by Corazón Puro to say hi to István and Barbara, but […]

Today was probably the most physically challenging day of my life so far. We bought some sandwiches and left Saint-Jean in good spirits. We soon met up with Penny, a seventy-ish woman from Idaho and Matthias, a young German who started his Camino three months ago from his home in Köln. Penny wasn’t walking with a pack, having sent hers ahead. […]

First breakfast and Lauds at Corazón Puro. István and Barbara drove us to Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port. We are in France! We stopped in at the pilgrims office for our orientation and map. Then to Boutique du Pelerin to pick up our new hiking poles and an Opinel (with a corkscrew, naturally).We walked up to the citadel – the medieval castle was apparently […]