Author: Thom

While Eamon and Petra surged ahead, propelled by youth and long legs, Patrick, Viola, and I struggled, exhorting and encouraging each other, occasionally shouting and swearing at the wind. When we crested the (almost) last hill and saw the town of Santo Domingo de la Calzada in the valley below us, we shouted and wept for joy. It was, we […]

This art is right outside of of Cirueña, and it is the rest of the art which one finds coming into the town. Pretty neat. Is the subject Santiago himself or a pilgrim? Who can tell? Date: 09 April 2013Place: leaving Cirueña (La Rioja, Spain)Today started: in Ventosa (La Rioja, Spain)

Once past the seemingly endless empty housing projects of Cirueña, the Camino wends its way through the equally empty old village of Cirueña. It’s creepy in an entirely different way, for here the houses stand empty and abandoned, rather than merely empty. Date: 09 April 2013Place: Cirueña (La Rioja, Spain)Today started: in Ventosa (La Rioja, Spain)

Cirueña’s seemingly endless housing developments stand empty. We are here surrounded by empty apartments, and we are walking towards a street of empty townhouses. Hardly anybody lives here. The whole place is eerie. The only people you see on the streets are pilgrims passing through. Spooky. Date: 09 April 2013Place: Cirueña (La Rioja, Spain)Today started: in Ventosa (La Rioja, Spain)

This brand of steel art is endemic along this portion of the Camino. On the other side of the village, the pilgrim cut out from this piece stands on his own. A neat trick: two sculptures for the price of one. This village and the nearby village of Ciriñuela were the site of an enormous housing development that stands nearly […]

When we returned to the Camino three years later, this sign had been changed out. Or possibly we found a different sign. In any case, you have to admire the directness of Spain. Date: 09 April 2013Place: between Azofra and Santo Domingo de la Calzada (La Rioja, Spain)Today started: in Ventosa (La Rioja, Spain)

We all met up again at at the top of a hill in an open area with benches and water. Here’s Petra trying to fill her water bottle. Did I mention that it was windy? Although I took quite a number of photos that afternoon trying to demonstrate the wind we were walking against, this is probably the most illustrative. […]

Here we see Patrick walking into not-quite-gale-force winds. We were fortunate that the terrain was so easy and the scenery so beautiful, because this was a day where Patrick, Viola, and I were tested to the limit. We began to babble to each other about the mythical town of Santo Domingo de la Calzada. The more we walked, the more […]