Author: Thom

The morning was cold and windy, and the snow returned on and off. Fortunately, as you can see, most of it was in the highlands and not so much in the lowlands. Unfortunately, the Camino was taking us up into the hills. It’s about 10:30 in the morning. Date: 06 April 2013Place: between Irache and Azqueta (Navarra, Spain) Map!

Looking far chipper than I did, Eamon takes his cup of wine from the fountain at Irache. Bodega Irache maintains a webcam with a live feed at the fountain, and Eamon telephoned some friends in New Zealand to watch him live. In this photo, you can also see the little-used spigot for water. Of old, the nearby monastery maintained the […]

Yes, you read that correctly. Here we see our humble narrator quenching his thirst at 9:00 in the morning, having walked through snow and rain and wind in a poncho that rather makes him look like a strawberry troll. I’d say he’d earned that cup of wine. Cheers! Of old, the nearby monastery maintained the fountain, which has a spigot […]

Just how cold was it? This cold. A fuzzy photo of snow, taken from the albergue window. Not sticking, thank goodness, but still swirling through the air. So: snow and wind. It was going to be a fun morning, and we were planning to make it at least as far as Los Arcos today, some 21km away. Date: 06 April […]

Camino day five begins with breakfast in the albergue. It’s still dark outside, and bitterly cold, so we’re taking our time. That’s Eamon in the corner, and sitting next to him is Patrick from Florida. I think this might be my first photo of Patrick, and I’m pretty sure this is when we met him. He would soon join our […]

Turns out, it was Charlie’s 70th birthday, and Carlos was going to turn 30 in just a couple of days. So Charlie invited a slew of us out to dinner on his dime. We spent the evening feasting and drinking and singing until late. It was a glorious time, and there’s nothing quite like a group of Irish peregrinos singing […]

After visiting the Iglesia San Pedro de la Rúa, we took a moment on the portico to soak in the view of the town of Estella. It’s such a lovely town. I’ve stayed here on both of our long Caminos, and I still feel like I haven’t really seen it. Maybe next time. Date: 05 April 2013Place: Estella (Navarra, Spain)

I don’t know the story behind this image of the Blessed Virgin Mary in the Iglesia San Pedro de la Rúa in Estella, but it’s similar to the one found in Eunate. I immediately felt drawn to her. Perhaps its my penchant for the Romanesque. The rest of the retablo she’s ensconced in is of much later construction. Date: 05 April 2013Place: […]

The Iglesia San Pedro de la Rúa in Estella contains one of my favourite statues of Santiago. This is it. He’s just hanging out on a pillar in the nave. There’s something about the face that seems both kind and tough. In the background you can see the covered pulpit. Santiago in Estella Date: 05 April 2013Place: Estella (Navarra, Spain)