Author: Thom

This is one of the photos that every pilgrim takes. The sign just just outside of the grounds of the monastery of Roncesvalles. The distance, of course, is by highway. Everyone agrees that this is not the actual distance of walking the Camino. What that distance is, nobody can say with certainty, except that this isn’t it. Date: 02 April […]

With a final glance over my shoulder, I leave Roncesvalles, alone with my thoughts. I would seem to have fallen quickly behind the crowd, a theme that would recur often in the coming few weeks. I would run into Linda in just a few moments on the Way, but for now the Camino was silent in the pre-dawn hour. Date: […]

On the morning of my first Camino walking day, I was awakened at 6:30 to “Wake Up, Little Susie” on guitar and sung by an extremely enthusiastic wandering minstrel. This photo shows the new monastery albergue, which I think had its inaugural year in 2012. If you’d like to see the “old” albergue, I recommend the movie “The Way” with […]

After dinner, I attended Mass at the monastic church at Roncesvalles. The Gothic chapel is beautiful, but dark and difficult to photograph, at least with the iPhone 4 I was using in 2013. Three monks chanted Vespers and the Mass in Spanish and Latin. Following the Mass, with a single light on the statue of Madonna and Child on the […]

Returning after my shower, I discovered that somebody have moved my stuff from the top bunk to the bottom. I soon discovered that this had been done by this young lady from Berlin, Linda. She did so because “it’s polite to let the older people have the bottom bunk”. Ouch. We had dinner together, and the next day we walked […]

This was my dinner on my first day: fresh river trout. There was actually a first and third course as well, but this one was photo-worthy. In a weird way, this is one of the most memorable meals I’ve ever had. Blame the location, blame the excitement of the Camino, or blame the fact that my dinner companion had recently […]

All pilgrims carry a credencial to identify them as a legitimate pilgrim. They are issued by various Confraternities of Saint James, and you can also get them at Cathedrals and other places along the Way. All pilgrim albergues and refugios require that you have a credencial in order to stay there. You get it stamped at least twice each day to record […]

As I mentioned yesterday, there had been a blizzard the week previous to my arrival. The remnants of it were everywhere, including these impressive piles of snow and ice in the courtyards of the monastery at Roncesvalles. I checked into the monastery albergue, left my stuff at my (top) bunk, and took a shower. Date: 01 April 2013Place: Roncesvalles (Navarra, […]

From Madrid, I took an early morning bus to Pamplona. My plan from here was to take a bus or share a cab to Saint-Jean. Unfortunately, there had been a blizzard in the Pyrenees the week before, and the passes were impassible. I would have to start on the Spanish side of the mountains instead. I just missed the bus […]

For our first Camino, I flew on Easter Sunday on Iberia Airlines, the national airline of Spain. It remains the best flight to Europe I’ve ever flown. And the food was great. Here’s a shot of the plane that’s going to bring me from my Chicago layover to Madrid. Best part of the layover? Actual Chicago-style pizza in the airport […]