Walking the Camino de Santiago
After a long walk down the relentlessly urban Avenida de Pío XII, the edge of the city suddenly appeared. It’s quite something. You’re just walking through a quiet urban neighbourhood, you cross the last street, and suddenly you’re in the Spanish version of Tuscany – all gentle rolling hills swathed in shades of emerald, each hill topped by a shining, […]
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On the way out of Pamplona, the Camino passes the Portal de San Nicolás, a seventeenth century Baroque gate into the city. Just before reaching this point, I spent some time lost for the third and final time on our way out of Pamplona. It was only because some locals started waving at me and wildly gesticulating towards the proper […]
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On the way out of Pamplona, I stopped into a shop to pick up some souvenirs – light ones, as I would be carrying them in my pack for the next 700km or so. I left the shop, and turned the wrong direction, getting quite lost in the maze of streets in the old city. I backtracked and found the […]
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Yesterday I was sick, so here are two photos for today! First breakfast, then to the Cathedral for Mass. The Mass didn’t start until 9:30, so we had a very late start on the day, the day I would categorize in my journal as “the day my pilgrimage actually began”. The cathedral is a wonder. The photo doesn’t begin to […]
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We headed back to the Café Iruña for dinner. Here we see two happy pilgrims raising their glasses of vino tinto. Spanish red wine is a Camino staple, and most pilgrim meals come with a half bottle ration per person. The entire region around Pamplona has been surrounded by grape vines since Roman times, and their wine is so good! […]
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Here’s just one of those bulls from yesterday, up close and personal. And life-sized! Date: 03 April 2013Place: Pamplona (Navarra, Spain)
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I think this photo speaks for itself. This is a statue of the running of the bulls in Pamplona, with a pilgrim being goofy and another laughing at him. Story of my life, really. Date: 03 April 2013Place: Pamplona (Navarra, Spain)
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One of the things I love about Navarra is that the country is not shy about proclaiming the Catholic faith. Here in Pamplona, you see churches everywhere, of course, but also statues and other reminders of the historic faith of Navarra. This statue of the Blessed Virgin Mary, for example, is the decorative centerpiece of this beautiful Art Deco building. […]
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The entrance to the bullring in Pamplona is stately, and the avenue leading to it is flanked with trees. It can hold nearly 20,000 people, a testament to the enduring cultural legacy and popularity of bull fighting. Date: 03 April 2013Place: Pamplona (Navarra, Spain)
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Ernest Hemingway is so popular in Pamplona that there’s a statue of him in front of the bullring. He lived in the city for a number of years, and he very much put it on the map in terms of visitors, so it sort of makes sense to me. Still odd to see statues and other memorials of an American […]
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