Author: Thom

In the pilgrim tales of past centuries, we are constantly warned to be on the lookout for wild dogs. They had been known to chase after and even maul pilgrims, according to eighteenth century writer. The dogs we encountered were much tamer than their ancestors. This one, which we encountered leaving the village, certainly kept a wary eye on us, […]

I believe this little church was used in a scene in the movie “The Way”. It’s clearly seen better days. What immediately struck me about Spanish village churches is that they almost always had a graveyard out back. Seems natural, but not something you generally see in American churches. Date: 03 April 2013Place: Ilárraz (Navarra, Spain) Maps! On the way […]

The Camino winds its way through a series of villages and random suburbia masquerading as villages. In one such place near Ilárraz, we pass by a fountain that was supposedly built for pilgrims in 1917. There’s a nearby sign, however, that says the water is not potable, so it’s not entirely useful these days. Date: 03 April 2013Place: Ilárraz (Navarra, […]

Once out of the blight that is Magna (which I once called “walking past Mordor“), the Camino changes drastically for the better. Down the length of the Camino, various localities have tried different ways to maintain the trail. There’s packed dirt, gravel, asphalt, pavement, brick – you name it. This, though, is one of my favourites. Easy to walk on, […]

Just after Zubiri, the Camino passes through an industrial site called Magna. Signs everywhere warn pilgrims not to leave the path. Although it doesn’t look too bad here, the further you get into the area, the more grey and grim it becomes, and even outside of the fenced areas, the whole place is an industrial blight. Even here at the […]

Technically Zubiri is not actually on the Camino. But all you have to do is to cross this lovely stone bridge to get to the town. This is an early morning photo on our way back to the Camino. You can see some of our growing Camino family on the bridge, the Puente de la Rabia. The name of this […]

And here we are, our new Camino family of happy pilgrims having just finished our dinner at a restaurant around the corner from our albergue. From left to right, we have: Eamon from New Zealand, Ali from the U.K. by way of the French Alps, Cliff from Massachusetts, Kristof from Bruges, and yours truly. Apologies for the blurriness. Date: 02 […]

In Zubiri we found a wonderful little albergue. I liked it so much, that Francine and I stayed here when we came back in 2016. It’s clean and compact, with bunkbeds and white walls, and the hospitaleros are friendly and helpful. Although I didn’t know Charlie here in the doorway when I took this photo, we met him the next […]

This is the final descent into the town of Zubiri. I had originally planned on going as far as Larrasoaña today, but the descent left me bone-tired. It was, after all, my very first day of Camino walking, and no matter how much training you do, it never stacks up to the actual thing. My companions, Eamon and Cliff, were […]