Author: Thom

Apologies for the blurriness. Today I met Carlos. He was moving slowly due to some issues with his knees, but he fell in well with our poky little group. He had some Brazilian honey with him, that he shared with us, saying “Brazilian bees best in world!” That’s Eamon from New Zealand on the left, and Carlos from Brazil on […]

The road fill here appears to be construction debris. Whatever it takes! I’m amused that they had to put up a sign prohibiting cars from using this stretch of the Camino, because that clearly means that somebody tried it at some point. I don’t imagine they got very far. Date: 03 April 2013Place: between Akerreta and Zuriáin (Navarra, Spain) Maps! […]

Throughout Navarra, many signs appear in both Spanish and Basque. One of the interesting tensions between the speakers of these languages that I’ve noticed, is that most local (and most especially business) signs give the Basque names for places, while the maps invariably give the Spanish ones. This means that although the map says you’re looking for “Aquerreta”, when you […]

The village of Akerreta is tiny, even by Camino standards, but its striking church, the Parroquia de la Transfiguración, can be seen for kilometers. We passed through the village about 9:30 in the morning, still looking for our first breakfast. The village and the surrounding countryside is, as you can see, scenic and charming. Date: 03 April 2013Place: approaching Akerreta […]

At a little after nine in the morning, we passed by Larrasoaña, our originally scheduled stop for last night. I’m glad we slept in Zubiri instead, as otherwise would have meant passing through Mordor as the evening fell. It seems a nice enough place, and I’d like to stop there at some point. Like Zubiri, you must cross a bridge […]

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, […]