Author: Thom

Here is the Camino’s entrance into the major town of Viana, where the infamous César Borgia is buried. They seem quite proud of it. In his later years, César Borgia was reduced to being a mercenary captain in the various Spanish wars. Here’s how Wikipedia recounts his death: He recaptured Viana, Navarre, then in the hands of forces loyal to […]

There’s a section of the Camino approaching Viana that runs right next to the N-111 highway. As we were walking this portion, a car drove by and honked. We waved back. This is not that unusual in Navarra, where the people like to greet and encourage pilgrims. What happened next, though, was a little unusual. The car crossed the median, […]

I‘ve mentioned the zombie hand vines before. Here’s a good look at them. Why do they cut them back so much? Dunno. I found the whole thing quite fascinating. On our previous Camino, one local famously told me, “these might not be the vines the Romans planted… but they’re their children”. Date: 06 April 2016 Place: Just past Ruinas de […]

These tiny ruins – farmhouses? Way stations? Bodegas? Dot the top of a ridge looking down into the valley to our left, which is filled with grain fields and vineyards. The further down from the Pyrenees you go, the more vineyards you see. Our winding path through the hills and vales will take us through many of them over the […]

Well, that flat, even ground couldn’t last, could it? While there were numerous hills throughout Navarra, they didn’t usually come with warning signs like this one did. Still, at least it was downhill. Date: 06 April 2016 Place: Somewhere near Ermita de la Virgen del Poyo (Navarra, Spain) Map of the day:

This is probably my most consistent and least photographed view during the whole of the Camino. It was a sunny day and a relatively even path, so I snapped the photo. Date: 06 April 2016 Place: Somewhere near Ermita de la Virgen del Poyo (Navarra, Spain) Map of the day:

We’ve played enough RPGs to know that when you see a dodgy sign in a mysterious wood, your best bet is to continue past as quickly as you can. No doubt the trolls had set this out as a trap for us. Date: 06 April 2016 Place: Somewhere near Ermita de la Virgen del Poyo (Navarra, Spain) Map of the […]

On some portions of the Camino, the local authorities have sometimes made “improvements” to the Way. Some of these are great. And some of these are slippery concrete walkways on hills that become staggeringly dangerous when it rains. Today, it did not rain. Date: 06 April 2016 Place: Approaching Ermita de la Virgen del Poyo (Navarra, Spain) Map of the […]

Some of you may remember my post about Eunate. Well, the church of San Andrés in Torres del Rio is the second octagonal Templar church on the Camino. It even has the same alabaster windows. Like Eunate, it wasn’t open either. It’s just around the corner and down the block from Casa Mariela, and we spent some time hanging about […]

Here at the Casa Mariela in Torres del Rio, we ran into Phil from the Evergreen State College – he’s the one in the grey hat. Right behind us was a herd of his compatriots from the Evergreen State College. A Greener reunion took place, with shouts of joy and ukulele chords. Francine and I pushed on. Date: 06 April […]