Walking the Camino de Santiago
Just down the road from the ants, this is the little country church of Santiago de Lestedo. In this one photo, you can see a number of the things that characterize the Catholic culture of Spain, including a Cruceiro and the typical parish graveyard. While the village of Lestedo boasts a population of nine, the parish itself contains several of […]
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These ants are found at an unforgettable albergue/café in the village of Portos, about 6 km before Palas de Rei. The place is called A Paso de Formiga, which means something like “at the pace of an ant”. It has a lovely outdoor dining area (if you don’t mind the giant ants), and we’ve stopped here for a meal or […]
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This disused cart is just one of many such carts and wagons we saw in rural Galicia on our first Camino. While I think it’s sad that these beautiful and traditional forms of transit are left to rot in the fields, I can certainly understand it. You can see the modern successor of the wagon peeking out from behind the […]
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Just a window we passed in one of the Galician villages on the Camino. It’s a common enough sight in Spain, but this one particularly struck me as looking like a 19th century painting. Date: 29 April 2013 Place: probably Ligonde (Province of Lugo, Galicia, Spain) Today started: Portomarín (Province of Lugo, Galicia, Spain)
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Cruceiros are a common enough sight on the Camino. They were usually set up as boundary markers or to mark a crossroads. They are sometimes found in churchyards or in towns, where they mark places where itinerant judges would hold court on appointed days to dispense the King’s justice. This particular one is unusual in that it depicts the Pietà, […]
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Several weeks ago, I was struck by the thought of carrying others with me on my long Camino this autumn. Now I know what you’re thinking. Sounds a little odd, yes? Perhaps the easiest way to clarify is to quote from the note to myself that I wrote back on April 3rd: I’d like to walk this Camino – all […]
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In the tiny village of Ventas de Narón, we find a door that reminds us, yet again, that Galicia is a Catholic country. The three carved images are the shell of Saint James, the Eucharist, and the Cross. Date: 29 April 2013 Place: Ventas de Narón (Province of Lugo, Galicia, Spain) Today started: Portomarín (Province of Lugo, Galicia, Spain)
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Three years ago, Francine and I took our Hospitalero training at the annual Gathering of American Pilgrims on the Camino in South Lake Tahoe. It was quite the adventure, what with a blizzard, driving down a mountain in the snow, and finally the beginning of the Plague. When we got back home, we both had COVID, and it laid us […]
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After a bit of path-along-the-highway walking, we arrive in the tiny hamlet of Hospital de la Cruz. Much of the place was in ruins, although nowadays I understand there’s both a bar and an albergue here. We saw many such tumbledown places in Galicia on our first Camino, but as the popularity of the Way has risen to Medieval levels […]
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Many of the village churches on the Camino come with their own graveyards, often with niches stacked three or four high. This particular one contains a beautiful rose bush – rose tree? – with its fragrant springtime blossoms, carpeting the ground in pink and white. A lovely and serene spot that I photographed again, three years later. Date: 29 April […]
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