Walking the Camino de Santiago
Pilgrim reports from the Camino.
Utterly exhausted. We were so tired and loopy while we were in Madrid that we didn’t manage much except breakfast at a lovely little panderia halfway to the city center. The Metro was partially closed, so we had to take a bus to bridge the service gap. But we were so mentally unable to go any further, that we just […]
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We had a wonderful morning exploring North Boston. We took a water taxi from the airport, checked our backpacks at a nearby hotel, and set off to explore. We started with breakfast at Anthony’s, served by Anthony himself. Then we hit the Freedom Trail. We explored the area around the old North Church, of “one if by land, two if […]
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O God, who brought your servant Abraham out of the land of the Chaldeans,protecting him in his wanderings,you who were the guide of the Hebrew people in the desert,we ask that you deign to watch over us, your servants,as for the love of your Namewe make pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela. Be for us our companion along the path,our guide […]
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“The plan is nothing; planning is everything.” (attributed to Dwight Eisenhower) Our journey to Spain was scheduled to begin today with an early afternoon flight to LAX on Alaska. From there we’d fly British Airways to Madrid and then Iberia to Oviedo. Last night, Francine was just starting to cook dinner, and I was finishing up some last minute chores. […]
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I’m currently In that manic “getting ready to leave for three weeks“ rush. My to do lists have to do lists. In the midst of all of that, here is a photo of the front garden of Pistachio House, what I like to call my “happy place“. I took the photo yesterday afternoon while I took a moment to slow […]
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This morning, Francine and I received the pilgrims’ blessing from Rev. David Mulholland at Saint Patrick Church, where I was baptized and we were married. It is a beautiful and ancient rite. In its current form it appears the Missal of Vich Cathedral, Barcelona, Spain, dated to AD 1078. In addition to blessing the pilgrims themselves, the packs (“rucksacks”), sticks (“staves”), and […]
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The Felisa stamp has been described as “one of the most sought after on the camino“. What’s odd about it is that Felisa isn’t a place. Felisa is a person. Or, rather, Felisa was a person; she died in October 2002. She sat for many years at a weatherbeaten desk beside the Camino just before Logroño, offering water, figs, a […]
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The bridge we are crossing here over the Río Iso was built in the 14th Century, and the albergue ahead soon after. It was completely restored in the 1990s and is now something of a showcase. It’s 4:30 in the afternoon, and all things being equal we really should stop here, but instead we push on through towards our goal […]
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Our first view of the city and the cathedral spires came on Monto de Goza – the mountain of joy. We sang “Holy God we Praise Thy Name”, and a rainbow broke out over the city. We fairly well bounded into the city, despite the urban slog. So many people! There are several conventions and a festival happening in the […]
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This portion of the Camino seems to be a near constant series of bars and cafés. They have certainly multiplied since the last time we were here! After a most delicious breakfast at the albergue – and the Albergue Santa Irene is probably the finest on the Camino – we set out before dawn. This is only the second time […]
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