Walking the Camino de Santiago
Pilgrim reports from the Camino.
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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Yesterday began with rain and getting ourselves lost, adding two kilometers to our day before we even left Melide. Morale was low, and this cartoon posted on the wall of our lunch spot in Castañeda captured it perfectly. But then we ran into a delightful Australian family that we had been meeting up with now and again over several days. […]
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So the plan always was on this Camino that we would take short days. I’m not sure what happened today. This is what happens when I leave Francine in charge. (I kid, I kid!) Today we walked 26 km. We’ve several longer Camino days over the years, but that was not the plan for this year. Oh, well. Today was […]
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We left Portomarín in fog and mist that persisted for several hours. There’s something magical about the misty Galician forests that even highway walking can’t dispel. The dew condensed in hair and beard, and fell on us from the trees. The day was constant hills. The highlight of the day was undoubtedly exploring the Celtic pre-Roman ruins of Castromaior. Inhabited […]
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Of the 30,000 or so steps we took today to arrive in Portomarín, these 58 were probably the most difficult, coming as they did at the end of the day. The Camino climbs these steps into the town. They are made from the remaining stones of the ancient Roman bridge that used to cross the river here. Speaking of bridges, […]
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We left the village of Samos as the clocks were striking 8 AM. First, the monastery bells, then a moment later the clocktower at the town hall, and finally a distant church. Most of the day’s walk was through a tapestry of forest and farmland. It was absolutely lovely. Magical. We passed through innumerable places that explored the hazy difference […]
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