Pilgrims on the Way

We arrive at the outskirts of Carrión de los Condes. This is a pilgrim town. There are a plethora of eating, drinking, and sleeping options for weary pilgrims here. Why? It’s one of the true bottlenecks of the Camino. Most every pilgrim walking the route through Carrión stops here. The next village beyond is 17.5 km across the Meseta. In […]

The Meseta is generally quite flat. The section between Villalcázar de Sirga and Carrión de los Condes is particularly flat and featureless. This was the section in my first Camino where I walked for over an hour without seeing another human being from horizon to horizon. The Camino was a little more crowded this time, as you can see. I […]

This massive sculpture is part of the “porch” of the Iglesia de Santa María in Villalcázar de Sirga. The upper register shows Christ in majesty, surrounded by angels and the apostles. The lower register depicts the Blessed Virgin Mary with the Christ child, surrounded by Old Testament kings and prophets. It’s possible that the two statues on the lower right […]

This is the rather impressive entrance to the Iglesia de Santa María in Villalcázar de Sirga. We had lunch directly across the street, in a quaint, local place I’d had lunch with Eamon three years previous. I’d love to explore this church, but it hasn’t been open either time. Date: 16 April 2016 Place: Villalcázar de Sirga (Castilla y León, […]

After some hours of walking, we approach the village of Villalcázar de Sirga and its monumental Iglesia de Santa María. The rain has been replaced for the moment by a driving wind. Fortunately, the Way was relatively flat and straight, so it was pretty much head down and forge onwards to lunch, which we absolutely planned on having in this […]

Two important things you will notice in this photo. First, it’s raining. Still raining. Secondly, the village of Villarmentero de Campos appears a little run-down. Many of the rural villages of northern Spain we walked through have similar issues. In the 1980s and 1990s, there was a depopulating as many left the villages seeking work in the cities. With the […]

In the past, I’ve shared various markers of pilgrim remembrance, both the grand and the humble. Nearly every day, you will find shrines of pilgrims who had died on the Way. Please, in your mercy pray for them. Date: 16 April 2016 Place: Between Revenga de Campos and Villarmentaro de Campos (Castilla y León, Spain) Today’s Map:

As you leave the village of Revenga de Campos, this forlorn statue of the great saint stands to cheer you on. Honestly, he doesn’t look all that encouraging to me, but I’ll take what I can get. I do admire the sheer amount of public art found on the Camino. Date: 16 April 2016 Place: Revenga de Campos (Castilla y […]

When we climbed the Alto de Mostalares the previous morning, Brian from the Evergreen State College and I had a lovely and wide-ranging conversation. At the time, he was trying to remember a quote for me. Here, as we have our second breakfast in Revenga de Campos, he remembered and typed it up for me. He also quoted me and […]