Pilgrims on the Way

At the top of the ridge known as the Alto de Perdón is a procession of life-sized metal pilgrims. These statues – is that the right word? – represent pilgrims from every time period of the Camino. It is one of the truly inspiring pieces of public art that dot the entire length of this pilgrimage route through Spain. It’s […]

The Alto de Perdón is a sharp-ish ridge between two wide valleys, and this is the view from the top into the valley we just left. You can see the towns and villages dotting the valley, and far in the distance to the right, you can even make out the edges of Pamplona. Date: 03 April 2016 Place: Alto de […]

I‘ll spare you the uninspiring sight of us trudging up the long climb of the Alto de Perdón. Instead, here’s a photo of Francine about halfway up! The Alto de Perdón is a sharp-ish ridge between two wide valleys, and the top is crowned – as are so many ridges in northern Spain – with windmills. I just kept my […]

We woke up the next morning ready and raring to tackle the day with our friends Katy and Emilio, her father. We all posed for some photos out front of the albergue before continuing up the ascent to… Alto de Perdón (dun dun DUN!). Date: 03 April 2016 Place: Zariquiegui (Navarra, Spain) Our current position may be found on this […]

We arrive in the village of Zariquiegui! Yes, this is another Basque village that starts with a Z. It was, as you can see, quite sunny. I remember wishing that it would be a little cloudier. Boy howdy, was I to regret that wish! We booked into the only albergue and met up with Emilio and Katie. After exploring the […]

All up and down the Camino, you will find shrines of pilgrims who had died en route. During the course of our pilgrimage, I tried to get photos of every one we passed. Some of them are quite simple. Some, like this one, are a little more elaborate. In your mercy, please pray for these pilgrims. Date: 02 April 2016 […]

After Cizur, the Camino enters into a country of green rolling hills. Many of the largest are crowned by picturesque hill towns dating back to the medieval period. This one might be Guenduláin, home of the Counts of Guenduláin until the nineteenth century. Or perhaps not. Slowly, the Camino winds upwards. The wind whips through the tall grass in long, […]

About an hour or so past Pamplona, the Camino goes through the suburban town of Cizur Menor. It seemed very modern and trendy to me, despite the sign at the entrance showing the way to two Twelfth Century churches. The Basques certainly seem to love their cider, so it wasn’t a surprise that the major watering hole we passed in […]

Francine, with Pamplona quickly fading behind her. Earlier in the day, just after Mass in the Cathedral, we had run into Emilio and his daughter Katie, who we met originally when we came out of Roncesvalles. We agreed to meet in Zariquigui, just before Alto de Perdón. Why Zariquigui? It’s about a half-day out of Pamplona, and we knew we […]