Walking the Camino de Santiago
Before I left, Francine asked me to take a selfie each day. I won’t be posting most of them, but this one was taken shortly after I sprinted across Heathrow airport in my attempt to make my connecting flight to Lyon, France. Imagine me sprinting across the airport wearing my full Camino pack. Anyway, I missed the flight by seconds […]
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Today being the feast of Saint John, Apostle and Evangelist, my Confirmation Saint and the brother of Saint James – Santiago – it seems apropos to begin this new series of the Camino Photo of the Day today. My 2023 pilgrimage began in our parish church of Saint Patrick, with the ancient pilgrims’ blessing bestowed on me by my pastor, […]
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In all, I uploaded 10,113 photos from my long Camino. It only took me six weeks, on and off. It helped me start my Camino recovery, though I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t still suffering a bit from the post-Camino blues. I’m considering a new “Camino photo of the day” series, in part to help me process my […]
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From August 18 through October 23, 2023, I walked from Le Puy-en-Velay in France to Santiago de Compostela in Spain on pilgrimage to the tomb of the Apostle Saint James the Greater – Santiago. During this pilgrimage, I walked 1,633.8 km, or just over 1,015 miles. This doesn’t count walking around and exploring the many cities, towns, and villages where […]
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I made my first visit to the Cathedral this morning, attending the 9:30 Mass. it wasn’t very crowded, as most pilgrims attend the evening pilgrim Mass rather than one of the early morning ones. In addition to the Spanish celebrant, the Mass was concelebrated by two priests from the Archdiocese of Portland. It was odd to hear parts of the […]
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Today I completed the walking portion of my pilgrimage. I have yet to visit the cathedral and the tomb of the Apostle. That’s an adventure for tomorrow.. This morning, after a deep and blissful sleep, I woke up at about 7 AM. Breakfast began at 8:00, and I took it slowly. No sense in leaving before it was light out today. […]
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Today I left the albergue just after 8:00 AM. My shoes were still wet, but I had a couple of plastic bags that I hoped would keep my feet dry. The route out of town took me past the church, but at this early morning hour it was safely locked up. It looks like market day is today – there […]
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This morning I again woke up at 7:00 AM rather than my customary 5:00. Maybe seven is the new five? I suspect it is a combination of fatigue – I really need to lay on a couch for a couple of days – and the fewer hours of daylight. In any case, the albergue café didn’t start serving breakfast until […]
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Last evening I met a couple of guys from South Africa as well as a pilgrim from Trinidad. Quite a group of folks having the usual pilgrim conversations, and it helped bring me out of my funk. And it turns out that Neil from South Africa owns a company that makes vestments. Crazy. Seriously slept in today. I guess my […]
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Today was not a great day. It poured rain, I only managed about 17 km, and I’m homesick. After the monastery tour yesterday, Martha from Brooklyn and I headed over to a tiny chapel on the outskirts of town. This is the oldest part of the monastery complex, though it is not physically located at the “new” monastery, which was […]
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