Walking the Camino de Santiago
We left the rural blacktop road for an even more rustic road, which eventually led us to the tiny village of Leboreiro, officially named Santa María do Leboreiro. The village has a Cruceiro, a tiny church dedicated to Santa María (of course), and no café. The village, which now has a population of just under 70 people, was once much more […]
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I don’t know for sure where this is, except that it’s somewhere after the sign announcing that you’ve entered the Province of A Coruña. It might be Campanilla. In any case, you can see signs of the weather we’ve been fighting all morning since we left Palas de Rei: rainy and windy with occasional bursts of storm. I noted in […]
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The book is now available! More information here. Introduction These rules are hard-won through experience. The emphasis here is on practical – these will not necessarily ensure a more spiritual or fruitful pilgrimage, but perhaps a less needlessly difficult one. If you’re looking for some of the spiritual lessons I learned, those are on the page titled Cultivating Pilgrim Spirituality. […]
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Because of course there’s a real place called Casanova. I mean, there are probably dozens, but it was still a weird moment to see the sign. Note that the plinth is of the same native stone as the building in the background. Plus: only 60km to go until Santiago! Date: 30 April 2013 Place: Casanova (Province of Lugo, Galicia, Spain) […]
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This is a close-up of the Romanesque window of the little church from yesterday. As I said yesterday, I find this little window absolutely exquisite. It seems to be the only remnant of the original decorative elements prior to the many renovations and restructurings of this church. I wonder what happened to the rest of the stonework? Date: 30 April […]
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Unfortunately, I don’t know in what village this little church is located. While it’s pretty clearly been renovated and changed around at least a couple of times over the centuries in various styles, the round apse is definitely Romanesque. The little window, of which you’ll see a clearer photo tomorrow, is exquisite and seems to be the only remnant of […]
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Is it a window? A short door? An entryway for animals? Who knows? And how long has it been abandoned? It’s the sort of liminal space that makes you stop and ponder, anyway. Or is that just me? Date: 30 April 2013 Place: between Palas de Rei and San Xulián (Province of Lugo, Galicia, Spain) Today started: Palas de Rei […]
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The next morning, rain! This pilgrim statue in Palas de Rei pretty much summed up the feelings of a lot of tired pilgrims this morning, pushing themselves into the storm. Date: 30 April 2013 Place: Palas de Rei (Province of Lugo, Galicia, Spain) Today started: Palas de Rei (Province of Lugo, Galicia, Spain)
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Apologies for the fuzziness! This pilgrim bar in Palas de Rei not only caters to pilgrims, it’s run by pilgrims, if the wall of Compostelas is anything to go by! I wish I could remember the name of the place Date: 29 April 2013 Place: Palas de Rei (Province of Lugo, Galicia, Spain) Today started: Portomarín (Province of Lugo, Galicia, […]
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Inside the parish church of San Tirso in Palas de Rei, I was particularly struck by this statue of the Blessed Virgin Mary with the Christ Child. There are several baskets nearby with a signs in various languages instructing pilgrims to take a slip of paper from inside. Each contains a short passage of scripture. Each time I have come […]
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