Your Memorable Photos and Why

[Robo]

I'm sure a lot of us pour over our Camino photos from time to time as they bring back such wonderful memories.
Not just of that great view or amazing meal, but some may have a much greater meaning to you.
Why not share some, and the story behind the photo?
I'll post a couple to get things moving..........

En Route to Paris for my First Camino
Icing my achilles in transit at Dubai Airport.
I was setting out with injuries caused in training.
I was only able to walk about 2 kms at this stage and had not carried my pack in 6 weeks.
But there was no way I was not going to try.
Every day on the Camino was a blessing that I was grateful for, never expecting to actually make it.
That Camino was a major lesson in humility and gratitude.



David Vidal just before Astorga.
What an amazing person, who just exudes love for his fellow humans.
A reminder that there are many good people in this World, and that walking a Camino without the help of others along the way is hard. Is he still there? Saw him in 2015 and 2018.



Pat's First Camino
It seems the more time we spend in nature, the more we become attuned to our surroundings.
A 'City Girl' transformed, who didn't want it all to end.


Time to Reflect
Perhaps if we allow it, the Camino gives us the space to slow down and reflect.
To just be........ Pat's second Camino. a day off in Carrion to rest from an injury.
The perfect place.......was here.

 

[Peter Fransiscus]

Most memorable for me is that I took the shells left by Pilgrims in Pilgrim House to Denise's memory tree

 

[DuncanG]

My new Camino friend Lea on Day 2 in Burguete. She also carried an injured pilgrim’s pack down the mountain to Roncesvalles the night before, always with her beautiful smile.

 

[Bradypus]

Something I have posted here before. On the day I walked out to the lighthouse at Fisterra at the end of a walk from Santiago. On the way back into town I turned round and saw a cloud formation that reminded me very strongly of a scallop shell. I'm not quite self-centred enough to think that the Almighty had arranged a personal message just for me but it was a beautiful sight which was made all the more so because it was so transient. A minute or two earlier or later and the view might have been quite different. Time and place are very important.

 

[HBS60]

This was at an establishment called “Oasis” in Viana. After a frustrating search trying to find help for my blisters, this shop offered foot treatments with cold water infused with lavender. Ahh! Just what this tired pilgrim needed!!!

 

[MassNative]

One morning after a few damp hours of walking (Sept 2022), the weather started to break.
This was our welcome to Torres del Rio.

Coming down the hill from Sansol and at the footbridge over Rio Linares.

.

 

[bullingtonce]

I'm sure a lot of us pour over our Camino photos from time to time as they bring back such wonderful memories.
Not just of that great view or amazing meal, but some may have a much greater meaning to you.
Why not share some, and the story behind the photo?
I'll post a couple to get things moving..........

En Route to Paris for my First Camino
Icing my achilles in transit at Dubai Airport.
I was setting out with injuries caused in training.
I was only able to walk about 2 kms at this stage and had not carried my pack in 6 weeks.
But there was no way I was not going to try.
Every day on the Camino was a blessing that I was grateful for, never expecting to actually make it.
That Camino was a major lesson in humility and gratitude.

View attachment 182386

David Vidal just before Astorga.
What an amazing person, who just exudes love for his fellow humans.
A reminder that there are many good people in this World, and that walking a Camino without the help of others along the way is hard. Is he still there? Saw him in 2015 and 2018.

View attachment 182387

Pat's First Camino
It seems the more time we spend in nature, the more we become attuned to our surroundings.
A 'City Girl' transformed, who didn't want it all to end.
View attachment 182388

Time to Reflect
Perhaps if we allow it, the Camino gives us the space to slow down and reflect.
To just be........ Pat's second Camino. a day off in Carrion to rest from an injury.
The perfect place.......was here.
View attachment 182389

Do not look for the why as this is an endless, never-ending endeavor; just look for what is. Chuck

 

[SabsP]

Do not look for the why as this is an endless, never-ending endeavor; just look for what is. Chuck

I do not understand what you mean?
I think the question of the OP and following replies are clear enough.

 

[SabsP]

Thanks @Robo for starting this thread and everyone's contributons with pictures and stories.
Here is my picture of choirpractice in the church of Rabe de las Calzadas in spring 2013.

Post in thread 'What was your meltdown point?'

Nov 21, 2019

My most serious Camino-related meltdown happened on my second Camino in 2013.

The year before my dad passed away quite unexpectedly , leaving me to deal ( as an only child ) with taking care of mum and handling lots of paperwork.
So when those hectic months were over I thought it would be a good idea to walk the Camino del Ebro and a part of the Frances.
Aside from one other pilgrim on the del Ebro I did not meet anyone else ( so a good thing I could engage in some talks with locals ).
So I bussed and continued on the Frances.
Maybe I expected the same good vibes as on my first Camino the...

• SabsP

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I ended my Camino del Ebro and continued on the Francés.
Mentally it was a hard Camino that year.
The warm and generous welcome of these people lifted my heart. I felt very down that day.
After a good cry from myself and a gentle pat on the back from one of the ladies I made up my mind and ended that Camino. Took some public transport and enjoyed the rest of my days off.
Well I did continue for a couple of days but the fact I gave myself permission to stop made all the difference.

 

[CWBuff]

This was at an establishment called “Oasis” in Viana. After a frustrating search trying to find help for my blisters, this shop offered foot treatments with cold water infused with lavender. Ahh! Just what this tired pilgrim needed!!!
View attachment 182409

Good ole lavender!!!!
I would've loved that treatment but my blisters did not materialized long after Viana so understandably I skipped "The Oasis"

 

[longlost18]

On what I considered the hardest day - the descent to Molinaseca. Stopped to rest, turned around and looked up. Every slow step was a risk assessment. Ironically, a very young woman passed us just skipping down the steep, rocky trail.

 

[CWBuff]

I started to go through my photos to see what i can contribute... and.... again the Good Lord Works in Mysterious Ways... At the time that I took this photo (Rabe de las Calzadas) I dint even notice it... but now it just jumped out at me - the mural is a tribute\memorial to Denise

 

[steve392]

Most memorable for me is that I took the shells left by Pilgrims in Pilgrim House to Denise's memory tree
View attachment 182393
View attachment 182392
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May I ask where Denise's tree is? I'd like to pay my respects in March.

 

[davejsy]

Oh no, I could probably post about 100+ memorable photos, more than enough to send everyone to sleep.

But here's one of my favourites. I was walking the Camino after I lost my dog Flora. I'd gotten a tattoo of her, and every day, I'd put this tattoo ointment on it. And this day, which I still remember like yesterday, I stopped at a cafe on the outskirts of Burgos for my Cortado and opened my little tin of ointment to apply to said tattoo to be greeted by what, to me, looked very much like a paw print!

 

[CWBuff]

May I ask where Denise's tree is? I'd like to pay my respects in March.

Its at Parque conmemorativo de los peregrinos which itself is not far from Ermita de Ecce Homo
Cam. del Río, 6, 24718 Astorga, León, Spain
about 2.5 km from Astorga

 

[Rick of Rick and Peg]

[Denise's tree is] at Parque conmemorativo de los peregrinos

It is right on the Camino Francés a bit west of Astorga. Another way to see its location and some photos:

Pilgrim Memorial Grove · Astorga, León

maps.app.goo.gl

 

[Rick of Rick and Peg]

Peg loves poppies but we don't have enough sun for them to last more than a week. On the Francés though she had weeks and weeks to view them. This photograph shows some in a meadow instead of an agricultural field. This was taken between La Virgen del Camino and Villar de Mazarife around mid June.

 

[Hom4]

Leaving Villavieja on the Camino Invierno, I looked up and saw what appeared to be an arrow pointing me towards the next stage.

 

[steve392]

The photo my wife took of me in SJPDP before we had even met.



Full story here

Post in thread 'Camino Dating'

May 5, 2024

@Peterexpatkiwi suggested on another post that I tell the story of how I met my wife on the camino.

Incidentally, I think it's fair to say this beautiful story

belongs on another (lighthearted) thread:

https://www.caminodesantiago.me/community/threads/camino-dating.85855/post-1238501

So rather than just a quick paragraph I thought I'd bore you all with the details.
The easiest way of doing this, is to share with you the statement (edited) that I made to the authorities when I applied for my visa to move to Australia to be with Alex.
It is a bit long (and maybe a bit...

• steve392

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[JennyH94]

Fantastic thread, Robo - and thanks to all who have contributed so far - beautiful stories and photos.

My favourite Camino photo is from my 2022 camino on the VDLP and Sanabres. It was taken at Albergue Rehoboth at Villar de Farfon. It was one of those unexpected, magical days when all in my Camino world was simply perfect. I had called into the albergue which is also a well known drop in centre for pilgrims. Hospitalera Dorothea made me very welcome and offered coffee and Marie biscuits. The mug of coffee was like a taste of home and absolutely delicious. Hospitalero Craig told me about his and Dorothea’s lives as missionaries in Africa before moving to Spain - so profound. I stayed way longer than anticipated - it was one of those very special places.
Three pilgrim friends turned up and thoroughly appreciated Dorothea and Craig’s hospitality too and when we left another pilgrim took our photo -


From left - Christian from Germany, Enrique from Pamplona, me, Pastor Craig and Filipe from Barcelona.
It was such a happy day which has stayed very close to my heart and always will.
Best wishes from Oz -
Jenny

 

[Purky]

My son and I on the Salvador (and later the Primitivo & Verde) this year. He'd had a couple of rough years and no vacation to speak of. I saw him unwind a little more every day, seamlessly mellowing into our camino, and the weight of his smiles grew lighter by the hour.

 

[AndrewP]

on the walk into Pamplona in April of this year 2024, I was prompted to stop. Turn around and take a photo was the prompt. It was only when after as I looked at my phone did I see. It was the first of a number of now I see moments. These led to memorable conversations as the prompts to stop continued. This shot of the jet stream was pointing the way to the hill of forgiveness

 

[davejsy]

Ok I'll go again. . .

This on the way in to Ventosa left me with a lump in my throat. I found the words just beautiful, how proud they are of their village and how it ends with "We spend our lives looking for what we already have. It's just a matter of finding your way back home. . .".

A big lesson for life right there.

(Google translated version in the thumbnails if needed)

 

[Corelacka]

One of the best paella on the CF in La Casa Mágica Albergue, Villatuerta, Navarra (June 2024)! Third time staying there and always a great experience.

 

[Robo]

Beauty is all around Us.
Taking the time to slow down, switch off and just 'give ourselves' to the Camino can be such a wonderful immersive experience. I think I end up walking so slowly, because I just want to soak it all in. I want to savour every sight, sound, smell, taste and touch. It's like on the Camino I've been 'let off the leash'.

It's a lesson I'm still struggling to bring home...

en route to Galisteo, April 2023 VdlP

 

[DuncanG]

Beauty is all around Us.
Taking the time to slow down, switch off and just 'give ourselves' to the Camino can be such a wonderful immersive experience. I think I end up walking so slowly, because I just want to soak it all in. I want to savour every sight, sound, smell, taste and touch. It's like on the Camino I've been 'let off the leash'.

It's a lesson I'm still struggling to bring home...

en route to Galisteo, April 2023 VdlP

View attachment 182449

Robo, you are absolutely right. It took me about 27 steps leaving St-Jean-Pied-de-Port to realize what you say here. And I never let that feeling leave me, through wind and rain and heat and shin splints, like so many of us. I praised the experience every day while there and still do, every day.

 

[HBS60]

Beauty is all around Us.
Taking the time to slow down, switch off and just 'give ourselves' to the Camino can be such a wonderful immersive experience. I think I end up walking so slowly, because I just want to soak it all in. I want to savour every sight, sound, smell, taste and touch. It's like on the Camino I've been 'let off the leash'.

It's a lesson I'm still struggling to bring home...

en route to Galisteo, April 2023 VdlP

View attachment 182449

Sometimes we just have to stop and smell the flowers…
( pic taken approaching Atapuerca)

 

[AndrewP]

Friday 19 April 2024
The way outside Azorfa approaching Santo Domingo de la Calzarda. Shot taken with the help of a wonderful couple from the Netherlands. Hope and Jacqueline. The scene was another I see moment. Not the physical scene. Not a scene of nature. The unseen. Beside this field was a water irrigation canal. The water of life. The green patchwork in the field. The bread of life. The yellow band of flowers. The rape seed. The oil of gladness. And the vine. The blood. These scenes remind the local and visitor throughout the way on the Camino Francis. And continue to be tendered across the ages in these same fields. Even the murals on barn walls remind those on the way. The way through the wilderness. The way to the permanent home to come.

 

[Louise Comacchio]

My dearest of brothers who surprised me at the end of my walk. He himself, a few years earlier, had walked the Mozarabe and via de la Plata. He knew the emotion of walking into Plaza Obrodoiro and wanted to be there for me. I bawled like a baby. He made that moment even more special by being there. This photo of the two of us is so special to me, as was the moment. Nine months later our lives were irreversibly changed. He will not walk another Camino, but I will walk them for him. I have made him a promise to scatter his ashes in Andalusia. One day, God willing, I will honour his wish.

 

[Damien Reynolds]

Momma. She started it for me. 2005. She found out her breast cancer recurred after we got back. I still see her on the trail sometimes.

 

[GaTeach]

Somewhere near Triacastela. The amount of joy this ole cow brought me at that particular moment....

 

[steve392]

The most perfect of Camino mornings. Leaving Castrojeriz.

 

[David61]

On what I considered the hardest day - the descent to Molinaseca. Stopped to rest, turned around and looked up. Every slow step was a risk assessment. Ironically, a very young woman passed us just skipping down the steep, rocky trail.

On the ascent before the descent to Molinaseca I tripped over a hidden root. Went down like a sack of spuds but turned before faceplanting but whacked my elbow. Lot of blood which ran down my arm and then dried in the sun. fortunately no young people "skipping down", it was a very hot day and by the time I finished the descent with my throbbing elbow I was not a happy teddy!

 

[Canada Wanders]

If you will forgive the levity….a picture of my beloved wife in a bathtub.

As we went through Pamplona, a man at a hotel offered us a special ‘pilgrim’ rate for a room with a queen size bed and bathtub….of course, it is not always as it seems! Before she had done the room tour, she was unsure why I called from the bathroom to tell her I wanted to take her picture in the tub!

 

[simply B]

Both from 2017 - -

The first, is of a late friend from college days in the atrium of the 'Monasterio de Santo Domingo de Silos'. He is dejected as we could not get a space inside the cloister for the night plus he was in terrible pain. Still, he was happy for the chance to get another partial Camino, at least, before his body quit entirely. Bittersweet, yes, but a fond memory of our last outing anyway.

After getting my buddy on a plane back to the States, I continued from Burgos. At dawn a few days later, I have Boadilla just behind me and I came to the aqueduct that is our companion as we walk to Fromista. The picture made me happy for no other reason than it translated the reality to image perfectly.

B

 

[Robo]

Home Again!
What is it about the Camino?
Why can it become so much a part of us?
After a 5 year absence, I was home again.
Arriving in Sevilla in the evening I dumped my gear and went out to walk around near the Hotel and found some great cafes nearby. Why did I feel like I had come home, to a City I had never been in before?
But it was all so familiar and comfortable.
And such a joy to sit and people watch with a simple meal and a glass of wine in the warmth of the evening.



Day 1 on the VdlP
The simplicity of just walking, with no commitments or 'things to do'.
Within an hour I was out of the city, across the Rio Guadalquivir, and on a riverside path to Santiponce.
Already receiving the "Buen Camino" greeting from locals, who don't see a lot of Pilgrims.
I was smiling from ear to ear and trying to take in everything.
At last..............at last..........I was on the Camino again.
And who knows what adventures lay ahead...........
Whatever it was, it was going to be amazing. How could it not be?

 

[davejsy]

Jeanne, Julian, and Sepia on 30th September. Our paths crossed for the first time shortly after Estella. They had a dog, so obviously, they became like a magnet. Our paths crossed serendipitously over the next week to 10 days until we became inseparable and all walked into SDC together.

If I had to sum up my Camino with one word then I think it would be serendipity.

 

[HBS60]

El BurgonRanero. Just had breakfast and when stepping out for my day’s walk, and I was greeted with the most gorgeous, fiery sunrise I’ve ever seen. I had already seen many beautiful sunrises by this point, but this one takes the cake. It’s now in my iPhone wallpaper…

Edit: I mistakenly wrote that this was Mansilla de las Mulas, but that was my destination that day, which I began at El Burgo Ranero with this astonishing sunrise. It all becomes a blur after a while…

 

[wayfarer]

On the way to Molinaseca after Cruz de Ferro, 2012. Walking above the clouds, pure magic.

 

[mspath]

Villar d'Arène-la Grave, France
photo taken January 11, 2018

Facing La Meije



Six years ago my husband and I walked into a mountain paradise in the southern Alps west of Grenoble/east of Briançon off route D1091.

We mainly walked for 2 weeks on beaten paths usually off the plowed lanes.

...Now in 2024 we are thankful to "walk" this in memory.

 

[eeddowes]

My young escorts on VDLP, making sure I didn't miss my left turn....

When I entered their space, dozens and dozens of young pata negra were (I suppose) conditioned to ignore me. But then I stopped and turned around to take in the bucolic scene. It wasn't long until they all started running toward me like puppies. They surrounded me, nibbled at my boots and totally enchanted me.

 

[Robo]

An Emotional Rollercoaster
My first Camino was an emotional rollercoaster for many reasons.
It was a journey based on searching.
For meaning, for purpose, for me...
Two or three times I felt like quitting.
It all came to a head at the Cruz de Ferro.
I left a number of stones and sought forgiveness for my transgressions.
But as I went to rise from my knees, it was like a hand on my shoulder stopped me.
I couldn't move.
Then I realised, that there was one last thing I needed to share and unburden.
And the tears flowed.........



I have stopped here 4 times so far. And will surely again sometime.
Sure we can question the authenticity, and lineage of the site.
Regardless; for many, it provides a powerful healing catalyst I think.

 

[HBS60]

An Emotional Rollercoaster
My first Camino was an emotional rollercoaster for many reasons.
It was a journey based on searching.
For meaning, for purpose, for me...
Two or three times I felt like quitting.
It all came to a head at the Cruz de Ferro.
I left a number of stones and sought forgiveness for my transgressions.
But as I went to rise from my knees, it was like a hand on my shoulder stopped me.
I couldn't move.
Then I realised, that there was one last thing I needed to share and unburden.
And the tears flowed.........

View attachment 182656

I have stopped here 4 times so far. And will surely again sometime.
Sure we can question the authenticity, and lineage of the site.
Regardless; for many, it provides a powerful healing catalyst I think.

Thanks for sharing…hugs!