On the Camino: One Day at a Time, one Photo at a Time 11.0

[Rowena]

October 7, 2015 Between Hospital de Orbigo and Astorga, Camino Frances

 

[Kirkie]

October 7, 2015 Between Hospital de Orbigo and Astorga, Camino Frances

View attachment 178775

That chap is faithful to his post! He was there in 2006

 

[mspath]

Camino Frances
Alto de Mostelares marker

photo taken November 22, 2013



The climb up the broad path had been steep!

 

[Bill905]

Old faithful - April 2019

 

[Rowena]

“Old Faithful” was still going strong in 2022, as was the man at the top of the descent into Astorga who strummed his guitar, sang a bit, then asked for American money!

October 7, 2015

 

[mspath]

Camino Frances
Alto de Mostelares

photo taken February 18, 2009



Towards the east behind me is the path followed from Castrojeriz; at age 70 cresting the Alto was both exhausting and elating!

 

[SabsP]

Leaving Botos in the morning.
All quiet on a Saturday.
7th of September 2024.

 

[Bill905]

“Old Faithful” was still going strong in 2022, as was the man at the top of the descent into Astorga who strummed his guitar, sang a bit, then asked for American money!

October 7, 2015
View attachment 178821

I hope you gave him a Loonie!

 

[mspath]

Camino Frances
towards Itero de la Vega

photo taken November 4, 2011



Ahead to the west the ribbon-like path crossed the vast emptiness of the Meseta .

 

[Rowena]

October 9, 2015, Fuentes Nuevas, after Ponferrada

 

[Rowena]

I hope you gave him a Loonie!

No, I only had Euros, left all my loonies at home!

 

[mspath]

Camino Frances
nearing Itero de la Vega

photo taken November 4, 2011



This was a lonely walk beneath the clouds.

 

[Rowena]

October 10, 2015
Villafranca del Bierzo
Camino Frances

 

[Bill905]

Estaing, Via Podiensis May 2022

As Didier and I approached Estaing, we met an older woman who stopped us and asked if she could take a couple of photos of us. We asked why she wanted pictures of a couple of pilgrims she had never met before. She explained she was retired and visiting small towns by car. Her husband and her son were walking these stages of the Camino, but it would be too difficult for her. Her hobby is ink drawings and water colours, and so she would sketch different locations along the Camino as she waited for them. She showed us several of her sketches. They were very nice. Then she showed us one which had the Camino in it and explained that she wanted to create some drawings of the Camino with a couple of pilgrims, and that was why she wanted our picture.

As we were chatting with her she noticed my accent and discovered I am Canadian. She asked me what my impressions of France were, and "What is France" to me. I simply pointed at Didier and said “This is France. Didier is France to me!” And it is true. He was, and is, a great Camino companion, a good walker, and provided excellent colour commentary on everything that is France, especially the food!

A few weeks later, he received an email from her, with an ink sketch of Estaing ... but rats! we didn't make it into the drawing!

 

[SabsP]

Life as it is.
Poster for a local fiesta but also obituaries.
On the way to Silleda.
7th of September 2024.

 

[Rowena]

Before the Graffiti
October 11, 2015

 

[mspath]

Camino Frances
Ermita San Nicolás de Puente Fitero

photo taken November 12, 2013



The winding path passed an historic 13th c. pilgrim hospice presently only used during the warmer months.

 

[Josep Montserrat]

Camino Catalan. Thirteenth stage. Igualada - La Panadella.
Town hall of Igualada.

 

[SabsP]

Silleda. 7th of September 2024.

 

[mspath]

Camino Frances
leaving Itero de la Vega

photo take November 13, 2012



All seemed easy on the gently mounting path crossing the hills.

 

[Rowena]

October 13, 2015
Approaching Sarria



I’m amazed by the daily distances I managed to walk back in 2015. I couldn’t do it now!

 

[SabsP]

One of the small hamlets from Silleda.
Small centro cultural.
8th of September 2024.

 

[mspath]

Camino Frances
Boadilla del Camino

photo taken November 5, 2011



Prominantly sited next to the church this handsome richly carved column, known as a Rollo, marks a 15th c. jurisdictional/territorial boundary.

 

[Rowena]

October 14, 2015
Portomarin

 

[SabsP]

8th of September 2024. On the way to Ponte Ulla.
For a moment I thought I was home. Landscape was so familiar.

 

[Josep Montserrat]

Camino Catalan. Thirteenth stage. Igualada - La Panadella.
The arrow and the symbol of the Ignatian Way
This way goes in the opposite direction to the Catalan.

 

[Kirkie]

Camino Frances
Boadilla del Camino

photo taken November 5, 2011

View attachment 179096

Prominantly sited next to the church this handsome richly carved column, known as a Rollo, marks a 15th c. jurisdictional/territorial boundary.

How well I remember this, on the morning after our stay in the albergue there. It was an oasis, truly. €5 for the bed. Laundry by hand of course, I think there may have been sheets... the kidney shaped pool to dip into, and the bar, and the communal meal.. and the madre as well as the son, who seemingly is still very much in evidence. They also had, and I gather still do, a separate scale for private accommodation. Thanks for the reminder... then, the lovely church in Fromista...

 

[mspath]

Camino Frances
east of Fromista
Canala de Castilla

photo taken November 5, 2011



This bucolic view of the Canala de Castilla is from a secondary walking path between Boadilla del Camino and Fromista.

 

[SabsP]

Ponte Ulla. 8th of September 2024.
Was a dfficult descent so even if this view of the bridge is not so special I was happy to have reached my destination for that day.

 

[mspath]

Camino Frances
nearing Fromista
Canala de Castilla

photo taken November 13, 2013



Much of the CF near Fromista follows the waterworks of the 18-19th c. Canala de Castille. Canalside pathways now are recreational.

 

[Josep Montserrat]

Camino Catalan. Thirteenth stage. Igualada - La Panadella.
Sant Jaume Sesoliveres.
Saint James of the olive trees. Very reconstructed Romanesque.

 

[SabsP]

Two today. A Taberna de Gundian.
Ponte Ulla. 8th September 2024.
New owners so no taberna/ restaurant anymore but they give you a decent breakfast basket. Coffeecapsule and bread. There is a small kitchen with Nespressomachine and toaster.

 

[Kirkie]

Two today. A Taberna de Gundian.
Ponte Ulla. 8th September 2024.
New owners so no taberna/ restaurant anymore but they give you a decent breakfast basket. Coffeecapsule and bread. There is a small kitchen with Nespressomachine and toaster.

View attachment 179236View attachment 179237

Very decent, who could complain?

 

[Rowena]

October 16, 2015
Boente
Camino Frances

 

[mspath]

Camino Frances
near Fromista
Canala de Castilla Esclusa cuádruple
.
photo taken February 28, 2007



Constructed 1753 /1849 to transport wheat by barge, the Canala de Castilla was popular 1850 /1870 and declared Bien de Interés Cultural in 1991.

 

[Rowena]

October 17, 2015 Camino Frances
When I arrived in Santiago this first time, I thought that this was the front of the cathedral. Silly me! I therefore had a very hard time finding the route to Finisterre from the front of the cathedral, shown on the map from the Oficina de Turismo!

 

[SabsP]

Leaving Ponte Ulla in the morning.
9th of September 2024.

 

[mspath]

Camino Frances
near Fromista

photo taken November 13, 2012



The Fromista locks marked the hypothetical mid-point of my 8th CF. After four weeks walking whilest always wearing a loaded pack (6.5 kilos) I was as fit as might be hoped at 73......All I needed then, as now, was continued luck, tenacity and endurance.

 

[Josep Montserrat]

Camino Catalan. Thirteenth stage. Igualada - La Panadella.
Camí de Sant Jaume. Sant James Way.

 

[SabsP]

Ermita de Santa Lucia in Piňeiro. Etapa Ponte Ulla to Santiago.

9th of September 2024.

 

[Rowena]

October 18, 2015
Santiago

 

[mspath]

Camino Frances
Fromista
Iglesia San Martin

photo taken February 19, 2009



The unconsecrated Iglesia San Martin, an 11th c. Romanesque church, once part of a large monastery is now a museum; several hundred carved figures decorate the eave corbels below the roof.

 

[Josep Montserrat]

Camino Catalan. Thirteenth stage. Igualada - La Panadella.
Poppies and wheat.

 

[SabsP]

Quiet memorial for the traincrash in 2013 in Angrois, Santiago.

Santiago de Compostela derailment - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

Picture 9th of September 2024.

 

[mspath]

Camino Frances
Fromista
Iglesia San Martin
capital

photo taken February 28, 2007



Atop many interior columns are stunning even shocking capitals. Located inside the south entrance this one, la Concordia, is quite explicit!

 

[mspath]

Camino Frances
Fromista
Iglesia San Martin
statue

photo taken February 28, 2007



Within the Iglesia museum this pilgrim appears to balance rather precariously!

 

[SabsP]

Arriving in Santiago from the Sanabrés.
9th of September 2024.

 

[mspath]

Camino Frances
Población de Campos

photo taken November 13, 2012



Set within the garden of the Hotel Amanecer en Campos this chapel might be a scaled-down replica of a nearby church.

 

[Theatregal]

Camino Frances. Astorga. September 28, 2023.
A few of the many beautiful windows of the Palacio de Gaudi.

 

[SabsP]

Hostal Suso at Rua Vilar.
Santiago de Compostela.
Very central and quiet.

9th September 2024.

 

[mspath]

Camino Frances
Revenga de Campos

photo taken November 6, 2011



This stork was glimpsed atop the Iglesia de San Lorenz.

 

[Bill905]

Via Podiensis. May 2022 - from the "strange but true" files

A little while after leaving Le Soulié early one morning, we came to a town with a small grocery store. Behind the counter were some pastries, and Didier asked me if I wanted one. What a silly question, of course I did! Take a look at this pastry. What do you call it?

The name of this pastry is at the center of a longstanding food feud in France, so you had better be careful the next time you are in France, in order that you use the proper nomenclature according to the region of France you are visiting. Here is how I found out about it. When Didier and I went into the grocery store he asked the woman behind the counter for two “pains au chocolat”. The woman stared at him ... then he quickly corrected and excused himself and asked for two “chocolatines”. The woman then said that she preferred the latter name. When we were outside the shop Didier explained that people in the north of France call this pastry a “pain au chocolat” while people in the south of France use the term “chocolatine”. Strange but true. A few kilometers later we stopped at a little picnic area to eat our lunch and enjoy the "chocolatines". There were two young women pilgrims there, and we discovered they were from Brittany. So I turned to Didier and said that I wanted to test his story. I pulled out a pastry asked the two women what they called it, and they both immediately started laughing because they knew exactly what I was referring to. “It's a pain au chocolat, of course,” they said.

 

[SabsP]

View of Santiago. Leaving early morning to Negreira.
11th September 2024.

 

[mspath]

Camino Frances
Villarmentero de Campos

photo taken November 6, 2011



This small sculpted cross was isolated within a pasture east of Villarmentero de Campos.

 

[Josep Montserrat]

Camino Catalan. Thirteenth stage. Igualada - La Panadella.
Jorba. Vegetarian "tapa".

 

[SabsP]

Rio Tambre/ Ponte Maceira.
Etapa Santiago - Negreira.
11/09/2024.

 

[Lindsay53]

Camino Invierno, heading down the hill toward the Rio Mino from Diomondi last Sunday.

 

[mspath]

Camino Frances
Carrión de los Condes
Refugio Santa Clara

photo taken October 25, 2004



Exactly 20 years ago I stayed in the pilgrim Refugio Santa Clara at the historic Real Monasterio Santa Clara where St Francis of Assisi is said to have stopped during his early 13th c. pilgrimage to Santiago.

 

[Kirkie]

This was a magnificent tree just before reaching our accommodation in Neda, on the Inglés, in 2019.

 

[mspath]

Camino Francesò
Villovieco

photo taken November 14, 2012



This "art brut" pilgrim stood firmly within a meadow on the way to Villalcázar de Sirga.
... I wonder if he still is there.

 

[Josep Montserrat]

This was a magnificent tree just before reaching our accommodation in Neda, on the Inglés, in 2019.

View attachment 179651

Magnolia grandiflora​

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magnolia_grandiflora

 

[Josep Montserrat]

Camino Catalan. Thirteenth stage. Igualada - La Panadella.
Archaeology of advertising.
This Michelin advertisement is made with tiles. At that time, the road that went from Madrid to Barcelona passed through Jorba.

 

[SabsP]

Croquetas caseras. Casa Barquiero in Negreira.
11/09/2024.

 

[mspath]

Camino Frances
Revenga de Campos
mural

photo taken November 6, 2011



On a wall facing east this mural can be seen when walking west on the CF path parallel to Palencia route P-980.

 

[SabsP]

Igrexa de San Xulian de Negreira.
12/09/2024.

 

[Kirkie]

A cheery sign at the start of the Salvador. 2017
Gosh, how time flies

 

[mspath]

Camino Frances
east of Villalcazar de Sirga

photo taken March 1, 2007



This stately sculpted column topped with a cross is a welcome contrast to the nearby low concrete bollards alining the CF path parallel to Palencia route P-980.

 

[Josep Montserrat]

Camino Catalan. Thirteenth stage. Igualada - La Panadella.
Santa Maria del Camí.

 

[Kirkie]

On the Inglés, if my memory does not fail me.

 

[SabsP]

Gorgeous garden at the albergue Casa Vella in Vilaserio.
Midnoonbreak before heading to A Picota.

12/09/2024.

 

[mspath]

Camino Frances
Villalcázar de Sirga

photo taken February 9, 2008



A taciturn local fellow and an inquisitive pilgrim silently shared this sunlit table.

 

[Kirkie]

I took this photo in Christchurch Cathedral, just before reaching the Camino Centre office in St James's church in Dublin, prior to walking the Inglés. Any pilgrim visiting Dublin, take your credential, and you will be given a stamp, and free access to visit the Cathedral. the seats all have this wonderful motif, and the floor tiles are old, and also Camino themed.

 

[mspath]

Camino Frances
Villalcazar de Sirga
Iglesia de Santa María la Blanca

photo taken March 1, 2007



Santa María la Blanca, a masive and austere 12th-14th c. fortress-church, originally built by/for the Knights Templer later became a royal Marian sanctuary .