On the Camino: One Day at a Time, one Photo at a Time 5.0

[VNwalking]

That climb out challenging but worth it once at the top.

On both sides of the alto!

Welcome, Nick! Beautiful images.
Feel free to take your time sharing them - on this thread we're only posting one pic per day, to see us through this long strange covid time. It's amazing that we've been going for over a year with no repetition.

 

[Anne&Pat]

View attachment 104262

May 2018, Pyrenees

Welcome Nick,
Hope you are well. We haven’t communicated for a while. Remember we met at Monte de Gozo in June, 2018.
Wonder when us Aussies are going to be allowed to leave the country to walk another Camino?
Buen Camino,
Anne & Pat

 

[Bill905]

And remember, the local tipple is tinto Mencía. Bar staff are really impressed when you ask for it. So will you be when you taste it.

Thanks for the tip (pun intended)! Other drinks that I have learned are local to Spain are patxaran (anise seed and sloe liqueur), aguardiente (a mysterious concoction of just about anything that can be fermented), and in Santiago a Belgian comrade introduced me to a licor de hierbas from Galicia (photo) of which there are also many producers. I wonder, are there other interesting tipples that are native to Spain and/or the Iberian peninsula? Just want to orient myself properly for the next Camino!!

 

[Nick B]

Welcome Nick,
Hope you are well. We haven’t communicated for a while. Remember we met at Monte de Gozo in June, 2018.
Wonder when us Aussies are going to be allowed to leave the country to walk another Camino?
Buen Camino,
Anne & Pat

Remember you well Anne and Pat, glad to see you continued on to Muxia and Finnestaire after Santiago in June 2018. I still have the photos Pat took of me in front of the Cathedral after we walked together into SDC, hope all is well with you both down there in Victoria.
Hopefully I'll see you back on the Camino some day when we retain our freedom.
Buen Camino xx

 

[Nick B]

On both sides of the alto!

Welcome, Nick! Beautiful images.
Feel free to take your time sharing them - on this thread we're only posting one pic per day, to see us through this long strange covid time. It's amazing that we've been going for over a year with no repetition.

Apologies VN, a bit carried away there after seeing some great photos from fellow Pilgrims. Wasn't aware of the one pic per day rule, didn't take too many so possibly am completo re photos. All the best.

 

[VNwalking]

didn't take too many so possibly am completo re photos. All the best.

Wow, I hope not! Those are gorgeous.

 

[FourSeasons]

Santiago Oct 6, 2013. These beautiful ladies on either side of me are from Holland and loved to sing to me. I met them early on while walking to Zubiri and true to Camino tradition, they kept popping up throughout. I recall our stay in Fromista where we sat and talked. I cried and they comforted me. Magic.

 

[Anik2001]

Leaving Azofra on an early July morning, with the full Moon still on the horizon and the sun on its way.

 

[Phoenix]

September 2016: There's a long story behind why this photo of the Hemingway statue in Café Iruña is important to me, but I'll give the short version.

My biological dad was a drunk. At his bedside in a hospital, I watched him die a horrible death because of it at age 51. Afterward, in my late 20s, I swore off alcohol to eliminate the possibility of a similar fate. For 21+ years I didn't touch it, no matter how much or how many times over the years I wanted an ice cold beer after a hike or yardwork, etc.

While planning for the 2016 CF, as part of my 50th bday celebration, I realized I wasn't like him nor would I ever be like him... so the abstinence "streak" could end with closure. I knew exactly how it should; my youngest son, fresh out of the military and who had never seen me take a drink, would buy my first drink in over two decades and I would toast Hemingway and celebrate. It played out exactly as I had hoped/planned. From that point onward, every time I even thought about being thirsty, I had a pint, and appreciated it as if I found liquid gold.

At one cafe on the stage to O Cebreiro, another pilgrim asked if he could take a photo of me with the beer because he said he had never seen someone enjoying a beer so much. Ha. When I shared the one-minute version of the story with him, he replied, "Well, I've heard of people walking a Camino to stop drinking... but this is the first I've heard of someone walking a Camino to start drinking!"

 

[mspath]

Torres del Rio
Camino Frances

photo take February 14, 2007



A radiant solitary pathway crossing Torres del Rio on St Valentine's night during my third camino.

 

[Theatregal]

On an extremely hot day in a hamlet before Viana do Castelo on the Português da Costa and the joy of finding this shaded little oasis of cool cool water to soak our bandanas and splash our faces.

 

[SabsP]

Kit for my second Camino. Still a bit disorderly. Ah the joy of preparation for another Camino. What stays in what goes out. Which drybag to use?
The Camino del Ebro/ part Frances in 2013.
When I still wore those ugly but comfortable Crocs in the evening...

 

[Nick B]

A misty morning in June 2018 with a pondering Pilgrim.......

 

[dick bird]

Thanks for the tip (pun intended)! Other drinks that I have learned are local to Spain are patxaran (anise seed and sloe liqueur), aguardiente (a mysterious concoction of just about anything that can be fermented), and in Santiago a Belgian comrade introduced me to a licor de hierbas from Galicia (photo) of which there are also many producers. I wonder, are there other interesting tipples that are native to Spain and/or the Iberian peninsula? Just want to orient myself properly for the next Camino!!

View attachment 104273

That looks suspiciously like orujo, fermented and distilled from the leftovers of wine making, and it has warmed and inspired many a chilly Santiago night.

 

[VNwalking]

Approaching Valcarlos, looking across to the steepish ascent you tackle right as you enter the village.
Every time I read posts from those who insist the Napoleon Route is the real way, I smile and think of this beautiful place and of the long history behind it. They don't know what they're missing but I've given up trying to disabuse anyone of their ideas. The crowd going the other way makes for properly contemplative first day (or two) out of St Jean.


(@Nick B , I really like your avatar. Where is that?)

 

[Theatregal]

Approaching of Valcarlos, looking across to the steepish ascent you tackle right as you enter the village.
Every time I read posts from those who insist the Napoleon Route is the real way, I smile and think of this beautiful place and of the long history behind it. They don't know what they're missing but I've given up trying to disabuse anyone of their ideas. The crowd going the other way makes for properly contemplative first day (or two) out of St Jean.

I look forward to walking the Valcarlos route next time. All being well, when I walk again it will be exactly 10 years since I first walked the Frances - there is so much I've learned about this route since - places and history I had no idea about the first time. I'll stop and stay in different places and along the way take detours off the Frances to other places, other camino routes and back again to the Frances. I think I'll need about 4 months

 

[Nick B]

Approaching Valcarlos, looking across to the steepish ascent you tackle right as you enter the village.
Every time I read posts from those who insist the Napoleon Route is the real way, I smile and think of this beautiful place and of the long history behind it. They don't know what they're missing but I've given up trying to disabuse anyone of their ideas. The crowd going the other way makes for properly contemplative first day (or two) out of St Jean.
View attachment 104366

(@Nick B , I really like your avatar. Where is that?)

Hi VN,

Thanks for that, by memory I stayed at an albergue at the first stop after Sarria. I checked the map and it must be Barbedeo/Vilei, just myself and a young German man in the albergue who told me about his night time walk into Sahagun over dinner and how scared he had been. He arrived at 4am in Sahagun and sat in the town centre waiting for the town to wake, he didn't bother with anymore night time walks.

The next morning I started walking towards Potormarin and not long into the walk I came through this beautiful piece of forest and thought "wow", pulled out the Samsung 6, took a snap and continued on. That's my best memory, most of the other shots I can't recall but this one stuck with me. I hope I'm correct, will confirm it when I next walk the CF...

​

 

[mspath]

leaving Sarria
Camino Frances

photo taken March 15, 2009



Within an enchanted wood in early morning mist

 

[Theatregal]

Along a beautiful stretch of the Via Romana XIX after Ponte Sampaio on the Português da Costa.

 

[VNwalking]

@Theatregal mentioned a mousehole the other day, and I have to admit that that is exactly what I thought the opening to the Tunel San Adrian looked like from afar.
Vasco 2019.

 

[SabsP]

Towards Miranda de Ebro. Vasco Interior 2019. My first Camino with a walking buddy. And what a stellar one!

 

[SabsP]

@Theatregal mentioned a mousehole the other day, and I have to admit that that is exactly what I thought the opening to the Tunel San Adrian looked like from afar.
Vasco 2019.
View attachment 104428

The etapa I missed! I should go back.
I kept myself busy with looking at google maps of the Tunel area and saw lots of local walking paths. Parking lots were on the main road ( I guess ) from Zegama to Salvatierra ( you know how I lack any sense of direction... ).

Zegama - San Adrián tunnel: Saint Jacques Way - Goierri Turismo

Si haces el Camino de Santiago por el Camino del Norte pasarás por el Túnel de San Adrián (UNESCO), un sitio histórico precioso en la Sierra de Aizkorri.

goierriturismo.com

Parking San Adrian(Zegama) - Túnel de San Adrián

Parking San Adrian(Zegama) - Túnel de San Adrián Hiking trail in Asemendialdea, País Vasco (España). Download its GPS track and follow the route on a map. Record your own itinerary from the Wikiloc app, upload the trail and share it with the community.

www.wikiloc.com

 

[VNwalking]

And what a stellar one!

I can say the same!
This pic really captures the feeling that day. Love it.

 

[Former member 49149]

This photo is next in line after the Chorizo al Infierno of my previous post. Missed the photos posted in the week just gone by, but I will leave them in the past!

 

[Phoenix]

Catedral de Santa María, Pamplona.
September 2016.

 

[Anik2001]

July 2017
San Anton, where I hope to stop for a night, next time I walk the Frances. It is so beautiful!

 

[Theatregal]

On the Invierno before Rodeiro. I haven't often seen steps on the older hórreos.

 

[Nick B]

May 2018 somewhere on the CF, a single Pilgrim leading the way ahead of me........

 

[mspath]

Moutras
Hórreo

photo taken March 16, 2009




Wrapped in mid-morning fog this two story wooden hórreo or corn crib appeared almost magical.

To arrive at Moutras I followed the CF and route LU P 4203 from Ferreiros

 

[SabsP]

Same etapa on the Vasco Interior as yesterday. Towards Miranda de Ebro.

 

[VNwalking]

The impressive church in Oron, after Miranda de Ebro on the Via de Bayona. The camino stays on the main road here, so we didn't check it out.
Maybe we should have:

A pesar de tratarse de una pequeña población, cuenta con un es-pléndido templo parroquial del siglo XVI

(from https://core.ac.uk/reader/61540267 )

 

[dick bird]

May 30 2015. Former monastery of Santo Domingo in Santiago, now a superb museum of ethnography of Galicia. This astonishing piece of engineering is actually three spiral staircases which are parallel but never intersecting - they serve different levels in the building. If you look at the centre, you can see where each one ends.

 

[Former member 49149]

View attachment 104538
May 30 2015. Former monastery of Santo Domingo in Santiago, now a superb museum of ethnography of Galicia. This astonishing piece of engineering is actually three spiral staircases which are parallel but never intersecting - they serve different levels in the building. If you look at the centre, you can see where each one ends.

I believe you!

 

[dick bird]

Relief of Christ in Majesty in the Basilica of St. Sernin on Toulouse. The church gets a mention in the Codex Calixtinus and this relief would have been there when that was written as it dates from 1096. This photo dates from July 12th 2019, first day on our bit of the Chemin D' Arles.

 

[mspath]

Light after morning rain
east of Los Arcos on the CF

photo taken October 22, 2011



"The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament sheweth his handywork."
Psalm 19:1

 

[Bill905]

A cool morning passing by a calm Pantano de la Grajera just after Logrono on the CF. How I miss such morning sights!

 

[Nick B]

Somewhere on the CF May 2018........

 

[SabsP]

Leaving Caldas de Reis in the morning. CP 2015.

 

[Former member 49149]

The location of today's photo is linked to one for tomorrow. Not long after Tui, CP.

 

[dick bird]

The albergue/auberge in Léguevin, one day out of Toulouse. There were about half a dozen albergues between Toulouse and Somport, each run by volunteers who were unfailingly kind and helpful. Otherwise, there are gites, 15 euros a night and worth every euro cent.

 

[mspath]

Rabanal del Camino
Camino Frances

photo taken November 23, 2014



Moonlit memory

This photo captures my memory of strolling through Rabanal del Camino by moonlight one cold November night during my last camino.

 

[Nick B]

Alto del Perdon after Pamplona on way to Puenta la Reina May 2018, not me in photo just a Pilgrim photo bomber.......

 

[Former member 49149]

After Tui, CP. A popular photo.

 

[Anik2001]

July 2017

In Villalcázar de Sirga, Iglesia Santa Maria la Blanca. A beautiful church I visited on the way to Carrión de los Condes.

 

[Theatregal]

On the Sanabrés. After the long rocky climb from the Monastery of Santa Maria de Oseira begins to ease a bit.

 

[FourSeasons]

After Sahagun, Sept 2013. Who knows the old Roman road? OUCH!! All in all, I’m glad I took it. I met some wonderful Aussies at the alburgue in Calzadilla de Los Hermanillos. They invited me to dinner where I had the best fried eggs and bacon EVER!!! and the tienda had everything including a wonderful host.

 

[SabsP]

Breakfast in Caldas de Reis. That wonderful tomato. The oil and the salt! So delicious. CP 2015.

 

[dick bird]

Pan con tomate. It took me ages to work out what they did with the tomato - they grate it on a cheese grater.

 

[mspath]

Arnéguy
Valcarlos route on the CF
markers

photo taken October 15, 2014



Who may cross a border in July 2021 has become legally complex due to the Covid crisis; nevertheless the old border markers still exist.

At Arnéguy on the French/Spanish border this stelle depicting chevaliers/ caballeros frames a sign pointing to the Spanish continuation of the CF towards Valcarlos, Ibaneta, and Orreaga/Roncesvalles.

 

[Nick B]

Somewhere on the CF June 2018, hopefully someone knows the village in the distance......

 

[mspath]

View attachment 104749

Somewhere on the CF June 2018, hopefully someone knows the village in the distance......

Nick B,

Your village in the distance is Cirauqui.
See more here

Redirect Notice

 

[Nick B]

Nick B,

Your village in the distance is Cirauqui.
See more here

Redirect Notice

Thanks for that mspath, I knew someone would know.

I grabbed the photo off an old email from the time, don't think I stayed there just passed through.

 

[VNwalking]

Fuel for the morning, sharing breakfast today with @SabineP.
Monforte de Lemos, in the bar right by the Puete Romano.

 

[dick bird]

L'Isle Jourdain, the town square. One of our low points on a camino, and our own fault entirely. We failed to acknowledge that not only were we in France, not only was it a Sunday, it was also the 14th of July. Everything was shut firmly after 1 o'clock. So we found ourselves walking along the edge of a busy highway navigating our way with google maps to an industrial estate where we had been assured there was McDonald's that would be open for business. Not your classic camino experience. Trekking back, we picked up a bottle of wine from a tabac to console ourselves in the little albergue on the edge of a (closed) tourist lake. There, we met the lovely Giles and Regine who shared their dinner with us, so we shared the wine, and several of the stages on the way to Somport. Sometimes things get better.

 

[Former member 49149]

Note says: Albergue de Redondela, CP. The year, 2013. We were there early enough, surrounded by the usual suspects of our fellow pilgrims.there were three polish pilgrims, our first time to encounter that nationality. Miners. One, with a fantastic camera. He took thousands of photos! I have photos of us all on a bench, but will not post without permission.. a blessed Camino, truly.

 

[mspath]

Note says: Albergue de Redondela, CP. The year, 2013. We were there early enough, surrounded by the usual suspects of our fellow pilgrims.there were three polish pilgrims, our first time to encounter that nationality. Miners. One, with a fantastic camera. He took thousands of photos! I have photos of us all on a bench, but will not post without permission.. a blessed Camino, truly.
View attachment 104755

Kirkie,
I , too, stayed in Redondela at this Xunta albergue, Casa da Torre, but in December 2011 with only 1 other pilgrim. Cozy heat, hot showers and sophisticated dorms were great in this repurpose/renovation of a 16th c. town house using stone, wood, and tile.

 

[Phoenix]

 

[SabsP]

Alto da Portela Grande in Labruja. CP 2015.
Steep but short climb.

Ponte de Lima - Rubiães | Camino Portugués | Gronze.com

Otra etapa muy interesante, en la que afrontamos el Alto da Portela Grande de Labruja, la subida más importante del Camino Portugués: ganamos 315 metros de altitud en 4,2 kilómetros, en un recorrido boscoso, agradable, y sin la menor dificultad para los caminantes (no así para los ciclistas). No...

www.gronze.com

A lovely day.

 

[Anik2001]

July 2017
Starting the climb to O Cebreiro on that lovely wooded path.

 

[Theatregal]

The Igrexa de San Paio de Diomondi before Belesar on the Invierno - posting this photo today with thoughts of the wonderful news that the attached Bishop's Palace (on the left) will finally open soon as an albergue. Another of many reasons to walk the Invierno again.

 

[mspath]

Saint Jean Pied de Port
rue de France, arch

photo taken October 15, 2013



After arriving in SJPdP by train the first glimpse into the historic town center was always through this arch; here each new adventure began.... Ultreia.

 

[Canada Wanders]

 

[dick bird]

Sunflowers are a cash crop, which is maybe why farmers get a tad annoyed when passing walkers treat them as a doodling pad or selfie op. They are spectacularly beautiful, though. This region of France is intensely agricultural. Every square inch that isn't a town or a forest is cultivated. July 15 2019.

 

[Nick B]

Muxia September 2019...

 

[SabsP]

Local elections in Pais Vasco.
Camino Vasco Interior 2019.

 

[VNwalking]

Amazing. I missed that completely, @SabineP . Or if I saw it, nothing registered.

This registered, though:
Splendid Eunate, 2017.

 

[SabsP]

Amazing. I missed that completely, @SabineP . Or if I saw it, nothing registered.

That was on the way to Beasain. You were already in town couple of k's looking for the hospi and I was lazing around in that modern estate " barrio ' drinking a coffee. I remember you sitting on a windowsill of a shop waiting for me. We then went into bar Blai and had food before we were able to get into the albergue.

 

[FourSeasons]

What Dick Bird said…. Plenty O sunflower fields along the way. Here on the CF July 2019.

 

[mspath]

O Cebreiro
village

photo taken November 28, 2014



The last time I climbed the CF up to the mystic/ mythic mountain hamlet of O Cebreiro upon arrival the broad arch of the church porch kept me dry. Few pilgrims were about. Seen through the mist and heavy rain all was sepia as I rested thankful to have arrived at this beloved place once again.

 

[Nick B]

Ponte de Lima September 2019, after dinner looking across towards the little church on the right at the end of the bridge........

 

[Theatregal]

Iglesia Parroquial de Santiago in A Coruña.

 

[Anne&Pat]

Home safely from our travels! Managed to get back into Victoria before needing to isolate for 14 days! Just needed a COVID test which were negative, thank goodness. And now the whole of Victoria is in a 5 day snap lockdown!
Glad to be home and back on the forum, where sanity prevails. We have really enjoyed all your photos and posts while we were away.
Our last photo was approaching Barcelos on the CP, today we are approaching Ponte de Lima, one of our favourite towns on the CP, May, 2016.

 

[Nick B]

Home safely from our travels! Managed to get back into Victoria before needing to isolate for 14 days! Just needed a COVID test which were negative, thank goodness. And now the whole of Victoria is in a 5 day snap lockdown!
Glad to be home and back on the forum, where sanity prevails. We have really enjoyed all your photos and posts while we were away.
Our last photo was approaching Barcelos on the CP, today we are approaching Ponte de Lima, one of our favourite towns on the CP, May, 2016.
View attachment 104945

Great photo, agree Ponte de Lima is beautiful.

Good to see you both safe down there, take care.

 

[dick bird]

Home safely from our travels! Managed to get back into Victoria before needing to isolate for 14 days! Just needed a COVID test which were negative, thank goodness. And now the whole of Victoria is in a 5 day snap lockdown!
Glad to be home and back on the forum, where sanity prevails. We have really enjoyed all your photos and posts while we were away.
Our last photo was approaching Barcelos on the CP, today we are approaching Ponte de Lima, one of our favourite towns on the CP, May, 2016.
View attachment 104945

People have been doing it tough in Melbourne. Now it's our turn in Sydney. Little prospect of even visiting another part of our own country let alone going overseas for the next six months. First world problem though, we're not exactly dying on the streets as some poor devils are. Right now, the forum is definitely my happy place.

 

[dick bird]

Iglesia Parroquial de Santiago in A Coruña.

View attachment 104944

I think this is inside the same church. A Coruña has what you might call raffish charm. We enjoyed a couple of days there waiting to fly out in 2019 - cheaper than flying from Santiago and they actually had flights.

 

[dick bird]

Gite Le Grangé, 16 July 2017, early morning. We found ourselves walking through a heat wave. Luckily, the gites all seem to have been built a few centuries ago with stone walls about a metre thick. It is amazing the heat protection you get from a metre or so of solid masonry. The other nice thing about the gites was the 'épicierie de coin', literally a corner grocery but actually a corner cupboard with exactly the right amount and type of supplies for walkers - cans, pasta, rice, soup and, of course, wine. Handy in a region almost entirely devoid of retail outlets.

 

[SabsP]

The recent live updates about the Camino del Ebro made me realise that I hardly took pictures of that Camino when I walked ( and took trains due to the flooding ).
I was just not in the mood taking out my camera in that horrid weather.
But here is Alfaro , the town famous for the many storks. But on that quiet grey Sunday even the storks were hiding. La Colegiata de San Miguel Arcángel.

De excursión a… Alfaro, la guardería de cigüeñas más grande de Europa

Cada año, por el mes de febrero, alrededor de 140 parejas de cigüeñas blancas aterrizan en Alfaro para poner sus huevos y criar a sus pollos. Alfaro, y en concreto su Colegiata de San Miguel, se ha convertido en la guardería favorita de estas aves.

www.elbalcondemateo.es

Las cigüeñas de Alfaro y reserva Natural de los Sotos del Ebro

Cerca del hotel Bardenas, se encuentra la Colegiata de San Miguel, donde anidan mas de 500 cigüeñas.Reserva Natural de los Sotos del Ebro.

www.lasbardenas.com

 

[mspath]

Home safely from our travels! Managed to get back into Victoria before needing to isolate for 14 days! Just needed a COVID test which were negative, thank goodness. And now the whole of Victoria is in a 5 day snap lockdown!
Glad to be home and back on the forum, where sanity prevails. We have really enjoyed all your photos and posts while we were away.
Our last photo was approaching Barcelos on the CP, today we are approaching Ponte de Lima, one of our favourite towns on the CP, May, 2016.
View attachment 104945

Glad that you both are back again safe and sound. Your handsome photo of Ponte de Lima brings back memories of happier and easier times for many of us. Thank you for sharing.

 

[Yoyo]

View attachment 104749

Somewhere on the CF June 2018, hopefully someone knows the village in the distance......

That should be Sansol, just before Torres del Río.

 

[Yoyo]

The albergue Gaucelmo in Rabanal del Camino with their tradition of serving tea in their beautiful garden is special any day, but witnessing this choir practice for their upcoming concert there was a real treat. (May 25, 2019)

View attachment IMG_4246.m4v

 

[Bill905]

That should be Sansol, just before Torres del Río.

My photos from March 2019 - Sansol on the left, and Cirauqui on the right. Quite similar.

 

[mspath]

Gite Le Grangé, 16 July 2017, early morning. We found ourselves walking through a heat wave. Luckily, the gites all seem to have been built a few centuries ago with stone walls about a metre thick. It is amazing the heat protection you get from a metre or so of solid masonry.

...
Those thick stone wall may be great for summrr cooling but nevrr take a bunk/bed next to one in winter. In an unheated space they are frigid.

 

[dick bird]

...
Those thick stone wall may be great for summrr cooling but nevrr take a bunk/bed next to one in winter. In an unheated space they are frigid.

That I can believe. It probably explains those walk-in fireplaces (that and the need to smoke entire carcases).

 

[Phoenix]

Cirauqui
Sept 2018

 

[FourSeasons]

April 20, 2016 approaching Cirauqui on a cool cloud umbrella kind of day. Perfect.

 

[Former member 49149]

A first view of the Ria de Vigo, 2013, CP.

 

[Owensr23]

I remember the mid-day breaks. Ensalda mixta in Leon...

 

[Nick B]

Muxia September 2019, it's been said before I am sure somewhat mystical place..........

 

[mspath]

towards Estella, on the CF
photo taken October 24, 2014



West of the Ermita San Miguel a tunnel of greenery framed the camino path on a misty late October morning.

 

[Theatregal]

About to begin the rocky climb out of Montefurado. One of my favourite days on the Invierno.

 

[Anne&Pat]

Ponte de Lima, rest day. May, 2016. (two today!)

 

[SabsP]

Towards Ponte de Lima ( 2015 ) . No rest day like @Anne&Pat but I arrived early enough to walk through the streets of this charming town. I treated myself to a nice hotel that night so I did not stay in the albergue. I heard it was very crowded. Very strange because I hardly saw pilgrims that day.

 

[dick bird]

Auch (pronounced like the first syllable of ocean). The Albergue was upstairs somewhere in the rambling diocesan headquarters. It had a distinct air of being hastily improvised but had everything we needed including company, we met or re-met a lot of friends there. The town has a lovely feel to it: steep cobbled streets, honey coloured stone and half-timbering and a beautiful cathedral with lively wood carvings in the choir some of which seem unlikely to have been approved at a high ecclesiastic level, if you know what I mean.

 

[Former member 49149]

Six photos after the previous one from yesterday. I have no real time memory of this one. We shared our photos, so this must have caught the attention of my companion.

 

[Phoenix]

Alongside the Douro River.
CP, Oct 2019

 

[VNwalking]

Still life with hollyhocks.
Invierno, 2019.

 

[Owensr23]

Long hot day on the CP and we found and Irish Pub with Guinness on tap.

We still got generous free tapas!

 

[Nick B]

Somewhere on the CP September 2019....

 

[mspath]

Villalcazar de Sirga on the CF
Iglesia de Santa María la Blanca
interior

photo taken November 6, 2011



Dimly lit pointed arches frame this view of the north aisle side chapel.

 

[Theatregal]

Finisterre - on the rocks.