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On the Camino: One Day at a Time, one Photo at a Time 8.0

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come wind, come weather;
there's no discouragement
shall make him once relent
his first avowed intent
to be a pilgrim.
Haha, Yeah. Weather.
When you wake to the sound of rain lashing the windows, and know this will be one of those days.
Or it's March, and still snowing.
(between Villafranca Montes de Oca and San Juan, March 2015).
IMG_7516.webp
 
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Ideal sleeping bag liner whether we want to add a thermal plus to our bag, or if we want to use it alone to sleep in shelters or hostels. Thanks to its mummy shape, it adapts perfectly to our body.

€46,-
Puente La Reina - Gares
Iglesia del Crucifijo
interior

photo taken February 11, 2007

Iglesia del Crucifijo .webp

On the CF this crucifix was so distinctive that in Puente La Reina - Gares the church to which it was given and within which it hangs was simply named Iglesia del Crucifijo. As well the street is named calle del Crucifijo.
 
On the CF this crucifix was so distinctive that in Puente La Reina - Gares the church to which it was given and within which it hangs was simply named Iglesia del Crucifijo.
It is said that the crucifix was a gift from German pilgrims. It looks like this could be true. It is in a German style as seen here (not the same crucifix):

Here's my picture for Monday.

Cleaning up after a wedding at the Iglesia Santa María de Eunate, November 9, 2019. As I was leaving after touring the church a cleanup was happening. I held up the phone and asked for a smile. It was a shame that the flowers decorating the archway couldn't have been left up for one more day.

IMG_20191109_141010-01.webp

My previously posted picture of the bride and groom at the arch can be seen here:
 
Bar Julia.jpg

Casa Julia on the Camino Ingles ( 2014 ) on the way to Hospital de Bruma before the Camino got rerouted. Now the Camino does not pass this iconic place anymore but I am sure that it will be full with the friendly locals.
After Casa Bar Julia you had to tackle the steepest climb on the Ingles. It was not really that hard seeing it was all unpaved and through a gorgeous forest track.

 
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Get a spanish phone number with Airalo. eSim, so no physical SIM card. Easy to use app to add more funds if needed.
The 2024 Camino guides will be coming out little by little. Here is a collection of the ones that are out so far.
Awhile back I posted a series of photos of what I saw on day 1 of my 2019 Camino Catalan. I've decided to do another Catalan series for just a portion of day 16.

Day 16 was November 3 and it found me in the Pyrenees. I spent eight and a half hours walking about 25 kilometers from Sarsamarcuello to Ena. About halfway through in both time and distance I was approaching Estación de Peña. A nice walk was going to get very interesting over the next half hour.

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LIke many on here am fascinated by the topography of Spain. This is not my own image, original link and credit below. I love the illustration of the sweeping mountain ranges that traverse this land as well as the deep river valleys of the Douro, Ebro, Guadalquivir etc. Camino Frances clearly evident amongst others
 
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2nd ed.
...and ship it to Santiago for storage. You pick it up once in Santiago. Service offered by Casa Ivar (we use DHL for transportation).
LIke many on here am fascinated by the topography of Spain. This is not my own image, original link and credit below. I love the illustration of the sweeping mountain ranges that traverse this land as well as the deep river valleys of the Douro, Ebro, Guadalquivir etc. Camino Frances clearly evident amongst others
If you look at the formation of the early Spanish Kingdoms and the stages of the reconquista, this map explains a lot. We tend to forget that a lot of Spain is actually quite mountainous (until we have to walk up a bit of it).
 
The one from Galicia (the round) and the one from Castilla & Leon. Individually numbered and made by the same people that make the ones you see on your walk.
On the World

The world’s an inn; and I her guest.
I eat; I drink; I take my rest.
My hostess, nature, does deny me
Nothing, wherewith she can supply me;
Where, having stayed a while, I pay
Her lavish bills, and go my way.

Francis Quarles (1592–1644)

Quarles was the ancestor of Charles Henry Langston and Langston Hughes, which goes a little way to redeem a less than stellar reputation as a poet – his contemporaries and succeeding generations were most uncomplimentary. But I like this little epigraph, especially the ironic little twist in the last line with the idea that yes, nature provides (as does the camino), but at a cost, i.e. don’t take nature (or the camino) for granted.

Bar on the corner of Plaza Nueva, Bilbao.
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Villarmentero de Campos
wayside cross

photo taken November 6, 2011

Wayside cross.jpg

This isolated cross is within a pasture just east of Villarmentero de Campos on the north side of the CF path parallel to Palencia route P-980 west of Fromista/ east of Villalcazar de Sirga.
 
Get a spanish phone number with Airalo. eSim, so no physical SIM card. Easy to use app to add more funds if needed.
Cruz dos Franceses. It is also referred to Cruz dos Mortos, a reference to the ambush that took place here on Napoleon's troops during the Peninsular war(1808-1814). On the way to the high point of the walk between Ponte de Lima and Rubiaes, Alto da Portela Grande, at 405m, with magnificent views back over the Lima valley to the south. CP, May, 2016.
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8 June 2015, Luarca on the Camino del Norte. It is a charming little fishing port, very pretty, sitting between cliffs and the sea. When we passed through, it was First Communion day, and the coloured sand carpet outside the church was most impressive.

IMG_3816.jpeg
 
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The one from Galicia (the round) and the one from Castilla & Leon. Individually numbered and made by the same people that make the ones you see on your walk.
Yes! He was fitter than I and 'pulled' me up the mountain. Not literally, of course, but it is nice to have someone to 'draft.'


He was also way ahead of me on that steep descent towards la Puebla de Arganzon ( where you took the more gentle approach! ). No way I could keep up with him. Not that this was my intention.
 
The one from Galicia (the round) and the one from Castilla & Leon. Individually numbered and made by the same people that make the ones you see on your walk.
1643200467132.webp

Redondela
CP, Oct 2019

Every photo tells a story, even if it's not obvious. By the time I reached Redondela, I had been walking on torn knee meniscus for a week. I was basically getting by on appx one beer/hr and 2,400-2,800 mg ibuprofen/day. I do not recall beer ever tasting so good...
 
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Impression of a small bar/ tienda at la Puebla de Arganzon on the Camino Vasco Interior.
My two fellow pilgrims were resting in the albergue.
I found a nice spot with wificonnection.

View attachment 117291
What I actually love about this photo is that the bar holder-uppers are facing outward, not nursing their beers or whatever with backs to the rest of the world.
 
Seville / Italica
Sorry Beef; your picture never got attached.

Continuing my walk, a bit farther down the road I went a short way off camino to view this ruin.
IMG_20191103_113039-01.webp
This is identified as Pardina de Escalete, a farmstead that was abandoned during the Civil War. From WWW searches it appears they kept cattle. I haven't found a translation of pardina but it seems to mean a small out of the way place for farming, ranching, forestry or mining purposes. Maybe outstation could be used as a translation. There may have once been a small settlement here as the name Escalete must have evolved over the centuries from Scalat.

I see that a place with this name in the middle ages had many more buildings and a saltworks. I think though that the real saltworks may have been a bit further west, where the names Sierra de Salinas and Foz de Salinas appear. Well, at one place or another the monks at San Juan de la Peña had the right to get salt once a month and salt water once a week.
 
The one from Galicia (the round) and the one from Castilla & Leon. Individually numbered and made by the same people that make the ones you see on your walk.
Sorry Beef; your picture never got attached.

Continuing my walk, a bit farther down the road I went a short way off camino to view this ruin.
View attachment 117310
This is identified as Pardina de Escalete, a farmstead that was abandoned during the Civil War. From WWW searches it appears they kept cattle. I haven't found a translation of pardina but it seems to mean a small out of the way place for farming, ranching, forestry or mining purposes. Maybe outstation could be used as a translation. There may have once been a small settlement here as the name Escalete must have evolved over the centuries from Scalat.

I see that a place with this name in the middle ages had many more buildings and a saltworks. I think though that the real saltworks may have been a bit further west, where the names Sierra de Salinas and Foz de Salinas appear. Well, at one place or another the monks at San Juan de la Peña had the right to get salt once a month and salt water once a week.
Rick,
Is this related to the Salinas de Jaca?
 
Puente La Reina - Gares
pilgrim monument

photo taken February 11, 2007

Puente La Reina - Gares.webp

Surprisingly this iron pilgrim monument was erected for Anno Santo 1965. It marks the junction of two major tourist highway routes, not camino paths. One road route departs from Roncesvalles, the other departs from Somport; the two highway routes merge on the eastern edge of Puente La Reina near the Hotel Jackue.
 
A selection of Camino Jewellery
Igreja Santa Maria dos Anjos, 13thC Romanesque church in Fortaleza, Valenca. CP, May, 2016.
Mother Church of Valença, dating back to the 13th century, in Romanesque style, has a longitudinal plan. Inside, it conserves 5 polychrome carved altarpieces in neoclassical and baroque styles in the nave, 2 of which are positioned collaterally to the triumphal arch, and in the chancel the altarpiece in equally polychrome carvings, also of neoclassical design. In the adjoining funerary chapel, interesting traces of sixteenth-century mural painting are also preserved.
P5204137.webp
 
...and ship it to Santiago for storage. You pick it up once in Santiago. Service offered by Casa Ivar (we use DHL for transportation).
del Norte July 6, 2019: Day two after Pasaia and those 1,000 steps, still a bumpy road ahead. 😎👣
View attachment 117147
Not all paths are smooth and easy to navigate. This ankle twister was in the Aumont Aubrac region of the via Podiensis in France. Late May 2015
 

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Walking, I am listening to a deeper way

“Walking. I am listening to a deeper way.
Suddenly all my ancestors are behind me.
Be still, they say. Watch and listen.
You are the result of the love of thousands.”

-Linda Hogan

Linda Hogan is an American writer, teacher, and environmentalist. This poem acknowledges her indigenous heritage (Chickasaw on her father’s side) and a remark (quoted on the Wikipedia page) about owing the future to her children and grandchildren. It could also be about the mindfulness that seems to come from walking and the feeling you get sometimes on the camino of historical and human continuity.

P1000642.webp
 
A selection of Camino Jewellery
€2,-/day will present your project to thousands of visitors each day. All interested in the Camino de Santiago.
Now this is one of the reasons I like to carry a gas stove with me - early morning boiled egg baguettes in the park at Burgos 2012 looking forward to walking to the Meseta that day
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WOW!! Yummm :) I carried boiled eggs in the carton with me but having a nice warm egg sandwich to start the day is on a whole other level. LOL
 
Get a spanish phone number with Airalo. eSim, so no physical SIM card. Easy to use app to add more funds if needed.
I had one of the best lunches here in Abadin. It's soon after Mondonedo, Galicia on Norte. It was 06/01/2019. Actually, the most important thing to remember is that it was Saturday. So, if you are ever near Abadin on Saturday, I recommend having lunch there. It's a small town and you just have to walk toward the center to find all kind of venders and food trucks spread out. The man across was cooking pulpo.
 

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Oh good, another sub-thread, "mossy roofs I have known". Here is my contribution, CP May 2019, north of Padron.

View attachment 117359
I love this, too. I once was in Norway and saw that all the farmhouses there had roofs like this. Our tour guide said that people throw their goats up there to take care of it when it's overgrown but haven't actually seen one up there.
 
There is something enchanting about these moss-encrusted, decaying roof tiles in Najera, Camino Frances. April 2013
Another enchanting thing in Najera were restaurants across the river. The food was so good, I would have loved to stay another night there if it weren't for my annoying daughter who decided to stay with me instead of her Camino friends. The only sure way to get away from her was leaving very early in the morning while she was still sleeping.
 
€2,-/day will present your project to thousands of visitors each day. All interested in the Camino de Santiago.
1643308072007.webp

Redondela --> Pontevedra
Just before the descent down the hill to the sight of the one blue/one yellow boots pointing the way to either Santiago or Fatima and before the dangerous walk on the side of a busy road to the town of Arcade.

CP, 15 Oct 2019
 
€2,-/day will present your project to thousands of visitors each day. All interested in the Camino de Santiago.
Torres del Rio
photo taken February 14, 2007


Torres del Rio.webp

Beneath a winter sky in Sansol on the CF I took this view of Torres del Rio encircled by the rio Linares and riverside vegetation.

On the extreme right amidst other rooftops rises the tower of the octagonal Romanesque church, Santo Sepulcro.

In the distant middle view soars the tower of the Iglesia San Andres.

Further west in the far distant middle view the camino path will cross the ravine, Mataburros/Mule Killer(!), leading towards Viana.
 
The one from Galicia (the round) and the one from Castilla & Leon. Individually numbered and made by the same people that make the ones you see on your walk.
Ideal sleeping bag liner whether we want to add a thermal plus to our bag, or if we want to use it alone to sleep in shelters or hostels. Thanks to its mummy shape, it adapts perfectly to our body.

€46,-
Wow! 😲
IMG_20191103_114058.webp

This is the Foz de Escalete. You can see Estación de Peña in the notch. The Barranco de Forcallo runs though it. So I'm a bit confused since the translations I see has foz meaning gorge and barranco meaning gulch. So why two names? Portuguese and Galician has foz meaning mouth or mouth of a river so I'm going to guess that foz in Aragon actually has a meaning of opening to a gorge.

The geology of the area has limestone cliffs and these here have been folded to be vertical. Since limestone is formed from seabeds that would explain the salt deposits found near here and in Huesca province.

Here is a Spanish topographic map where I have highlighted names I've used over the last few posts. And the town of Salinas de Jaca has a Spanish Wikipedia page.
Screenshot_20220127-154425-01.webp
 
The 2024 Camino guides will be coming out little by little. Here is a collection of the ones that are out so far.
Camino Frances
Alto de San Roque
pilgrim sculpture

photos taken November 30, 2012

Alto de San Roque.jpgAlto de San Roque detail.jpg

After seeing this snow covered pilgrim I stopped at a nearby bar. Open and warm it offered a copious hot second breakfast plus a cosy corner for a much needed siesta.
 
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A selection of Camino Jewellery
A selection of Camino Jewellery
Weekend so time for another foodpicture.
Yes, have a lovely weekend, everyone. I have surprisingly few food pictures. However, I found this one, it was my first night on Via Jakobi, Switzerland. There was a very attractive albergue in a beatiful old building and I had made it just before the grocery store next door closed. So my dinner was tea, bread and local swiss cheese called "red witch". Very simple, yet very memorable. Via Jacobi 2017
img_8236.jpg
 
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3rd Edition. Vital content training & pack guides avoid common mistakes, bed bugs etc
Camino Frances
Alto de San Roque
pilgrim sculpture
Well, these pictures literally gave me a shiver when I saw them. I'm not sure if was because I've been looking out a picture window at what is going to be a near blizzard. I've often taken walks at night in snowfalls but we've had a horizontal snow going on so I'm staying inside.
 
Well, these pictures literally gave me a shiver when I saw them. I'm not sure if was because I've been looking out a picture window at what is going to be a near blizzard. I've often taken walks at night in snowfalls but we've had a horizontal snow going on so I'm staying inside.
Glad to learn that you are inside and safe. Do take care.
 
€2,-/day will present your project to thousands of visitors each day. All interested in the Camino de Santiago.
Ideal sleeping bag liner whether we want to add a thermal plus to our bag, or if we want to use it alone to sleep in shelters or hostels. Thanks to its mummy shape, it adapts perfectly to our body.

€46,-
A selection of Camino Jewellery
I find that one is often taught on the Camino. On this day I learned that stopping for a good lunch, including Morcilla, which I love, is not a good idea if you have 10km to go. It was a slow 10km walk feeling very full. Fortunately I recovered sufficiently for a good dinner that evening, in Tardajoz. CF June 2016.

IMG_20160607_124010564.jpg
 
Poetry is intermittent on this thread, may I add one I have referred to previously. It is called And Then I learned Some More. Author: Pat Ingoldsby. Just because, I will not copy and paste. It is easily found if anyone is curious. He is still alive, thankfully. He belongs to a genre of characters in this city (Dublin). Another was Johnny Fortycoats. Yes, he did - he wore all he had on his back. Then there was BangBang. History can be recent (for anyone born yesterday, the previous day is of course, history!) and offers lessons for those who learn and share their learning. Glad to know you learned that valuable lesson, @Chenahusky.
 
El Camino de Santiago

Un pequeño mundo dentro de un gran mundo
Un pequeño mundo solidario
Vivimos un gran mundo egoista y poco humano
Un pequeño mundo caminando, avanzando con respeto y buen animo
Un gran mundo retrociendo en valores humanos
Cuando se cruzan estos dos mundos, reaccionan como extraños?
Puede el gran mundo cambiar en el cruzado?
Puede el pequeño mundo perderse en el gran mundo ávaro?

Unknown pelegrina, Estella 2018

A little world inside a big world
A little world of solidarity
We live in a big world, egotistical and barely human.
A little world walking, advancing with respect and good will
A big world retreating in human values.
When they meet, these two worlds, will they react like strangers?
Could the big world change in the meeting?
Could the small world be lost in the big greedy world?)

While we were working as hospitaleros in Estella, a Spanish pilgrim who stayed one night in the albergue wrote this and gave it to us. She didn’t leave her name, and I forgot to make a note of it. Next morning, as we were cleaning, there was a tap on the door. It was the pelegrina looking utterly forlorn. She explained that she had forgotten to put anything in the donativo box, so had turned round and come back to make her contribution. I don't know how far she'd gone but it must have added a fair number of kilometres (and a good hour or two) to her day. She could have done nothing, maybe put in double next time, we'd have been none the wiser but it obviously really important to her to do the right thing. I was blown away by this women's integrity, and I think that is a very important quality in a person.

The picture is on the camino between Estella and Los Arcos.

Intermittent? A lesser man might take that personally. Anyway, a lovely poem and a lovely thought. A cherished memory.
DSC04251.webp
 
A selection of Camino Jewellery
El Camino de Santiago

Un pequeño mundo dentro de un gran mundo
Un pequeño mundo solidario
Vivimos un gran mundo egoista y poco humano
Un pequeño mundo caminando, avanzando con respeto y buen animo
Un gran mundo retrociendo en valores humanos
Cuando se cruzan estos dos mundos, reaccionan como extraños?
Puede el gran mundo cambiar en el cruzado?
Puede el pequeño mundo perderse en el gran mundo ávaro?

Unknown pelegrina, Estella 2018

A little world inside a big world
A little world of solidarity
We live in a big world, egotistical and barely human.
A little world walking, advancing with respect and good will
A big world retreating in human values.
When they meet, these two worlds, will they react like strangers?
Could the big world change in the meeting?
Could the small world be lost in the big greedy world?)


While we were working as hospitaleros in Estella, a Spanish pilgrim who stayed one night in the albergue wrote this and gave it to us. She didn’t leave her name, and I forgot to make a note of it. Next morning, as we were cleaning, there was a tap on the door. It was the pelegrina looking utterly forlorn. She explained that she had forgotten to put anything in the donativo box, so had turned round and come back to make her contribution. I don't know how far she'd gone but it must have added a fair number of kilometres (and a good hour or two) to her day. She could have done nothing, maybe put in double next time, we'd have been none the wiser but it obviously really important to her to do the right thing. I was blown away by this women's integrity, and I think that is a very important quality in a person.

The picture is on the camino between Estella and Los Arcos.

Intermittent? A lesser man might take that personally. Anyway, a lovely poem and a lovely thought. A cherished memory.
View attachment 117484
Not meant personally at all. I will hush for a while!
 
I've often taken walks at night in snowfalls but we've had a horizontal snow going on so I'm staying inside.
I hope all is well with you and yours, Rick. That sounds like it was quite a storm.
Foz de Escalete
Just wow.
it obviously really important to her to do the right thing.
Another kind of wow.

I am so grateful for all your contributions on this thread - it is a daily joy!
Here is the entrance to the Tunel San Adran on the Vasco. It's a cave that was turned into a tunnel, used since Roman times. That archway is quite tall and wide, enough for a horse and rider, or a cart.
20190521_104002.webp
 
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Ponferrada --> Villafranca del Bierzo
CF, 19 oct 2016

The house on the hill surrounded by vineyards. I took photos of it from several angles as I walked. It has a prominent place in my memories of Camino. I've often wondered why...

Is it because I would love to live in a house on a hill surrounded by beauty, both of the countryside and the sky and solitude? Or, does the house on the hill represent that which so few of us know as we travel the busy streets of our home places? That out there--on Camino--there is peace and simplicity and connection with the natural world and people seeking the same. Those of us who've walked the Camino paths look like those we move among in the world, but we know the secret.
 
3rd Edition. Vital content training & pack guides avoid common mistakes, bed bugs etc
3rd Edition. Vital content training & pack guides avoid common mistakes, bed bugs etc
View attachment 117498

Ponferrada --> Villafranca del Bierzo
CF, 19 oct 2016

The house on the hill surrounded by vineyards. I took photos of it from several angles as I walked. It has a prominent place in my memories of Camino. I've often wondered why...

Is it because I would love to live in a house on a hill surrounded by beauty, both of the countryside and the sky and solitude? Or, does the house on the hill represent that which so few of us know as we travel the busy streets of our home places? That out there--on Camino--there is peace and simplicity and connection with the natural world and people seeking the same. Those of us who've walked the Camino paths look like those we move among in the world, but we know the secret.
Phoenix,
That is an impressive shot of a place we all would enjoy. Near Cacabelos
this building appears to be a part of a family vineyard Vinos Cantarina and, thus, truly part of a special natural world that you seek.
Thank you for posting the picture and your thoughts.
 
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We met this woman just before Villamayor de Monjardin and I briefly talked with her. She was walking in the opposite direction, returning home from Santiago. Strange thing is, in my memory she had a dog and one donkey who was packing quite a large load of equipment. Looking closer at the photo today, I noticed more than 4 donkey legs. Same thing in a couple of other photos and I could just see a second pair of ears. 2 donkeys! Memory 🙃

DSC04805.webp
 
The 2024 Camino guides will be coming out little by little. Here is a collection of the ones that are out so far.
Granon
San Juan Bautista
view

photo taken February 20, 2007

Granon, roofs.webp

Invited by the priest to see this wide view of tiled roofs I climbed a ladder into the bell tower of the church of San Juan Bautista in Granon on the CF.
 
...and ship it to Santiago for storage. You pick it up once in Santiago. Service offered by Casa Ivar (we use DHL for transportation).
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