2017 Santiago de Compostella by RicThompson by...

2017 Santiago de Compostella

By RicThompson
Nov 05, 2017
246 Photos

RicThompson's Gallery

2017 Santiago de Compostella

Nov 05, 2017
246 Photos

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S-0 (Myself, my wife, and our friends Nancy and Lawren at Chicago Ohare airport on our way to Paris, France.)

S-1 (Street in St Jean Pied de Port)

S-2 (The street in St. Jean Pied de Port outside of our Albergue du Pelerin where we stayed)

S-3 (View out our albergue window)

S-4 (Street scene in Stl Jean)

S-5 (Waymark used to guide your path)

S-6 (Lunch in St. Jean)

S-7 (Gate leading out of town in St. Jean)

S-8 (Climbing the Pyrenees Mountains)

S-9 (Climbing the Pyrenees)

S-10 (Welcome at Orison Albergue)

S-11 (Orison Albergue)

S-12 (Communal dinner at Orison)

S-13 (Morning at Orison before heading out)

S-14 (Morning at Orison)

S-15 (Continued climb up the Pyrenees)

S-16 (View above the Pyrenees)

S-18 (Coffee shop on the Pyrenees)

S-19 (View from the Pyrenees)

S-20 (The French-Spanish border crossing)

S-21 (Beginning to descend from the Pyrenees)

S-23 (Trail down)

S-24 (Only 790 kilometers or about 98.75 miles to go!)

S-26 (Architecture in the Pyrenees)

S-28 (Beautiful horses along the trail)

S-30 (Monument honoring someone who passed while walking the Camino)

S-31 (Everywhere along the trail we saw stop signs in English.)

S-32 (The path of the trail varied greatly)

S-33 (The trees were ancient and often grotesquely interesting)

S-34 (Blisters were a recurring problem. Here my blister on a blister almost ended our trip)

S-35 (We walked a day in the rain much of it along a trail like this)

S-36 (The scenery as well as the architecture is changing)

S-37 (We spent a day people watching and enjoying sangria in Pamplona with our friends, Nancy and Lawren)

S-38 (Hemingway's favorite hangout in Pamplona)

S-39 (Pamplona Architecture)

S-41 (One of the many churches along the trail)

S-43 (Murals such as this were occasionally present)

S-44 (more Pamplona)

S-36.1 (The mud on our boots reflect our day today)

S-46 (The trail for most of today)

S-47.1 (The albergue where we stayed the night)

S-53 (So many of the small pueblos we passed through and stayed at were about the size of this one and often smaller)

S-54 (Ahead is my wife Luz in her legionnaire's hat)

S-55.1 (We had seafood paella at this albergue tonight)

S-55.2 (Ours beds for the night were actually pretty comfortable)

S-57.1 (At this winery they serve free samples of their wine to pilgrims walking the Camino. The second tap was fresh water)

S-55 (Markers like the shell or the yellow arrow show here were our guide along the trail)

S-56 (This pilgrim had his own donkey)

S-57 (A typical street; notice the clam shell marker in the upper right)

S-58 (We loved the impressive doors common to northern Spain. This series of doors were along the same street in one of the pueblos we passed through.)

S-61 (Another door on the same street.)

S-66 (This was a crowd of us at Los Arcos watching a mini "running with the bulls" celebration.)

S-77.1 (Another of the many monuments honoring someone who has passed while walking the Camino, this one leaning up against another one of the trail markers.)

S-69 (Taking a break along the trail)

S-70 (Entering another pueblo)

S-71 (There are a few larger cities along the Camino as well.)

S-72 (In this photo notice the impressive cloud formation hugging the hill tops in the distance; perhaps an approaching weather front.)

S-73 (Not infrequent along the trail were local primitive artists such as this displaying their interesting creations)

S-74 (Views like this were common.)

S-75 (Here my wife points to our current location along the trail we have yet to travel. After walking for days we still have a very long way to travel.)

S-76 (We are now beginning to cross the section of the trail called the "Meseta." We face long, relatively flat, stretches of trail almost completely void of shade, with few places for water and rest. Spain was experiencing a heat wave as we crossed this.)

S-77 (This is another of the albergues where we spent the night.)

S-78 (This pueblo was very small with a population far less than 100 people.)

S-79 (Another of the buildings in this small pueblo.)

S-80 (Another marker along the trail.)

S-81 (This refugio (similar to an albergue) was operated by close relatives of the famous author Paulo Coelho.)

S-82 (Here is another photo of their refugio.)

S-83 (The only church in this small pueblo.)

S-85 (Here my wife Luz is approaching a cemetery on the edge of the pueblo.)

S-86 (This sort of beauty, in this case at sunrise, is common.)

S-87 (Inside one of the many churches along the trail.)

S-90 (This stretch of the trail was pretty desolate but along the way was an artist who commonly provided refreshments "donativo" to pilgrims.)

S-92 (Unfortunately for us, this day the artist had not yet arrived.)

S-93 (Our beds for the night at another albergue.)

S-94 (The entrance of our albergue with tables and chairs to relax.)

S-95 (Here is another monument of sorts seen along the trail.)

S-97 (That's my wife Luz in white ahead on the trail. Notice the rough surface of trail. Walking on this all day is the heat is tough on the feet. We crossed one section of this after another hoping that when we reached the next crest that our day's destination would be in sight.)

S-98 (That's still a long way to walk in the heat, but at least it's down hill this time.)

S-76.1 (It took us about 10 days to walk across the Meseta.)

S-100 (More Meseta)

S-101 (We generally started 1-2 hours before sunrise to reach our destination to avoid the heat we experienced mid-day. Here is a photo at sunrise.)

S-102 (Another common site along the trail were stacks of stones like this created by pilgrims to mark their passage. Sometimes notes were left to communicate with others along the trail.)

S-108 (Structures like this are often used to store wine. The stone helps to keep in cool and moderate changes in daily temperatures.)

S-110 (Not all of the Meseta is flat but there were few opportunities to rest in the shade as you can see again in this photo.)

S-112 (Difficult to see but this downgrade was at 18%; very steep both uphill and down this side.)

S-113 (More Meseta)

S-115 (Hiking boots and shoes are generally not allowed inside albergues. This is a common site.)

S-116 (At this albergue the owner was another artist who displayed many examples of his creations like this one and in the photos to follow. Notice the laundry hung out by all of us staying here tonight.)

S-117 (Walking on the Meseta is exhausting. This albergue is very popular among pilgrims because of the shade and pool. It was much like an oasis!)

S-118 (This was a great place to stay.)

S-120 (Here is the entrance to this fabulous albergue.)

S-121 (The church outside the albergue had a bell tower with several nests of storks on top. This was also a common site along the trail. These storks live in norther Africa and migrate to northern Spain to hatch their chicks. Storks mate for life, generally, with pairs returning each year to the same nexts.)

S-122 (This is my wife ahead again on the trail.)

S-124 (Notice the carved cross of St. James over this door is a small pueblo we passed through.)

S-77.3 (This was a very welcome rest stop along the trail this day. The grilled sausages were delicious and the cokes ice cold. Notice the poster on the tree to the left.)

S-77.4 (Still more of the Meseta.)

S-130 (Not everyone walks the Camino. Many people ride bikes as this guy is doing.)

S-86.1 (More Meseta.)

S-131 (Here is another albergue that we stayed at with a group of young pilgrims engaged in some serious philosophical discussions I had the privilege to overhear.)

S-133 (My wife is sitting at a monument dedicated to the pilgrims of St. James.)

S-138 (This city marks the ending of the Meseta, thank God!)

S-86.2 (Creations like this by pilgrims are also very commonly found along the trail.)

S-139 (Here is one of the water towers found along the trail; beautiful architecture.)

S-140 (Another example of artistic creations seen along the trail.)

S-141 (Notice the yellow arrow on the stone in the lower right. Sometimes these markers were not obvious.)

S-142 (Not sure what this structure is used for but someone obviously couldn't resist the opportunity for artistic expression.)

S-144 (We met this minstrel along the trail singing songs for coin.)

S-122.2 (Here is an example of the "bars" located along the trail where you can get something to eat and drink. Usually, they appear about every 3-5 miles.)

S-146 (Difficult to see hear, but this bell tolls on the hour by the twin statues at both sides of the bell in the middle rotate back and forth to ring the bell.)

S-148 (Not all churches are ancient as this newer example shows.)

S-140.1 (Another long stretch of very difficult trail to traverse as we leave the Meseta and enter Galicia, Spain)

S-150.1 (Luz found this stone with this image of a chicken naturally appearing on it which reminded her of her father. She carried it for days and left it at the "Iron Cross" in the photos to follow. Also, notice the other paraphernalia left by other pilgrims at the base of this monument.)

S-149 (The mountains of Galicia are often foggy. This area is much less arid as the Meseta we crossed before.)

S-150 (Here is the "Iron Cross." Pilgrims for centuries carry stoned and other momentos from home, symbols representing life burdens, honoring the memory of people, who have pasted, or symbols of faith which are then left at the base of this cross.)

S-151 (Chapel at the Iron Cross.)

S-152 (Pilgrims waited patiently for others to finish with their moments at the base of the cross before proceeding uphill for their turn.)

S-110.3 (the most delicious crusty bread was baked fresh daily all along the trail; a bread-lover's dream!)

S-154 (Sometimes along the trail we would encounter unattended stands like this one stocked with bottles of water, fruit, and other goodies offered "donativo" to passing pilgrims.)

S-155 (A latrine located along the trail.)

S-156 (These guys were demonstrating a Templar Knight ceremony for donations from the pilgrims.)

S-157 (The Templar "priest" is the older gentleman on the right.)

S-158 (The trails in Galacia were certainly not flat.)

S-159 (The trails were also rocky and difficult to travel.)

S-160 (The views were again impressive.)

S-141.1 (Some stretches of these trails like this one were both rocky and very steep.)

S-110.4 (Does that look delicious or what?!!!!)

S-146.1 (Another mural.)

S-146.2 (More scenes from another albergue were stayed at that was wonderful!)

S-166.1 (More of the trails in Galicia.)

S-166.4 (Can you believe this view!)

S-170 (This tree is estimated to be 800 years old with a perimeter of 8.5 meters (28 feet) and diameter of 2.7 meters (almost 9 feet).)

S-167.1 (Another mural)

S-189 (This photo does not do justice to the incredible blue of these hydrangea found all along the trail in Galicia.)

S-192 (Finally, our first sign that our destination of Santiago is ahead.)

S-194 (Structures like this are used to store bags of grain. Since it is elevated with a horizontal ledge around it, the mice and rats can't get to the grain. As added protection, the Christian cross is added at one end, and the pagan symbol at the other.)

S-196 (This monument was created outside Santiago de Compostella to commemorate the visit by the pope.)

S-198 (This incredible stone artist created numerous works of art on display at his home. He graciously invited us in to view his creations.)

S-200.1 (We finally made it. Here we are at the entrance to the cathedral in Santiago de Compostela where the remains of St. James is considered to rest.)

S-200.2 (A big disappointment for us was that so much of the front of the church was covered for restoration.)

S-209.2 (A common delicacy is Galicia is octopus; delicious!)

S-200.3 (While in Santiago, we stayed at this seminary in one of the rooms once used by the monks. We had to stay in separate rooms since each room only had one single bed.)

S-200 (Inside the cathedral of St. James.)

S-203 (There are several beautiful churches in Santiago.)

S-209 (This is the actual end of the Santiago de Compostela trail at Finisterre.)

S-209.1 (Notice below the clam shell symbol the notation of 0.00 km, the end of the trail.)

S-209.4 (MORE incredible bread!)

S-209.3 (Lunch anyone!)

S-211 (Here is another final destination of many pilgrims on the Camino, the church at Muxia. This was a very solemn place.)

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