Calgary Peace Bridge, a study in symmetry
one year ago today I eas talking about my visit to the, then, newly opened Calgary Peace Bridge! This weekend looks like it is going to be another great weekend to wander the pathways of Calgary, maybe we will see you out there.
I hope you have a great weekend.
James Short Cupola
I love old architecture, and in Calgary this is about as old as it gets! The cupola has a long history and you can read all about it on the Waymarking pages. It sits in the south-east corner of the James Short parade, there is a beautiful park to sit an enjoy the sun. I love the way the old building is framed by the new glass and steel buildings around it, give its age and grandeur more significance.
I am enjoying my time walking around Calgary! If you have a special place in Calgary that you would like me to visit, let me know.
Church Portal, San Juan Bautista_Obanos Spain
Obanos is about 20 kilometers from Pamplona, along the Camino to Santiago de Compostela, the French Route. I learned recently that the French Route of the Camino to Santiago has the UNESCO World Heritage Designation. Every year thousands of people from all over the world travel the camino.
It was mid afternoon when we arrived in the little town, the streets were quiet and I am sure the local people were all having their siesta. The beautiful old Gothic Church sits in the main square, in front of the Nuestra Señora de Arnotegui Shrine. The sculpted portal depict stories from the Bible to the pilgrims who walked the Camino a thousand years ago, now worn by time and weather speaks to the heritage of the church in these communities.
Spiral Staircase, Pamplona Cathedral
The Cathedral of Royal Saint Mary (Santa María la Real), a 15th century Gothic Catholic Pilgrimage Church has many beautiful features. We visited the lovely Cathedral in September when walking the Camino to Santiago de Compostela. I could spend hours photographing the details. Just off the main temple, a beautiful stone carved staircase topped by a magnificent dome.
For more Cathedral and camino images: Cathedral
Pilgrim’s Mass and the lighting of the Botafumeiro_
We have been home from the Camino to Santiago Spain for quite some time, and it is taking quite a while to sift through all the photos from the trip. I like a lot of people busy with regular work and lifestyle tasks and distractions. Each day when I have a few minutes I work on my photos, and it is wonderful to re-live the memories.
The first things most pilgrims do, and we were no exception, is to visit the Cathedral. We stopped by, but we were soaked to the bone as it had rained heavily that day. We saved our visit to the inside for the following day, when we would be dressed in dry cloths, and have time to see, sit and enjoy all the sights. We arrived early enough to get a seat, by the time mass started the Cathedral was full, barely standing room available. They announce the number of pilgrims arriving in the previous 24 hours from each country.
The ceremony culminated in the swinging of the botafumeiro (smoke belcher) a massive silver incense burner. It takes eight men, a team of clergy called tiraboleiros to get the incense burner swinging across the cathedral. The botafumeiro, said to be the largest in the Catholic world and dates back to 1851, it is this part of the ceremony that the pilgrims have been waiting for, and it was so thrilling in a way that can’t be described. The energy in the Cathedral amazing. It was such a moving experience we actually attended Mass the next day to see it again.
for more of our camino images click here
Leon cathedral
Leon’s Gothic Cathedral, filled with stunning stained glass. We were told that about 70% of it is original. In the early 1900′s a renovation of the Cathedral almost destroyed this great building. We are glad it is still around to admire. This image was taken with a fish-eye lens. I was teased for bringing it with me on the 800 kilometre walk, one more thing that really wasn’t needed. For the few times I used it, I was more than willing to carry it.
the eiffel tower and the carousel_Paris France
We have been in Paris for 5 days now, and I think that each day we have walked almost as far as we did while on the camino in Spain. There is so much to see in the city. Yesterday while we walked out to the Eiffel tower it was nice and warm, foggy when we got to the top, but a lovely day. The forecast was for good weather all week, but this morning as we headed out to Notre Dame Cathedral it was cool and cloudy, and remain so most of the day.
Notre Dame_Paris France
Notre Dame_Paris France_Angel and Shadow
Notre Dame Cathedral_Paris France
After Notre Dame we wandered through the Latin Quarter all the way over to the Musee d’Orsay, the back to the apartment for a rest. With everyone here with us it is busy with walking, visiting, eating and drinking, no time for processing photos or posting on the blog!
We arrived in Paris late last night, no time for seeing the sights. Today was very much an orientation day, finding our way around, getting some groceries, doing laundry and yes catching up on rest. It wasn’t until late in the afternoon that we took a walk to just wander near the Seine River, and while it was a little misty at times, the rain was nothing to concern us .
Eiffel tower_ in the clouds
our first sighting of the Eiffel Tower, the top was just barely visible through the clouds, and while the forecast is for rain tonight, and light rain tomorrow the rest of the week promises to be sunny, we will keep our fingers crossed.
boats on the seine river, pont neuf, paris france
A view of the Seine River, and Pont Neuf; the river cruises were busy tonight. Late in the season, the tourists flock enjoy the view of Paris from the river despite the cool and rainy weather.
rainy evening in Paris_Louvre,
The apartment we are renting while visiting Paris is not far from the Louvre, we passed by just after sunset, the city lights were just starting to come on, there were beautiful reflections in the puddles!
fire buring in Santiago
yesterday morning Bill and I headed out to streets of Santiago de Compostela early to see the quiet streets, and watch the city walk up. I find it is a great time to visit a city. Not far from our hotel we heard sirens, and before long a fire truck and emergency vehicles were squeezing between the buildings of the old city, coming towards us. Ducking under the archway and out-of-the-way of the trucks we watched them go by. Not two blocks away the truck stopped, in fact everyone that was on the street stopped to watch. There was smoke billowing from a basement grate, and the fireman were cutting open the door of the building. I was less that 20 feet away, taking pictures. I could not imagine getting that close a fire scene at home! Before long the firemen were in the empty building, the fire was out, and there was only steam billowing from the building.
From there we headed over the see the Cathedral in the early morning light. After registering at the camino office we went inside the Cathedral. Which was full of people wandering around, and getting seated for Mass. We saw many people that we had talked to and walked with over the last few weeks. It was great to see everyone had achieved their goal. There was an excitement in the air. During Mass the have a large incense burner, that they swing over the crowd. It was quite exciting to watch.
Santiago Mass
our final day, our final 12k_camino de Santiago
We have read about it, we have talked about it, and we have even dreamed about it. Yes we are on the doorstep of Santiago de Compostela, this morning we had less than 14k to walk. Yesterday was wet, we were soggy by the time we arrived at our hotel, and we were hoping for at least a semi-dry day today as we walk. That was not to be. As we left this morning, if was foggy, misty hung in the air, and we had walked less than an hour when the rain started to pour down on us. We walked the final 10k in heavy rain. Arriving in the Praza do Obradoiro to the front door of the Cathedral about 1 pm local time, soaked to the bone. Our Gortex waterproof boots were even soggy. We took the picture below and moved onto our hotel to dry out, and find some lunch.
Bill and Jan at the Santiago Cathedral_Praza do Obradoiro
All is not lost, tomorrow and we sleep in and have a relaxing breakfast, we will register our trip with the Peregrino office and visit the Cathedral, and hopefully we will see and be able to visit with others we have met on the camino in better weather.
