Tag Archives for Santiago de Compostela

St. Jean Pied de Port, Camino Frances; travel photos

Rue de la Citadelle, St. Jean Pied de Port, France. Camino Frances

Rue de la Citadelle, St. Jean Pied de Port, France. Camino Frances 

St. Jean Pied de Port, France. The beginning of the Camino France for many pilgrims walking to Santiago de Compostella Spain. One of the many images, representing one of the many moments along our journey that is still very important to me. As it is the beginning of the camino for so many pilgrims it is a little town that many remember fondly.

Recently a fellow Calgarian sent an email, interested in learning more about the camino, and our experience, it is wonderful to visit those memories again, and to think that someday Bill and I will go back.

On a complete different note, this is one of the images listed with Alamy, an online stock agency, that has licensed recently.  While I haven’t been notified of the name of the publication, but I have learned from the sales contract that the image will be published as a 2 pages spread, for a travel guide with a print run of up to 100,000.  While this isn’t my first sale through the stock agency, it still feels awesome to have someone buy and use one of my images!

Related articles

Camino to Santiago de Compostela, a journey not just a destination

Rock Bridge, Galicia Spain

Rock Bridge, Galicia Spain

“Focus on the journey not the destination. Joy is found not in finishing an activity but in doing it”        Greg Anderson

One of the things we found while walking the Camino to Santiago de Compostela, is the same thing we have found and experienced in many other areas of our life. People are goal oriented and want to reach the next destination. On the walk people were getting up well before dawn and walking in the dark, little headlights on their forehead, trying to find the next arrow or marker.  This is fine if you have spent some time the day before surveying the route out-of-town. But why walk in the dark.  Yes it is a quiet time of the day, and you can be out-of-town before the traffic gets bad, but in the small town on the country road that we were walking traffic was never a problem.

I do understand that the summer heat of Spain can make walking in mid afternoon difficult, so that might be a consideration during the summer months for some people. But walking in the dark means that you really can’t see and enjoy the town, or the countryside, the signs, the shrines or farms that you are walking by.

It isn’t reaching our goal or destination that shapes our journey, it is each mile or milestone along the way that shapes our soul.  It it the sights, sounds, people and experiences we have along the way that is what we, what I wanted to remember.  I would say to anyone planning this journey to take your time, enjoy the sights, the sounds, get to know the people along the way, live each moment of the journey.

Related articles

The Camino to Santiago de Compostela and Thich Nhat Hahn…..

Horse stands on the windy ridge of the Pryenees Mountains

Horse stands on the windy ridge of the Pryenees Mountains 

“The mind can go in a thousand directions. But on this beautiful path, I walk in peace.  With each step a cool wind blows. With each step a flower blooms.”  Thich Nhat Hanh 

I have been reading poetry by Thich Nhat Hanh and it often reminds me of the quiet days of walking the Camino to Santiago de Compostela, Spain. My mind could wander in a thousand directions, but it wasn’t until I focused my thoughts on the path before me, on the beauty around me that I truly began to enjoy the walk.  But if I wasn’t in the present moment I could walk and not see a thing, not remember the road I walked.

While on the Camino I learned that I had to stay conscous, I need to be thinking of what is in front of me, how it was shaped by the light, I and to think the story I wanted to tell, if I didn’t I was just getting snap shots or passing events. But it wasn’t work, I somehow managed to make it sound like work, but it wasn’t, it make the Camino, our journey, more enjoyable, more memorable.

This is a bigger problem for me at home, driving to work, thinking about all the things I have to do that day, and before I know it I am at the office, and I don’t remember the trip, what did I miss?  Did I miss waving to a friend, or the beauty of the sunrise.  Or while at work, getting caught up in the job, the chaos, going through the motions, and not really being engaged.

How about you, are you on a beautiful path, is your life blooming before you, are you finding small nugets of joy in your day/chaos?

 

Related articles

 

Dancing to Basque Music in Pamplona Spain

Dancing in Pamplona to Basque Music

Dancing in Pamplona to Basque Music 

While walking the Camino to Santiago de Compostela, Spain we spent a couple of days in Pamplona, visiting the Cathedral and historical attractions. While out walking we walked through the Plaza de Castillo we heard the music, noticed the Basque Musicians.  There were dancers in the square, but it was the little one that captured my attention.  He seemed to have all the moves, but then the little ones always seem to know how to capture the attention and the hearts of those around them….

 

Related articles

 

 

Notre Dame_Paris France_Angel and Shadow

Notre Dame_Paris France_Angel and Shadow

 

I am preparing a slide show; on Saturday Mar 16, 2013 I will be showing some of my work to the Calgary Chapter of Pilgrims about the Camino to Santiago.  An 820k walked from St. Jean Pied de Port to Santiago de Compostela Spain.

The Spring Meeting of the Calgary Chapter, Canadian Company of Pilgrims
will be held at Good Shepherd Anglican Church (408 – 38 Street SW, Calgary)
on Saturday, March 16, 2013 at 7 p.m. (doors open at 6:30).
Everyone  welcome – light refreshments served – tapas/wine gratefully accepted.

If you have been following the blog for a while you will remember that Bill and I walked the Camino in the Fall of 2012, there are many stories and photos already on the blog.  If you are in the Calgary Area, and interested in learning more about the Camino please join us.  There are many people who attend these meetings with knowledge that is both interesting and helpful if you are thinking of doing the walk

 

Vanishing moments – and the Camino to Santiago

 

”We photographers deal in things which are continually vanishing, and when they have vanished there is no contrivance on earth can make them come back again. We cannot develop and print a memory.”     Henri Cartier-Bresson

travelling the Camino to Santiago, walking the many miles, brought the point of Vanishing moments back to me every so clearly…….

Camino way marker, yellow arrow

Camino way marker, yellow arrow  

scallop shell marker

scallop shell street marker  

PilgrimYield Sign

Pilgrim Yield Sign

Pilgrim at the Cross

Pilgrim at the Cross

 

once we passed a sign, I wasn’t in a hurry to walk back again to take a picture; if I thought too long about what caught my attention I would miss the moment that spoke to me. These are just a couple of the sites and signs we saw and photographed while on the Camino to Santiago.  The were route markers everywhere that was needed, not so often they cluttered the view, but often enough we knew which road to take.  In Pamplona we saw the steel scallop shells every 100 feet, other cities were equally well-marked; we saw the yield signs when we had to cross a major road or highway where we might encounter vehicle traffic;  and we saw the long rock arrows on the Meseta, the flat plains of Spain.

 

 

 

Related articles

The Church of Portal of San Juan Bautista_Obanos Spain, along the Camino to Santiago de Compostella

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.

Related articles

 

Guest post: Walking the Camino de Santiago – by Janice Meyers Foreman

The HitchHikers’s Handbook has published a story and photos written about the Camino:  check out their site:

Guest post: Walking the Camino de Santiago – by Janice Meyers Foreman.

Besides my guest-post you will find plenty of helpful information for world wide travel.  Good information for the traveller.

Pilgrim’s Mass and the lighting of the Botafumeiro by the Tiroboleiros, Santiago Cathedral

Pilgrim's Mass and the lighting of the Botafumeiro_IMG_4840.tif

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

Related articles

Old Boots and the Camino Yellow Arrows

Old Boots and the Camino Yellow Arrow

Old Boots and the Camino Yellow Arrow

The Yellow Arrow is the route maker for the Camino to Santiago de Compostela.  Painted on signs, fences, rocks and buildings at every corner, we would find a yellow arrow to tell us which direction to take. The Pilgrim wearing these boots had over the years already completed 4 camino walks. This year was his 5th, and due to health reason he could only dedicate 2 weeks to his journey. These boots had supported him during all of those miles. I asked about the yellow arrows on his boots and he said “they were a reminder to always move forward”.

We walked together for a short while, talking about his previous journeys but before long we were headed uphill into the Galicia fog, and I was slowing him down, so he wandered off at his own pace.

Walking to Gallicia

Walking to Galicia

While we walking the Camino to Santiago de Compostela in Spain we soon realized that our hiking boot had been one of the most important purchase. Absolutely one of the most valuable piece of equipment to undertake the 820 k walk.  Here in Calgary we went to the Mountain Equipment Co-op to talk to their staff, they were wonderful, informative and patient at getting us the best fit. We seemed to be one of the  pilgrims walking that had very few problems with our feet.  If you are planning on going to a long walk, be it in Spain or in the Rocky Mountains I would suggest paying Mountain Equipment Co-op a visit for some advise on great boots.

Related articles