I have been giving some thought to perhaps tackling the Camino myself one day and have been looking at the various different routes. I have to say that I may have a preference for the one that starts in Plymouth in the UK because that would seem to include rather a nice cruise on a P&O ferry across the Bay of Biscay and an evening in the duty free bar followed by a just short stroll from A Coruña to Santiago de Compostela.
On a visit to Galicia in North-West Spain we drove one day to A Toxa simply to see its only famous tourist attraction; the small twelfth century church of San Caralampio set in beautiful gardens and which is completely covered in scallop shells. We crossed the bridge from O Grove to the island and by a combination of a stroke of luck and by driving the wrong way down a one way street we found it almost immediately.
The shell is the traditional symbol of pilgrimage because the grooves in the shell, which come together at a single point, represent the various routes that pilgrims travelled, all eventually arriving at a single destination. It is also symbolic of the pilgrim because just as the waves of the ocean wash scallop shells up on the shores of Galicia, God’s hand also guides the pilgrims to Santiago de Compostela.
Sir Walter Raleigh wrote:
Give me my scallop shell of quiet;
My staff of faith to walk upon;
My scrip of joy, immortal diet;
My bottle of salvation;
My gown of glory (hope’s true gage);
And then I’ll take my pilgrimage.
It had been a long way to drive but it was really worth it and the church looked magnificent in the late afternoon sun and framed against a perfect blue sky with its gleaming scallop shells bleached even more brilliantly white by the sun.
Walking the Way of Saint James
People continue to take the Pilgrim trail and can be instantly identified by the pilgrim staff and the symbol of the scallop shell. The shell is the traditional symbol of the pilgrimage because the grooves in the shell, which come together at a single point, represent the various routes that pilgrims travel, all eventually arriving at a single destination at Santiago de Compostela. It is also symbolic of the pilgrim because just as the waves of the ocean wash scallop shells up on the shores of Galicia, God’s hand also guides the pilgrims to their final destination.
I have been giving some thought to perhaps tackling the Camino myself one day and have been looking at the various different routes. I have to say that I may have a preference for the one that starts in Plymouth in the UK because that would seem to include rather a nice cruise on a P&O ferry across the Bay of Biscay and an evening in the duty free bar followed by a just short stroll from A Coruña to Santiago de Compostela.
Sir Walter Raleigh wrote:
Give me my scallop shell of quiet;
My staff of faith to walk upon;
My scrip of joy, immortal diet;
My bottle of salvation;
My gown of glory (hope’s true gage);
And then I’ll take my pilgrimage.
We sat and watched the activity in the street as several pilgrims made their weary way towards their overnight accommodation and our conversation turned to the prospect of perhaps tackling the route ourselves one day. As the hikers made their way into the town I hoped for their sake that they had accommodation booked at sea level because the town is built into a natural cove and the buildings are stacked high, one upon each other, and after a long day on the road I doubt many would relish the prospect of a final last vertical climb.
Posted in Beaches, Cantabria, Cathedrals, Europe, Food, Galicia, History, Hotels, Literature, Natural Environment, Spain, Travel, World Heritage
Tagged Asturias, Caminho de Santiago, Cudillero, Culture, Fishing, Life, Seafood
As we returned to the car quite unexpectedly the sky began to brighten in the west again so we decided that this was the sensible direction to head for. As we drove along the coast the weather improved dramatically and within a few kilometres we were regularly stopping the car and exploring the rugged coastline.
The sea was big and dramatic today and the waves were pounding into the beaches and over the rocks. By the time we arrived back in Comillas the sky was blue and there was an opportunity for an exciting walk along the headland dodging the spray as the waves pounded in and crashed over the town’s sea defences. We walked around for a while and were pleased that the day had ended with blue skies and sunshine. Cantabria was a real unexpected surprise and somewhere that I would definitely return to.
Posted in Beaches, Cantabria, Childhood, Europe, Galicia, History, Natural Environment, Spain, World Heritage
Tagged Altimira, Cantabria, Life, Photography, postaday, Santander, Santillana de Mar, Travel
Leaving Oviedo was very straight forward as we made our way out of the city and towards the Autovia that would take us almost directly south – only almost directly because first we had to pass through the mountains, or more specifically the Montes de León which are a western section of the Cantabrian mountains that form a natural geographical border between Asturias and Castilla y León.
Posted in Cantabria, Cathedrals, El Cid, Europe, Galicia, History, Natural Environment, Spain, Travel
Tagged Asturias, Cantabrian Mountains, Castilla y Leon, Culture, Life, Lyon, Mountains, Oviedo
On the first morning the weather was cold and grey but crucially it wasn’t raining and as I inspected the sky from the window of the room I could see that the cool conditions clearly suited the pilgrim walkers who were setting out one by one along the Comino de la Costa, a northern route of the Way of St. James, on their way to Santiago de Compostela.
After breakfast we put on our warmest clothing combinations and set off for a drive along the northern coast of Asturias, the Costa Verde.
Posted in Beaches, Cantabria, Europe, Food, Galicia, History, Natural Environment, Spain, Travel, Vikings, World Heritage
Tagged Asturias, Costa Verde, Cudicillo, Culture, Fishing, Green Coast, Life, Luarca
After the visit to Siguenza in Castilla-la Mancha in March our second journey to Spain in 2013 took us to the far north with a good value flight to Asturias. This is an area that we hadn’t previously visited and a good starting point for visiting the cities of Castilla y Leon.
The weather was quite awful as the Easyjet plane dropped from its high altitude cruising height in the last of the daylight and down towards the stormy waters of the Bay of Biscay and the rugged coastline of Asturias. When we landed the rain was lashing down and bouncing off the tarmac and adding to the ever spreading puddles – this didn’t look promising and we certainly hadn’t packed appropriately for this.
WordPress seem to go to a lot of trouble to convince users that ‘Freshly Pressed’ is fair, impartial and based on critical selection.
Consider this then from a blog page I chanced upon…
“It has been interesting to look back over 2012 to see which posts were the most popular. Bagni di Lucca and Beyond has been Freshly Pressed twice this year, which has been great fun. Thank you WordPress for choosing.”
It is a nice blog but it isn’t brilliant (sorry).
I say no more…
Posted in Africa, Arts and Crafts, Athens, Austria, back packing, backpacking, Beaches, Bratislava, Budapest, Cantabria, Cathedrals, Childhood, Croatia, Cyclades, Czech Republic, dubrovnik, El Cid, Estonia, Europe, Food, France, Galicia, Germany, Grand Canyon, Greek islands, Greek Taverna, History, Hotels, Hungary, Iceland, island hopping, Italy, Krakow, Latvia, Literature, Malta, Marrakech, Morocco, Natural Environment, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Prague, Russia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Sorrento, Spain, Suez Canal, Switzerland, The Netherlands, Travel, Turkey, Uncategorized, United Kingdom, USA, Vikings, Wales, World Heritage
Tagged blogging, Culture, Favouritism, Freshly Pressed, Life
Since early 2009, as part of our own Grand Tour of Europe, we have been drawn time and again to the Iberian Peninsula in search of the real Spain and in November 2010 we returned once more, flying to Madrid and planning a short three night stay in the city of Ávila about one hundred kilometres north west of the capital city.
Posted in Cantabria, Cathedrals, Europe, Galicia, History, Natural Environment, Spain, Travel, World Heritage
Tagged Avila, Benidorm, Castilla y Leon, Ciudad Rodrigo, Consuegra, Cordoba, Cuenca, Grand Tour, Madrid, Santander, Segovia, Spain, UNESCO, Valladolid
Have Bag, Will Travel 
