Arcadia Est Imperare Orbi Universo

Perhaps this isn’t a true holloway – a path that’s worn and rounded into the ground from the stamp of centuries of pilgrims – but if not, it’s a similar phenomenon. During the day, we again started running into various pilgrims and groups of pilgrims that we hadn’t seen in days or weeks. This has been our experience on both of our longer Caminos as we approached Santiago.

Date: 02 May 2016
Place: somewhere between Arca and O Pedrouzo (Galicia, Spain)

The final walking day, the final map:

Mirrored from Pilgrims on the Way.

Much of the morning of that final day walking was though woodland. Galicia is famously forested. There are some places, though, where the native trees have been replaced by groves of eucalyptus. Those places are eerie, almost silent, as the native animals and birds seem to avoid them.

Date: 02 May 2016
Place: somewhere between Arca and O Pedrouzo (Galicia, Spain)

The final walking day, the final map:

Mirrored from Pilgrims on the Way.

As we approached our stopping point for the day, this particular bit of graffiti stuck with me. Good advice, no matter where you are.

Date: 01 May 2016
Place: A Rúa (Galicia, Spain)

The final map:

Mirrored from Pilgrims on the Way.

We were looking in earnest for an albergue to spend the night. This one looked cozy, but alas! It was closed for Sunday, so we pushed on. Two years later, we would stay here on our Galician Camino. It’s a lovely spot, and I recommend it.

Date: 01 May 2016
Place: Santa Irene (Galicia, Spain)

The final map:

Mirrored from Pilgrims on the Way.

Just past yesterday’s monstrosity, we come to this. What is it? A forgotten wayside shrine perhaps, with its central image removed? It speaks to the age and romance of the Camino, if nothing else, but I can’t help but wonder who built it and why.

Date: 01 May 2016
Place: near Santa Irene (Galicia, Spain)

The final map:

Mirrored from Pilgrims on the Way.

This fountain was built for the Holy Year of 1999. There is some question in my head over the question of how one actually renders 1999 into Roman numerals. Tonight we’re gonna party like it’s MCMXCIX… or is that MIM?

Date: 01 May 2016
Place: Santa Irene (Galicia, Spain)

The final map:

Mirrored from Pilgrims on the Way.

After Calzada, we started running into some old friends we hadn’t seen for awhile. Here’s the three musketeers with just two of them. From left to right we have Rebecca, Alicia, Stijn, Francine, and Billy.

Date: 01 May 2016
Place: Somewhere near Salceda (Galicia, Spain)

The final map:

Mirrored from Pilgrims on the Way.

Galicia contains many abandoned buildings and even whole villages. Folks left the rural countryside to find work in the cities, and many of these abandoned properties can be had at an absurdly low price. I remember seeing a village for sale that was less than we paid for Pistachio House. With the spread of the Internet and work-from-home culture, there’s now the beginnings of a rural renaissance. We saw many older buildings in various stages of restoration on the Camino. When you purchase that village you’ve always wanted, these are the guys who will help you get the roof back on.

Date: 01 May 2016
Place: Calzada (Galicia, Spain)

The final map:

Mirrored from Pilgrims on the Way.

Our determined pilgrims walk the forests beyond Arzúa, which are beautiful in the morning light. Some day I’ll learn to take these kinds of photos without shadowbombing them.

Date: 01 May 2016
Place: Approaching As Barrosas (Galicia, Spain)

The final map:

Mirrored from Pilgrims on the Way.

You may have noticed that we haven’t had a “Camino Photo of the Day” in the past few days. There’s a story about that.

On Friday, February 1st, at about 12:35 in the afternoon or so, while crossing 11th in downtown Tacoma in a driving rain, I was hit by a car that ran a light. I rolled over the hood and onto the pavement.

The driver, an EMT from the Seattle Fire Department, was lost in Tacoma and distracted. My head was down as I crossed the street. He skidded through the red light, and I didn’t see him until he was about a foot from me.

He made me comfortable and called 911 while I texted and then called Francine, who rushed right down the hill.

I was transported by ambulance to St Joseph hospital with symptoms of shock and possible concussion. I was dizzy and nauseated and had trouble thinking straight. No broken bones, no bleeding. Praise God for that! My Guardian Angel was clearly working overtime.

After eight or so hours in hospital, I was released with a diagnosis of mild concussion, a neck contusion, and assorted sprained ligaments. Although my body felt like a giant bruise, there was actually very little bruising and only one little scrape near my elbow where the car hit me.

Hopefully I’ll get back to posting soon.

Mirrored from Pilgrims on the Way.

This is the interior of the Iglesia de Santiago de Arzúa, which features a devotion to Santiago in two different guises. On the high altar, if you look closely, you can see images of him as a pilgrim (Santiago Peregrino) and as the Moor-slayer (Santiago Matamoros). This is reinforced on the low altar, where what initially appears to be a saltire, is in fact a pilgrim’s staff crossed with a sword (bonus closeup below). This is where the pilgrims come for Mass, as it is both dedicated to the saint but also very close to most of the town’s albergues and good selection of food.

BONUS! altar closeup

Date: 30 April 2016
Place: Arzúa (Galicia, Spain)

Maps of the Day:

Mirrored from Pilgrims on the Way.

We started back in Saint Jean with a roughly 800 km trek ahead of us, and now we’re at the 95% mark. The markers in Galicia continue to be stupidly precise. This is, as we have seen, an illusion, since the truth of the matter is that the Camino changes all the time, and nobody has ever gotten a consistent reading on the length of any segment, never mind the entire route. Still, it’s a beautiful day for a walk.

Date: 30 April 2016
Place: approaching Arzúa (Galicia, Spain)

Maps of the Day:

Mirrored from Pilgrims on the Way.

The bridge we are crossing here over the Río Iso was built in the 14th Century, and the albergue ahead soon after. It was completely restored in the 1990s and is now something of a showcase. It’s 4:30 in the afternoon, and all things being equal we really should stop here, but instead we push on through towards our goal for the evening – Arzúa – cheese town!

Date: 30 April 2016
Place: approaching Ribadiso de Riba (Galicia, Spain)

Maps of the Day:

Mirrored from Pilgrims on the Way.

There’s just something about a door. This one may be found in the rural outskirts of the town of Boente. It’s about two in the afternoon.

Date: 30 April 2016
Place: Boente (Galicia, Spain)

Maps of the Day:

Mirrored from Pilgrims on the Way.

Just across from yesterday’s plaza, we come to the nondescript whitewashed structure of the parish church of Santiago. The Camino takes a hard right turn here in front of the church, which always seems to have somebody here to invite you inside to spend a moment in prayer. We’ve stopped inside every Camino.

Date: 30 April 2016
Place: Boente (Galicia, Spain)

Maps of the Day:

Mirrored from Pilgrims on the Way.

After our excursion to Santa María de Melide, Alicia and I caught up with Francine and Rebecca fairly quickly. I took this photo of the three of them in the woods at about two in the afternoon in the forests beyond Raida. This reminds me of an important bit of Camino wisdom: always take the alternate path.

Date: 30 April 2016
Place: Somewhere between Raida and A Peroxa (Galicia, Spain)

Maps of the Day:

Mirrored from Pilgrims on the Way.

This altar in Igrexa Santa María de Melide is a Romanesque jewel. The guide claimed it was the original 12th century altar, when this was a monastic church. Based on the arrangement of the apse seating – which is built into the building itself – it would appear that the altar must be in more or less its original position. It’s clear, however, that the priest originally faced the window across the altar, rather than the congregational arrangement that exists today. And don’t even get me started on those candles…

Date: 30 April 2016
Place: Melide (Galicia, Spain)

Maps of the Day:

Mirrored from Pilgrims on the Way.

Eventually, urban Melide gives way to rural outlying districts. Just a few dozens of meters off the Camino, the Igrexa Santa María de Melide is delightful gem. Much of the structure dates to the 12th century, though modifications and repairs were made in the 15th and 17th century. While Francine and Rebecca pushed on, Alicia and I ducked over to take a look. We were not disappointed with what we found inside.

Date: 30 April 2016
Place: Melide (Galicia, Spain)

Maps of the Day:

Mirrored from Pilgrims on the Way.

Just down the Way from our lunch spot, the Capilla de San Roque is a tiny little church on a busy street in the most urban part of Melide. It was built in 1949 using portions of the demolished churches of Saint Roque and Saint Peter. The locals claim this Romanesque façade is the most beautiful in Galicia.

Date: 30 April 2016
Place: Melide (Galicia, Spain)

Maps of the Day:

Mirrored from Pilgrims on the Way.

Finally we have arrived in Melide! It’s pretty much a great stop for lunch or at the end of the day. Why? Pulperías! The town is littered with them. In fact, there’s one right on the Camino as you come into the central part of the town. Often their large window facing the Camino will be open, and there will be a fellow boiling octopus in a large pot – almost a cauldron – right there. Today, we’ll be stopping for lunch.

Date: 30 April 2016
Place: Melide (Galicia, Spain)

Maps of the Day:

Mirrored from Pilgrims on the Way.

There’s a life-sized crucifix in the little village church of San Juan de Furelos. Nothing unusual in that, particularly in Spain. But this isn’t your ordinary crucifix. Here, Christ’s right hand hangs down from the cross. At first, I though it was meant to depict Him in the process of being lowered from the cross, but then I realized that He was reaching down to pull me up to the cross with Him.

It was incredibly moving. All of us were affected, perhaps especially Rebecca. Several of us reached our hands up to grasp His hand, extended to us.

Date: 30 April 2016
Place: Furelos (Galicia, Spain)

Maps of the Day:

Mirrored from Pilgrims on the Way.

I‘ll grant you that this little parish church doesn’t look like much. But inside it has some of the most affecting religious art on the Camino. We’ll spend a couple of days looking at it. While it was open on our 2016 Camino, it wasn’t in either 2013 or 2018.

Date: 30 April 2016
Place: Furelos (Galicia, Spain)

Maps of the Day:

Mirrored from Pilgrims on the Way.

All along the Camino you can find memorials for pilgrims who died on the Way. I’ve posted several on this blog over the years that this series has been going. This one is on the approach to Melide.

Date: 30 April 2016
Place: between Disicabo and Santa Maria (Galicia, Spain)

Maps of the Day:

Mirrored from Pilgrims on the Way.

I believe the agenda of this meeting included “how far do we want to walk for lunch” and “where are we now?” For the record, we were in the village of Leboreiro near to the church in yesterday’s photo, and we would walk as far as Medlide, the pulpo capital of Spain, for lunch.

Date: 30 April 2016
Place: Leboreiro (Galicia, Spain)

Maps of the Day:

Mirrored from Pilgrims on the Way.

In contrast to the earlier rain, rain, and more rain of our 2016 Camino, our time in Galicia was sunny and beautiful. Happy New Year to all! May your 2019 be sunny and beautiful as well!

Date: 30 April 2016
Place: Somewhere between Casanova and Coto (Galicia, Spain)

Maps of the Day:

Mirrored from Pilgrims on the Way.