John Ryan's Camino: October 2013

Santiago de Compostela, 20th & 21st Sept.

The cathedral the following day. Always busy. Pilgrims always arriving.

The Camino just goes on and on.

A poor photo of the swinging incense burner during 12pm mass. A better video can be seen here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_jn3arX9ZN4

Historically on entering the cathedral pilgrims place their hand on the carved hand print on the statue of St. James. Unfortunately this is no longer possible as it has been word down over 600 years.

Restoration work is ongoing in the cathedral.

El Cid driving the Moors out of Spain. No mercy shown.

The ropes used to swing the incense burner.

My parting photo of the cathedral before going to the airport.

Will I be back? Well God only knows the answer to that one.

Thank you for looking.

Please leave a comment or question if you wish.

Ribadiso to O Pedrouzo, 18th Sept. to Santiago de Compostela, 19th Sept.

The wooded pathway leaving O Pedrouzo.

Santiago de Compostela city limits marker.

The runway marker at Santiago de Compostela airport.

A graveyard we passed.

Pilgrim monument just outside Santiago.

Our first Glimpse of the Cathedral in Santiago.

Look closely, you can just about make it out.

Finally there after 35 days of walking. The front of the cathedral itself.

Yes, I finally made it.

A friendly Canadian couple I walked the last day with. He is originally from Wolf Tone St. in Limerick.

Pictures for inside the Cathedral.

The mechanism for the swinging incense burner in the cathedral.

There is a clear video of it here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_jn3arX9ZN4

An unsuccessful attempt to hide my walking stick.

I walked and walked the city of Santiago de Compostela unsuccessfully looking for a place to stay. In the end I gave up and got a taxi out to Monte del Gozo, a large hostel with 400 beds outside the city. To my amazement it was more or less deserted. So I celebrated on my own. It was funny sitting into a car, not having been in one for over five weeks.

Barbadelo to Gonzar on 15th Sept. to Palas de Rei on 16th Sept. and on to Ribadiso on 17th Sept.

The 100km to go marker. Funny thing is a half an hour later there was another one.

Manually spreading farm dung in a field in Galicia. I haven't seen that done in Ireland in a long long time. A tough job. I know because I've done it.

Just taking a break!

Several places had Guinness signs but they had no Guinness. A mystery to me!

A photo from the bridge in Portomarin. One scary bridge to cross on foot.

Another tricky piece of natural pathway.

A typical grain store of Galicia.

Trickier than it looks I can assure you. Well for me any way.

I think yer one was just waiting for somebody to fall in so that she could have a laugh.

I met three girls from a small town near Alice Springs in Australia. The only thing they knew about the future after the Camino was that they weren't going back to Alice Springs. Always very friendly and helpful. You can always depend on Australians to have cream for insect bites.

Alto de Polo to Samos on 13th Sept. and to Barbadelo on 14th Sept.

The view from Alto do Polo.

Self explanatory!

Big crowds arrived into Alto do Polo because an albergue down the line was closed due to bed bugs. So the following day I took the alternate but longer route through Samos. What a lucky decision it was. Beautiful countryside and the monastery I stayed in was perfect.