I was having a browse through some other Camino blogs this morning and came across one that is just not me. They were up and walking at 5 or 5.30am – in the dark! Now I will admit to having done the same once – but I had woken and just could not get back [...]

Roncesvalles was my first taste of a “real” albergue. 120 pilgrims in one large room – oh my God, I thought, is this what it is going to be like for the next four weeks? Yes and no. The offical hostels at Roncesvalles is the largest one room hostel along the whole Camino – as [...]

I paid €28 for my night in the Orisson, that was for diner and my bed in a small dorm. Okay price wise, but hell I thought if I had to pay every night like that. However this was the most expensive until I reached Santiago. The host in the Orisson was great, friendly, the [...]

The train must have taken longer than my memory states. I arrived in St Jean Pied de Port around lunch and the official Albergue was closed. I waited with the others, we all wanted a pilgrims passport before setting out. By the time it had opened and we had all gotten our Pilgrims Passport it [...]

Friday 23rd of July 2004 I caught a plane to Paris from Dublin. It was summer, I was happy as I had just finished my first year of university. I was a mature student and loved the opportunity I had to study full time, something I had avoided when I was younger. I was setting [...]

I walked one day in sadness – I can’t remember why. However the day sticks in my mind as an old Spanish mans actions changed my thinking. It was one of those horrible days, walking along the side of roads for a long time – it didn’t happen often. I was alone, and perhaps in [...]

It was where I was heading, as was everyone else on this pilgrimage across northern Spain. Each city was different, Leon is a pleasure, Burgos has a dreadful 9km walk through the industrial part of the city. Pamplona was too early to take much notice of, I was only walking a few days and my [...]

I met Mathias a day or so before Pamplona. He looked very strange with his dreadlocks, small rucksack and guitar. He almost had the homeless look about him, but he was young, perhaps mid-twenties. I found out he was German, but had not lived there for several years. He had left, moving to Spain to [...]