And then I once more crossed the (now much larger) River Arga – this time over the 12th century Magdalena Bridge, I believe – and approached the city of Pamplona proper … “Speaking foreign languages and studying other cultures can build sturdy bridges between people, of this there can be little doubt – allowing us […]
And so it was that I walked alongside the ramparts of Pamplona’s age-old defenses on this still-early morn, and smoothly sauntered along her still-mostly-vacant streets … “Obedient to no man, dependent not even on weather or season, without any fixed goal before them or any solid roof above their heads; owning nothing, and open to […]
I had blissfully forgotten that Pamplona is one of the world’s many hubs of culture-excused cruelty, and yet this Running of the Bulls swag-shop sadly reminded me of the same … 🙁 “Courage and grace are a formidable mixture, and the very last place you will see either is in a bullring … I went […]
I don’t know who decided to embed these Camino markers into Pamplona’s streets, and yet I was very thankful for them, whoever they were … “Walkers are in a not-quite indirect way ‘practitioners of the city,’ for each and every city – to the degree it has been properly planned & organized – is made […]
It is no small understatement when I say that I do not find larger city’s in any way pleasurable to visit, and so it was that my gratitude knew little bounds when I serendipitously walked into Pamplona’s Parroquia De Nuestra Señora De La Paz – the truly lovely (and fully solace-laden) “Parish of Our Lady […]
Pamplona was smoothly left behind and Cizur Menor – and its beautifully symbolic romanesque Encomienda Sanjuanista (of the Order of Malta) church – became my next stopover along The Way … “I tell you the truth, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if […]
“At present, the best part of the land is not private property; the landscape is still for the most part unowned, and the walker still enjoys comparative freedom. And yet possibly the day will come when the land will be completely partitioned off into so-called pleasure-grounds, in which only a select few will be allowed […]
And so it was that I then came upon this beautiful mural on the very outer outskirts of town … “Painting is poetry that is seen rather than felt. Poetry is painting that is felt rather than seen. Either way, art is the falsehood that inspires us to rediscover the truth … Remembering all of […]
“The path you are currently walking is as necessary as it is unique. In truth, there is no other path like yours, a path on which you are always given cyclical encounters with both hardship and joy, alongside pervasively persistent opportunities to either set aside your personal worries and serve others in greater need or […]
The Way begins to steadily rise, and yet I make it slowly & just as assuredly all the way to Zariquiegui, where a wondrous pause is enjoyed within the cool walls of its open church … “Science is not only compatible with spirituality; it is a profound source thereof. When we recognize our place in […]
“Remarkable, if for nothing else, that all of those men and women who have stayed for any length of time in any place for any reason so often leave behind them some monument, some structure of marble or brick or stone – structures that so often stand for far longer than their creators. So that […]
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