El Camino

The Camino de Santiago is a 751-km hike hike/religious pilgrimmage across northern Spain. I didn't find god, but still it may be the best thing I've ever done.

Navarra

First Camino photo I took. We got a little lost here in the first hour or so of the monthlong hike. Managed to mostly stay on track after that, though.



Cute little houses are one of the minor reasons that the Basques are the greatest people on earth.









Parade in Pamplona. The Basques are always celebrating. They're into their culture, and they share their wine with strangers. I love them.









In Puerta de la Reina, they have the running of the cows. Whatever.



Mullet!









Italiano and one of his headbands.





This is a wine fountain. A fountain, as in liquid flows freely from it. And it's wine.
If you're commenting on or even thinking about the quality of the wine, you've missed the whole point of the wine fountain.



Old men in berets: reason number 43 to love the Basques.



The chicos



Los reyes del camino



It wasn't all beautiful.



La Rioja



These are Rioja grapes.





Jewish Basque, self-proclaimed redneck. He was kinda like Jesus one Sunday morning. Did I mention that I love the Basques?



Castilla y Leon











Some retired bullfighter who decided to do the Camino (although he did it in the most half-assed way possible, not staying in the albergues and carrying the tiniest backpack ever) and got tons of local press. We may have gotten on Spanish TV while walking past him and his camera crew. Met a farmer along the way who'd written a poem about him.





Second time on film that day. My ass may be part of a Spanish architecture documentary out there somewhere.



Dear Spain: How can this possibly be a private hunting ground when it's clearly a junkyard?







Hobbit houses!







There are abandoned bathtubs all over Spain. Ni idea.



They gave us bad wine and good mushrooms. Being female and speaking Spanish gets you all kinds of mileage on the Camino.



In case you're doing the Camino on a horse.







Galicia



Dalí?











See?



Four of us had a whole albergue to ourselves one night so we had this nice lounge-y dinner.
Until we got yelled at by the owner and had to pack up and move to the kitchen.





The end! Cathedral in Santiago.



The after-party. I was that drunk girl taking tons of pictures--I'll spare the details.