spiral places along the camino

[jasmine2015]

Hi All, this is my 7th day of walking and I'm longing for places that offer reflections and quiet times. I can only find one, the pilgrims oasis in Viana. Does anyone know places like this along the camino? I find the whole thing very touristic.

 

[Peter Fransiscus]

Hi All, this is my 7th day of walking and I'm longing for places that offer reflections and quiet times. I can only find one, the pilgrims oasis in Viana. Does anyone know places like this along the camino? I find the whole thing very touristic.

Hi Jasmine, sorry can't help you there but I wish you well and a Buen Camino, Peter.

 

[Deleted member 36903]

Hi All, this is my 7th day of walking and I'm longing for places that offer reflections and quiet times. I can only find one, the pilgrims oasis in Viana. Does anyone know places like this along the camino? I find the whole thing very touristic.

They will come. and there is no point in my generalising but I am sure other members of the forum will have experienced, as I did, the feeling of 'the world being too much with me' at points on the way, this was especially heightened for many of us on the approach to any city on the Camino. It was the sixth day of walking when I felt I needed to run away from everyone and find silence and peace, so being ill with a cold as well, I holed up in a hostales in Los Arcos for two days and that did the trick, just being around folk going about their daily business, seeing the same dogs trotting round town to check out what's up was very restful. You have so many untouristy stretches ahead of you, the Meseta especially and the albergue San Bol, which has limited space so you are in close proximity with your fellow pilgrims but there is a tranquility to the place which helps make it special and permeates social interaction there.

 

[Icacos]

"spiral places along the camino" .... I thought someone was looking for a wild trip. It doesn't jibe with the OP.

 

[VNwalking]

Hi, Jasmine,
Don't know where you are or exactly what you seek.

But there are plenty of quiet places, especially if you walk out of synch with the crowd.
You probably have already passed Eunate...

Albergues--especially parroquials--are not so touristic.
As mentioned..San Bol
Also of course Granon, San Nicholas (in Itero), and San Anton; also San Francisco de Asis in Tosantos, and Santa Maria in Carrion. There are others.....
Asking the hospitaleros/sisters at these places will direct you to them.

And to find your own quiet place within, regardless of what is going on outside...this is the biggest challenge (and eventual delight) the Camino offers! Good luck, and Buen Camino.

 

[Deleted member 3000]

I find the whole thing very touristic.

With 162,000 pilgrims on the Camino Frances last year (and increasing this year), it is hard for it not to have developed the infrastructure to support them! Except for shells and walking sticks, I do not remember a lot of touristic offerings. You can leave parts of the camino, but you take yourself everywhere you go, so you may need to identify what you have brought and what the camino is providing. Regardless, have a buen camino. It is hard not to find parts that you love, especially the people!

 

[Jetgirl]

So many... Hard to tell from OP where they are...little labyrinth outside of Moratinos. Church in Navarette, the Michelangelo in Logroño, mass in triacastela, the walk up OCebreiro, almost any day in Galicia, the Meseta at dawn, dozens of little yards in albergues along the way. Only touristy bits I saw were in OCebreiro and Santiago...

 

[HeidiL]

I am not a Christian, but I have found great peace in several small churches along the way. Especially after a long, hard walk, going in to sit quietly on the last bench in the semi-darkness gives me a feeling of communion with centuries of walkers.

 

[jmcarp]

Hi All, this is my 7th day of walking and I'm longing for places that offer reflections and quiet times. I can only find one, the pilgrims oasis in Viana. Does anyone know places like this along the camino? I find the whole thing very touristic.

Such places are most often found in your heart, in spite of your physical surroundings.

 

[jsalt]

Hi All, this is my 7th day of walking and I'm longing for places that offer reflections and quiet times. I can only find one, the pilgrims oasis in Viana. Does anyone know places like this along the camino? I find the whole thing very touristic.

Hi Jasmine, what @HeidiL said.
There is a church in every town and almost every village along the camino. Go right in and use them Jill

 

[MTtoCamino]

I am really fond of all the farm country, the little town of Itero de laVega is a place you can simply stroll out of find a bit of high ground. The folks living there are definitely people who work the land. Find the little market, it is very telling of the souls living there.

 

[DurhamParish]

So many... Hard to tell from OP where they are...little labyrinth outside of Moratinos. Church in Navarette, the Michelangelo in Logroño, mass in triacastela, the walk up OCebreiro, almost any day in Galicia, the Meseta at dawn, dozens of little yards in albergues along the way. Only touristy bits I saw were in OCebreiro and Santiago...

Thanks, I didn't know there was a Michelangelo in Logroño. I always thought Michelangelo was overrated until I saw (in the "flesh") his sculptures in Bruge and St. Petersburg and discovered for myself that there is a definite reason that he is so well regarded. If I'm ever lucky enough to go through Logroño again, I will definitely stop to see his work there.

 

[Peter Aulbury]

Hi, Jasmine,
Don't know where you are or exactly what you seek.

But there are plenty of quiet places, especially if you walk out of synch with the crowd.
You probably have already passed Eunate...

Albergues--especially parroquials--are not so touristic.
As mentioned..San Bol
Also of course Granon, San Nicholas (in Itero), and San Anton; also San Francisco de Asis in Tosantos, and Santa Maria in Carrion. There are others.....
Asking the hospitaleros/sisters at these places will direct you to them.

And to find your own quiet place within, regardless of what is going on outside...this is the biggest challenge (and eventual delight) the Camino offers! Good luck, and Buen Camino.

 

[Peter Aulbury]

Tosantos, St Francis of Assis, wonderful albergue

 

[Jetgirl]

It is in the cathedral behind the altar behind a security door. I was in Logroño on Easter Sunday 2014 and it still took 3 trips to the church to finally see it. Costs 1€ to get lights turned on. Small but powerful crucifixion and only one of his works outside Italy. Totally worth seeing!

 

[DurhamParish]

Small but powerful crucifixion and only one of his works outside Italy. Totally worth seeing!

There are two others outside of Italy (that I know of and have seen). There is a Madonna and Child statue in a church in Brugge, Belgium. If you saw the movie "Monuments Men" about trying to recover all of the art stolen by the Nazis, it is the statue that Hugh Bonneville (star of Downton Abbey) was killed trying to save. It was stolen twice, once by Napoleon and also by Herman Goering. Also there is a statue called "Crouching Boy" in the Hermitage in St. Petersburg, Russia. Both definitely worth seeing if you're ever in those areas.

I can't believe I so blithely walked through Logroño and didn't know about the one there.

 

[VNwalking]

I can't believe I so blithely walked through Logroño and didn't know about the one there.

Likewise. I stayed there and went to mass, even--but didn't linger or look around much.
Hope there will be a 'next time,' so I can take some time to appreciate it.

 

[Robo]

Hi All, this is my 7th day of walking and I'm longing for places that offer reflections and quiet times. I can only find one, the pilgrims oasis in Viana. Does anyone know places like this along the camino? I find the whole thing very touristic.

As others have said, the approaches to larger towns can get a bit busy and intrusive. But if you look.............you will find ample time and places for quiet reflection. I did every day.

On the soft grass beside the trail on reaching a hill top.
Pausing at a road side cross to think of a Pilgrim who made their final journey here
At the church in almost every small village I came to, even if it was locked (some are)
Walking slowly to the crunch crunch of the gravel underfoot wondering at the sheer marvel of the views and the inner peace this journey brings...if you let it
Just stopping....to touch a tree that must have been standing for hundreds of years and seen a million Pilgrims pass beneath its branches....


The road itself may be the place that you are seeking...........

Journey's end each day, is often the chance to 're-enter' the World following a day of reflection and share stories, meals and a drink with fellow Pilgrims....

Rarely did other Pilgrims intrude on my inner journey..........I was too engaged with it!

My most profound moments of reflection, realisation and joy ..... were always when I was alone, far from any village or town.

 

[Jetgirl]

I should have been clearer that it was his only "painting" outside of Italy . It isn't always visible - they have to open the security door THEN you see it behind bullet proof glass. I went two times between Easter Masses and the door was not open but it finally WAS after the evening Mass. There were very few pilgrims that knew it was there. ... My compadres were very glad I dragged them out so many times ( "no really! There IS a Michelangelo!" And they're thinking "She's a bit of heatstroke that one!")

 

[Deleted member 3000]

According to the Tourist Office Brochure, the painting is "attributed" to Michaelangelo:

‘El Calvario’, de Miguel Ángel

Legend has it that Michelangelo
Buonarroti painted a small picture for
his good friend, the poet and member
of the Italian nobility, Vittoria Colonna,
Fabrizio Colonna’s daughter and
Francisco Ferrante D’Avalos’ wife, the
Marquis of Pescara, whose ancestors
originated in Abalos, La Rioja. Francisco
Ferrante died in 1525 at the battle of
Pavia, and Vittoria, now a widow, wrote
and asked Michelangelo for a small
painting for her bedroom.

‘El Calvario’, which shows the Crucifixion
of Christ and is safely guarded in the
ambulatory of the La Redonda, could be
this picture. It is one of his few paintings
in oil and also the smallest. Some
collectors say it had been lost, but his
sketches are saved in the British Museum
and the Louvre in Paris.

 

[Roshni]

Hi All, this is my 7th day of walking and I'm longing for places that offer reflections and quiet times. I can only find one, the pilgrims oasis in Viana. Does anyone know places like this along the camino? I find the whole thing very touristic.

I found that walking apart from the main day lengths written in the John Brieley book was very helpful. We chose smaller albergues in smaller towns along the way and spent lots of time sitting in churches. This was always a way for me to rest my body as well as my mind. I was walking just a few weeks ago and found that if I left around 7:45-8 in the morning the trail was pretty quiet and I could also find peace there, after the bulk of Brieley-paced walkers were gone.
Try to keep focused on the peace and rest you are looking for and simply look away from what you are trying to avoid. It sounds silly, but it works after you get used to it. Buen Camino!

 

[jpflavin1]

Hi All, this is my 7th day of walking and I'm longing for places that offer reflections and quiet times. I can only find one, the pilgrims oasis in Viana. Does anyone know places like this along the camino? I find the whole thing very touristic.

Jasmine2015:

Making an assumption that you came to the Camino with specific expectations. That said, all I think you need to do is let go of those expectations and live in the moment.

I am not inclined to believe it requires a certain place to achieve this goal. It has been my experience, that being away from the daily distractions/noise of my life allows me to find a quiet place for reflection almost anywhere on the Camino. While in the evenings, I do enjoy the Communal atmosphere of the Albergue.

Ultreya,
Joe

 

[purplesage]

Hi, Jasmine,
Don't know where you are or exactly what you seek.

But there are plenty of quiet places, especially if you walk out of synch with the crowd.
You probably have already passed Eunate...

Albergues--especially parroquials--are not so touristic.
As mentioned..San Bol
Also of course Granon, San Nicholas (in Itero), and San Anton; also San Francisco de Asis in Tosantos, and Santa Maria in Carrion. There are others.....
Asking the hospitaleros/sisters at these places will direct you to them.

And to find your own quiet place within, regardless of what is going on outside...this is the biggest challenge (and eventual delight) the Camino offers! Good luck, and Buen Camino.

GRANON definitely. This is perhaps my favourite Albergue. There's mass in the evening and a wonderful fellowship in the albergue.... I love going to GRANON

 

[VNwalking]

I wonder where Jasmine is now, as we seem to be talking to ourselves. If you're still out there, Jasmine, I hope you've managed to find the quiet you seek...externally and internally.

 

[williamlittig]

Hi All, this is my 7th day of walking and I'm longing for places that offer reflections and quiet times. I can only find one, the pilgrims oasis in Viana. Does anyone know places like this along the camino? I find the whole thing very touristic.

There is a beautiful spiral labrynth and twin oaks just before Ages, a great village to stay in prior to Burgos..... Willy, Utah, USA