Another sign of the times in Spain - we're doing 298kph en route from Santiago to Madrid; in the 1970s this trip would take 15 hours - now just 3.5

Seeking the Santiago of my youth (L- 1975 R- 2026), we look for one of the 70+ bars that used to serve cheap vinho verde to dissolute students, from the barrel with abundant free tapas. Gone. A waiter laughed: "Today's students don't drink. And it was rotgut." You Can't Go Back🙄

At last, and the sun is out: Santiago's magnificent Plaza del Obradoiro and the cathedral (construction began 1075 CE) that - according to legend - houses the remains of St James the Apostle. One of the Great Squares of Europe, the culmination of pilgrimages for a thousand years

After 310km, and with sore feet, journey's end for my fellow-peregrina at the Hostal de los Reis Catolicos, Santiago 🇪🇸. One of the oldest hotels in the world (1501), it still provides free meals - but only to the first ten pilgrims of the day. Alas we are too late 🙄

This is disappointing. It's true the office wasn't effective, but that's 'cos the govt gave it no teeth. This comes as bosses of 🇸🇪's Lundin (oil company) await the verdict on charges of war crimes in #Sudan/#SouthSudan - a case that 🇨🇦 govt and companies shd be watching. www.cbc.ca/news/politic...

Santiago de Compostela 🇪🇸as it was in the snowy winter of 1975-6 (L), when as a student I would walk to the University though the Alameda. And (R) approaching today, after walking 310km on the Camino Primitivo.

50 years ago I spent a year in Santiago 🇪🇸 as a student - it turned out to be the most consequential year in 🇪🇸 since the Civil War. I never saw a single tourist; the Camino wasn't A Thing. I'm thinking things may have changed a little - arriving soon on the Camino Primitivo.

At every junction on the Camino Primitivo a Santiago 🇪🇸 there's a marker with the exact distance remaining (L). But 18km west of Lugo there's a reminder you are on an ancient path that pre-dates the pilgrimage: Roman Road XIX; this milestone (R) is dedicated to Caesar Augustus.

On the Camino Primitivo a Santiago 🇪🇸 foot-traffic really starts to pick up after Lugo, even more so when you converge with the Camino Frances (which accounts for 50% of the 1.5m who attempt at least part of a Camino each year)

The biggest place by far on the Camino Primitivo a Santiago 🇪🇸: Lugo. This is the oldest intact set of Roman walls anywhere, completely encircling the old city; we're not really up for unnecessary walking, but it's hard to resist making the circuit.

A sign of the times on the Camino Primitivo a Santiago 🇪🇸...The old oak door on this Romanesque church seems to be permanently locked. But if you put 1E in the slot, the light will come on and you can peek in. Supposedly. It's not clear how I get my 1E back: in the afterlife?🙄

Abandoned church in the mist, on the Camino Primitivo a Santiago 🇪🇸

On the Camino Primitivo a Santiago 🇪🇸: it's a long descent to the lake at Grandas de Salime, and another big climb up again. Fortunately there's a cafe for refuelling at the bottom: cafe con leche, con tortilla española 😊

On the Camino Primitivo a Santiago🇪🇸. At 1100m, we've just crossed from Asturias into Galicia and the sun is ready to break through the morning fog

Another early start on the Camino Primitivo a Santiago 🇪🇸. We usually aim for 20k to 30k per day; the walking's not hard but the stretches on paved road are tough on the feet. Unlike long-distance trekking in 🇨🇦🇺🇸 there are many opportunities for a croissant/Spanish omelette...

Another albergue on the Camino Primitivo a Santiago 🇪🇸 at La Mesa, but I fear the cohort of world-class snorers is with us still; so looking online for a pension for tomorrow night...Slightly insulted that the young "hospitalera" (warden) is worried I may not manage a top bunk🥲

Across rural Asturias, the Camino Primitivo a Santiago 🇪🇸passes through one abandoned village after another. But the cows that have taken over demand respect...

So popular have the various Caminos a Santiago become that a whole economy of accomodation/catering has developed around the 1.5m who annually make a "pilgrimage" - here a "footruc" (Food truck) at the Puerto del Palo pass (Camino Primitivo)

There's a wide range of accommodation on the Camino Primitivo a Santiago 🇪🇸 ranging from hotels to "pensiones" and "albergues" (hostels w/dorms). The dorms are clean, cheap and generally fine...as long as you can tolerate Olympic-class snorers; this albergue at Pola de Allande.

All along the Camino Primitivo a Santiago🇪🇸 are abandoned monasteries and churches. This is Santa Maria la Real de Obona, founded in 780 CE, shut down in the 18thC.

Spring flowers on the Camino Primitivo a Santiago 🇪🇸

Early morning departure from Tineo, on the Camino Primitivo a Santiago 🇪🇸

On the Camino Primitivo a Santiago 🇪🇸, west of Salas. This old timber mill (R) has been in use for 500 years or more

If you want to be instagrammed these days, you have to have one of those big place names - this is the first I've seen in stone. Appropriate enough for a place that first appears in annals in 868 CE - Salas, on the Camino Primitivo a Santiago 🇪🇸

After 2.5 years, the trial in 🇸🇪 of Lundin oil execs for complicity in war crimes in #Sudan & #SouthSudan is over, the verdict pending. The stakes are high. Any country/company involved in resource extraction in a conflict area (🇨🇦?? ) shd watch closely. observer.co.uk/news/interna...

Fifty years ago in 🇪🇸 you'd have been locked up for posting a sign in Asturian. But regional languages now thrive; Asturian is spoken by about 100,000 persons; it can quite easily be understood by Spanish-speakers. Salas, on the Camino Primitivo to Santiago.

1200 years ago, making the first-ever pilgrimage to Santiago, King Alfonso the Chaste chose the easiest route possible. So it is with today's engineers. The main E-W highway in northern 🇪🇸 is often close to the Camino Primitivo; today it's 300m above our heads.

On the Camino Primitivo a Santiago, Asturias 🇪🇸

Our first overnight stop on the Camino Primitivo in Asturias🇪🇸 is Grado. Here there are fine examples of Indiano architecture: unexpectedly grand mansions built by people who left in the 19thC to the "Indies" (Cuba, Mexico), made a fortune & came back to show it off.

A feature of rural Asturias and Galicia, through which we're hiking on the Camino Primitivo a Santiago 🇪🇸, are these "hórreos" (silent "h"): granaries built on cleverly designed stone pillars that rats/mice can't scale.

Early morning on the Camino Primitivo a Santiago, Asturias 🇪🇸

Route-finding on the Caminos de Santiago is easy: pillars with the telltale scallop shell at every possible junction. In urban settings, bronze scallops set into the sidewalk (tbh, these can be missed if tired and stumbling around after an 8-hour day...😟)

Hikers on the Camino de Santiago like to leave very early, but finding a cafe open in 🇪🇸 before 09:00 is a challenge. So on Day 1 at 07:00, we're back at the Oviedo train station - cafe con leche, fresh orange juice and a croisssant for €5.

Oviedo, the start of the Camino Primitivo to Santiago 🇪🇸, used to be a grimy coal and steel town. It's been cleaned up and revitalised in recent years, including by art installations: Eduardo Urcolo's "The Traveller", and some unmistakable Botero buttocks.

Just back from hiking the 320km Camino Primitivo de Santiago 🇪🇸, first walked by King Alfonso of Asturias in 814CE, in response to a rumour that the remains of St James had been found in Galicia. Start point & first stamp in our "credencial": Oviedo cathedral.

📚💙 "If you own a boat, chances are that you’ve wondered what it would be like to throw in your job, cast off and sail over the horizon..." Five 🇨🇦 destinations are among the fifty featured in "Under Wide and Starry Skies" #sailing sailingincanada.ca/lifestyle/pe...

Solitary and elusive, the Trilliums are blooming in Saltspring Island's dark woods.

On Channel Ridge (Saltspring Island) the Calypso Orchids (also known as Fairy Slippers) are at their peak.

Out in the woods on Channel Ridge, Saltspring Island. The Coral Root doesn't depend on photosynthesis, but feeds on fungus.

My concerns - and those of others - quoted: “It’s difficult to see what Canada has to gain by a warming of this particular relationship.” #Eritrea www.theglobeandmail.com/world/articl...

Out hiking today on Saltspring Island...and there up in the trees (on the exact same branch where I see him/her almost every time we pass this way), this magnificent Great Horned Owl, eyeing us inscrutably.

Happy #WorldPenguinDay! (April 25)

Still among the flowers on Mount Tzouhalem, Vancouver Island. The Calypso orchids (L) are now at their peak; they're also known as Fairy Slippers. The Chocolate Lily (R) is much less common.

Among the wildflowers again. The Camas Lily (R) has a big starchy bulb that was an important part of the diet of Coast Salish peoples. Unfortunately, the bulb closely resembles that of the aptly named Death Camas (L; it kills bees; 2 bulbs will kill a human ☹️).

Among the wildflowers on Mount Tzouhalem, Vancouver Island: Shooting Stars.

📚💙"Under Wide & Starry Skies" - throwing shade on Lonely Planet! (but tbh a broader review base is needed 😉)

We're at Hut #3 n the Sunshine Coast Trail - Manzanita Bluff, with a fine view over the northern section of the Salish Sea.

Spotted through the trees on the Sunshine Coast Trail: a handful of well-fed Harbour Seals lolling on a rock in Okeover Inlet, waiting for the tide to lift them off.

Lunchtime at Wednesday Lake on BC's Sunshine Coast trail.

On the Sunshine Coast Trail: views over the Salish Sea then to the forest hut at Bliss Portage for the night.