Camino Portraits: Slava & Irena

There were not many Slovenes we met on our way to Santiago. Only three of them to be exact. Actually since Slovenia is a pretty small country with a total population of only 2 million people, we were not expecting to run into many Slovene pilgrims anyway.

Slava and Irena are two friends who felt Camino might bring some variety into their retirement. They were also quite amused by responses from their loved ones. Everyone back home thought they have gone crazy and will not be able to make it to Santiago. This only fired them up more and off they went...

Apart from coming from Slovenia, there was one more thing we had in common - tendinitis. None of us was willing to quit the trip because of it and we just kept limping towards Santiago.

We ran into each-other for a few times within our second week and were always glad to hear our native language. Hopefully they were able to enjoy the rest of the way at least as much as we did.

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Camino Portraits: Pedro

You have already been introduced to Pedro in my previous post. He is the hospitalero at the Albergue Virgen de Guadalupe - a small albergue on the outskirts of the small village of Cirueña.

He is definitely a bit unusual and like no other hospitalero we have met on our way to Santiago. Although he seemed a bit wacky at first, he proved to be a very kind person.

The jam he makes from hand picked blackberries and figs is also really good. We were lucky enough to try it at breakfast on hot toast. Delicious!

The albergue he runs is pretty basic and like its owner it comes with lots of character. As far as comfort is concerned I could hardly say it was one of the better ones we have stayed at. Nevertheless, I am sure we will remember it (and Pedro) for a very long time.

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Camino Portraits: Cesare

Cesare is one of the Italian guys we kept running into along the first third of the way towards Santiago de Compostela. We only walked together for a short while but he often appeared out of nowhere in the late afternoon and joined us for dinner.

He is a funny character and when he was around we were usually laughing our heads off in a matter of minutes. It was always funny to listen to his interpretation of events. He was able to make a hilarious story from any of his many everyday mishaps.

He also had a rather special attitude towards the Camino. Whenever he felt it was more convenient, he simply took a bus (usually this is the last resort for an ordinary pilgrim and most consider it cheating). He never felt bad about it and willingly shared it with everybody. I think he really enjoyed the look of disbelief on faces of other pilgrims.

Obviously he was on the Camino to above all enjoy the experience without the suffering that usually comes within the package. I really hope everything worked out for him and he was able to enjoy it to the very end.

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Camino Portraits: A pilgrim and his dog

This is the first post in a series of Camino Portraits. It is a portrait of a pilgrim with his dog.

We met them on our way to Zariquiegui. We never took time to talk, so their names will remain a mystery. We just wished "Buen Camino!" to each-other and after a I snapped this photo we were on our ways. Since they were walking in the opposite direction, they were obviously already returning home from Santiago. On foot. Yes, even some modern-day pilgrims do that.

If you look closely you can see each of them carrying their own backpacks.

Clicking on the above photo will reveal it in a much more flattering resolution.

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Portrait of a lace maker

Mercury and lace. For centuries those were the main two income sources for the ordinary man (and woman) living in a Slovenian town of Idrija. While men were mining mercury, women spent their days making lace. During the last few decades both of those roles have been slowly replaced by alternatives provided by industry and hobbies of modern times.

With constant growth in tourism sector, Idrija has been trying to take advantage of a rich technical heritage, centuries of Mercury mining have left behind. Delicious local food specialities (žlikrofi) and delicate lace products are just some of all the other things this charming little Slovenian town has to offer to a visitor.

In an effort to help Idrija lace reach the publicity it deserves, I recently took part in a photographic workshop titled "Portrait of a lace maker". These are just some of the results I got from a rainy morning photo-session.

Clicking on any one of above photos will reveal them all in a much more flattering resolution.

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