.....SPANISH STROLL , spanish stroll...........

.....' I am a Pilgrim , and a stranger.....
      Travelling through this wearisome land '..........

.......And so , picking up the trail from the previous posting , we headed down into Pamplona. The centre , the old town , still retains its character , and we duly sat and had a beer at Hemingway's favorite bar , Cafe Iruna............. 

.......and at least they have the sense to leave these bars as they are - there are very few traditional pubs now left in the UK other than ones preserved by English Heritage - ' The Vines ' and ' The Philharmonic ' in Liverpool , the ' Crown ' in Belfast .

Early the following morning we entered Pamplona Cathedral as it was opening , and for an hour or so had the place pretty much to ourselves , wandering around and appreciating the many chapels and altarpieces. The cathedral has been restored in recent years , particular attention being given to the lighting , and the re-painting of certain architectural features has been carried out with sensitivity. The side chapels house some particularly interesting pieces , and the whole interior felt that morning very uplifting.

This piece in particular caught my eye - its the Reredos of Christ of Caparroso - a Flemish piece from the late 15th century . The sixteen panels are formally structured in four rows of four , each panel depicting a prophet from the Old Testament , and whilst each panel adheres to the same design each one is different , interpreting the formal discipline in its own way . Over these is laid a carving of Christ on the Cross , perhaps not as accomplished as the previous example at Roncevalles but extremely moving in its setting.

Further on through the Cathedral , at the far end of the Canons' dormitory , now a  museum devoted to musical instruments used by the clergy , we came across the Chapel of Pedro de Roda - completely bare other than two simple statues , lit by alabaster windows and with a recording of gregorian / moorish plainsong quietly playing ; peaceful  and quiet , the atmosphere was sublime .

Leaving Pamplona - regretfully - we travelled on along the Camino to Puenta La Reina , where the last of the main pilgrim routes - this time from Arles via the Col du Somport and Jaca ,joins the main path . The Church of the Crucifix welcomes travellors , and there is a most impressive gilded altar piece taking up the whole of the end wall..............

.......and the floor ............just a wooden , timber floor , but have another look at it - an oak floor with boards some 600mm  or so wide . Kiln dried oak boards 600mm wide ? ...in this day and age irreplaceable .

.....and finally , at the end of the Rua Major , the wondeful Romanesque pilgrims bridge out over the Rio Arga and on towards Santiago. This is as far as we got this time , but maybe next year ..............who knows ?

 ...A brief note on the upcoming Film of the Week - you will have missed it , everyone will have missed it as it only had a limited release , ie. one wet thursday to an art house cinema in London to about seven people , but no worries - it's out on DVD at the end of October ......and Martin Sheen DID walk The Way..... Enjoy.



......I AM A PILGRIM.........

' I am a pilgrim, and a stranger.
 Travelling through this wearisome land........'

........Walking the Camino de Santiago , out of St Jean Pied de Port up to Roncesvalles , on to Pamplona and Puenta la Reina............the Camino is probably the most travelled pilgrim route in Europe , having being walked by pilgrims for more than a thousand years as they make their way across to Santiago de Compostela, and this year we walked parts of it..........

Well, maybe a few parts of it ; the routes pass fairly close to where we live in the Bearn , and about 10k south of us two or three routes join up just beyond Saint-Palais to take the path down to St Jean Pied de Port , the accepted starting point for the journey through Spain..........and all along the way are pilgrim chapels , churches and cathedrals , guiding the traveller on his wearisome way.

A mornings walk out of Saint-Palais , just before the refuge at Ostaba , we came across Saint Nicholas d'Harambeltz priory-hospital , of which the chapel and the four houses of the last brothers remain ; a respite and shade for the traveller.

A small stone-built chapel with no more than five or six rows of plain pews on either side , the ceiling was semi-circular , clad in timber boards and painted out with the sun and moon symbols either side of a medallion. The end wall was clad with the decorated screen as shown , the Virgin Mary flanked by two saints , the figure of Christ on the Cross over. The screen was showing signs of wear , the colours faded , but the peace and calm suggested a chapel much loved............very simple but very moving , and just to find it in the middle of the countryside. They say 100,000 walk the Camino every year , now , so I suppose it is not that isolated , but even so.......

Onwards through St Jean Pied de Port and after the long hard climb up the valley - a trek in one day of some 25k - you arrive at Roncesvalles , the Albergue and the Collegiate Church of St Mary, consecrated in 1219......the church is plain and simple , unadorned gothic - apart from the most splendid display of both large and small Rose windows.....and in a side aisle to the right of the alter a shrine to the Pilgrim , in a gilded alter piece.

...........and to the right of this shrine . in a chapel again to itself , a rather fine carving of Christ on the Cross.



The Spanish tradition / genre of religious polychromatic carvings is not at all well documented in the general history of western european art , and it was not until we visited ' The Sacred Made Real ' exhibition at the National Gallery in London at the start of 2010 that we were aware of it at all . The exhibition was an eye-opener ; this was the first time that many of the sculptures had been seen outside Spain, and the setting - the exhibition space for once quite dark and dramatic - added to the sense of mystery and wonder.

.....and having seen the exhibition in London , to now see the carvings here in Spain , the sculptures in their proper context , made the experience all the more rewarding. The relative darkness of the church after the brightness of the afternoon sun , the quiet , the sense of peace and contemplation.............

..........and so onwards , then , to Pamplona ........leaving the Church at Roncevalles you are confronted by the somewhat comforting site of a road sign announcing ' Santiago de Compostela 790 Km '........

...........onwards , then - at least untill the next blog................

....PAPERBACK WRITER.....

As an avid reader of books I must admit to not having embraced the world of electronic books all that easily...as a student in the sixties my cultural life was signposted by the Penguin and Pelican paperback imprint , at that time at the cutting edge for students - cheap , available and required reading .

The pelican series brought you R.D.Laing , Theo Crosby , Ivan Illich and others on a monthly basis , well printed and well designed.......the Penguin classics introduced texts by Camus , Satre , Hesse - and somewhere in there Marshall McLuhan as well .................all good stuff . Well designed and good covers that stood out amongst the relatively drab world of publishing in the sixties. So the advent of the Kindle and electronic publishing doesn't do a lot for me - where's the visual element ?

......And then I came across ' We Tell Stories ' .......What ? ...a web site of on-line stories - but told through the medium of the internet.....

.....try ' The 21 Steps ' by Charles Cumming - a story set in a familiar physical context  through the use of GPS devices...........this to me takes story-telling via electronic media to a whole new level ......... and the collection has been put together by no less than Penguin - reclaiming their future ! The tools that are used to tell tales are obviously evolving , more participatory and more engaging than just printed words or pictures . At the start of all new ideas , new media , its a question of trying out pretty much everything - some will stick , some won't.................but at least the future looks interesting.

check these stories out at www.http://www.wetellstories.co.uk/

.........and good reading

...SUMMER IN THE CITY..

Here in the main studio at RCA we have had an Interior Design student - Charlotte - on placement with us for a week , and she introduced me to the work of Simone Ridyard , an architect and artist based in South Manchester and a part-time tutor at MMU , introducing the students to the art of sketching - no computers in sight.

Anyone who is doing that has my full support - I only wish that I had the patience to contribute.

I really like Simone's watercolours , particularly the couple of series on Amsterdam and Manchester - I should really practise a lot harder and get out more , as this degree of skill doesn't come easily.

Check out Simone's website at http://www.simoneridyard.co.uk/