Goat Farm -A way point, according to my guidebook, is a goat farm. As promised: Goats. Photo by Aaron Guy Leroux - March 2024 - Tarifa, Spain
Tarifa Kiteboarding - At the trailhead of my walk I stop for a moment to take in the poetry of the Kiteboarding capital of the world - the wind battered beaches of Tarifa, Spain. Photo by Aaron Guy Leroux - March 2024 - Sintra, Portugal
H is for Hawk - Dozens of hawks float up to the castle in Castillo de Castellar which they slowly circle as they hunt for breakfast. Photo by Aaron Guy Leroux - March 2024 - Castillo de Castellar, Spain
Desolation - A hazy, wet day on the trail. Photo by Aaron Guy Leroux - March 2024 - Castillo de Castellar, Spain
Gated Donkey - A donkey waiting behind a gate near Castillo de Castellar Photo by Aaron Guy Leroux - March 2024 - Castillo de Castellar, Spain
Rilke - While waiting out the rain in Urbique I read in The Nature of Generosity by William Kittredge that there was a statue of Rilke in Ronda. He had spent two years here toiling away. I found the statue overlooking a massive cliff at the Hotel Catalonia Reina Victoria. Photo by Aaron Guy Leroux - March 2024 - Ronda, Spain
Curtains - Gentle afternoon light bleeds through the thin red curtains of my little room just on the outskirts of Arriate. Photo by - Aaron Guy Leroux - April, 2024 - Arriates, Spain
Drying Laundry - Clothes hung out to dry could not be a more common sight all throughout the trip. Photo by - Aaron Guy Leroux - April, 2024 - Arriates, Spain
The Horse in a One Horse Town - Encountered this fella as I entered Serrato and stopped for lunch. Photo by - Aaron Guy Leroux - April, 2024 - Arriates, Spain
Ardales Farming - Farmers, just on the outskirts of Ardales, work their fields in the hazy morning light. Photo by - Aaron Guy Leroux - April, 2024 - Ardales, Spain
Parque Federico García Lorca -Parque Federico García Lorca in Granada. Adorned with sculpture, fountains, and orange trees, the park appeared to be a vibrant character in the lives of the people of Granada. Photo by - Aaron Guy Leroux - April, 2024 - Granada, Spain
Angry Dog - I encountered many an angry dog during my walk. Notably, the dogs stuck behind fences appeared much more fierce than their free roaming counterparts. Photo by - Aaron Guy Leroux - April, 2024 - Quesada, Spain
Guidebook - My trusty guidebook through Andalusia. Photo by - Aaron Guy Leroux - April, 2024 - Quesada, Spain
Granada - Back in Granada. Having completed the GR7 through Andalusia I was forced to hitch a ride back to Granada before continuing on through spain. Pueblo de don Fedrique, the town at the end of the GR7, was a vortex. There was no transportation out of the town aside from a ride sharing app. I ened up hitching a ride with Jesus in his grey BMW and the Spanish landscape that it took me over a week to walk, rocketed by in just 90minutes. From Granada, I hitched a bus south to Murcia where I continued my trek on the EV8 cycling path. Photo by - Aaron Guy Leroux - April, 2024 - Granada, Spain
Laundry Day - At the end of a long day I arrived at the Hotel Montaña. Standing alone on a small hill on the outskirts of Coto Rios, Spain I arrived to find a completely empty establishment, save for one employee awaiting my arrival. I did my laundry in the sink of my room and laid my clothes out on a sundeck near an empty swimming pool. Another day in the books. Photo by - Aaron Guy Leroux - April, 2024 - Coto Rios, Spain
The Path - Much of my path took me through rural farmlands. Olive groves in the north gave way to citrus groves along the Mediterrainian coast. Dilapidated buildings and disturbing graffiti seemed to be de rigueur for this part of Spain. Photo by - Aaron Guy Leroux - April, 2024 - Guadamar del Segura, Spain
Casual - Tourists in Guadamar del Seguro enjoy afternoon drinks and snacks as they chat and take in the goings-on around this small beachside town. Photo by - Aaron Guy Leroux - April, 2024 - Guadamar del Seguro, Spain
Cullera - My bnb near the sea. Photo by - Aaron Guy Leroux - April, 2024 - Cullera, Spain
El Palmar - Close to the coast I walked through a waterwhed, a flooded sectional plain near the town of El Palmar. I saw large fish with just barely enough water to scoot around in looking for food. Legios of birds stood knee deep in the muddy water causally snatching bits of food. I hardly saw another soul on the water landscape. Photo by - Aaron Guy Leroux - April, 2024 - El Palmar, Spain
Wheat Fields - Lush wheat fields on the outskirts of Portiragnes. Photo by - Aaron Guy Leroux - June, 2024 - Portiragnes, France
Humid Days II - It was July now and the heat had fully arrived in Europe. Most days the temperature crept into the low 90's. In Northern Italy, where I was walking at this time, there is an abundance of open farmland. Many of those farms I came to learn were growing rice. Which meant a lot of standing water in the fields. This meant a sapping humidity to complement the heat as well as plenty of zanzare - mosquitos, who had a proper feast anytime I came over the horizon. These were hard days. Photo by - Aaron Guy Leroux - July, 2024 - Province of Pavia, Italy
Leaving Viterbo - After a quick stay with my friend Alessandro, I set out from Viterbo for the last few legs of my journey. My path, the Via Francigena, took me through this odd section of road carved right out of the Earth. Photo by - Aaron Guy Leroux - August, 2024 - Viterbo, Italy
Nowhere - Somewhere in the woods of northern Italy. Photo by - Aaron Guy Leroux - July, 2024 - Lucca, Italy
Beware - An oddly cordoned off bronze statue in the center of Trieste. Photo by - Aaron Guy Leroux - August, 2024 - Torino, Italy
Invincible Duke - The Monumento a Emanuele Filiberto Duca D'Aosta, known as the Invincible Duke. The bronze statue is a tribute to one of Italy's heros from WWI. I found the figures adorning the monument to be haunting. I passed by it nearly every day and always felt taken in by what I felt was a looming sadness eminating from the memorial. Photo by - Aaron Guy Leroux - August, 2024 - Torino, Italy
Swimming - A couple boys jump off a cliff and swim just outside Arenys de Mar, Spain. I am, at this point, on full approach to the French border. Photo by - Aaron Guy Leroux - June, 2024 - Arenys de Mar, Spain
The Waterfront - Trieste bleeds into the Gulf of Trieste. There are few, if any, gates or obstacles of any kind blocking your entrance to the sea and there is certainly nothing stopping the sea from dragging all of Trieste into itself. This closeness gives the city a dreamy quality, particularly when you stand out by the water. There is nothing between you and oblivion but a stone staircase leading into the dark nothingness of the water. Photo by - Aaron Guy Leroux - September, 2024 - Trieste, Italy
Shell - A shotgun shell on the trail. Moments later I encountered a third test in my journey to heal. The trail ran adjacent to a Spanish Military training ground. For the fist time since my Iboga retreat, I heard active gunfire. To my relief I found that none of my PTSD symptoms were triggered by hearing the gunfire. Instead I was filled with relief and gratitude. Photo by - Aaron Guy Leroux - April, 2024 - Arriates, Spain
