Some thoughts and observations – Wednesday, October 12, 2011:




I have probably gone into too much detail in describing our Camino but I must admit that I wrote it as much for my own records as to inform others.

I have frequently referred to Brierley and questioned him here and there. I should make it clear that we were using the 2009 edition of the Pilgrim's Guide and the 2010 edition of the Maps. There is a 2011 edition of the guide and I was unaware until I had finished walking that there is a web page with additional changes.

From the time we left Porto until we arrived in Santiago we did not meet another peregrino whose first language was English.

I walked the entire Camino in very open trekking sandals which others thought odd. Last year I only wore sandals for the final hour or two of each day but I found them such a relief that I decided to wear them all day. This year I did not experience the agonising pain in my feet that I can remember going into Larasoana, Logroño and Estella or coming down the steep hill into El Aceibo. That is not to say that my feet didn’t get sore.

At my age my legs are no longer functioning as they were meant to. For anyone else in the same situation I would recommend Nordic walking poles. I doubt if I could have made it without them.  

What is it about the Camino that you can feel such pain and tiredness near the end of a day's walk and yet never think of giving up?

For my part, how did I feel as fresh each morning as I felt at the start of day one? I probably didn't look it.

The whole experience now seems somewhat magical and all the aches and pains are long forgotten while the people we met are firmly embedded in our memory.

Time spent in Lisbon and Porto prior to the Camino and in Madrid and Toledo afterwards added to the enjoyment.

The photograph we should have had taken on our arrival in Santiago

Dinner with our fellow pilgrims




 
 
Entrance to Hospideria san Martin Pinario

 

 
Cathedral entrance with the imprint of millions of hands




Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The addiction has taken hold, we are back on the Camino

Image
Porto Cathedral.....  .....where we had our credencials stamped After we completed the Camino Frances in 2010 my wife Pauline and I were chatting with a number of other peregrinos outside a bar in Santiago. It emerged that our fellow countrywoman, Patricia from Downpatrick, had just completed her ninth Camino, eight from St Jean and one from Porto. When Pauline heard this she was taken aback and said, "Why would you want to do it again, I've done it once and that's it" . Patricia's response was, "Just you wait. You'll be sitting by the fire around Christmas time, thinking back on your Camino, and looking forward to experiencing it all over again" . Patricia was right and in the depth of winter we were planning another Camino. Pauline was insistent that we would not walk the same route and so we settled on the Camino Portugues. At the time we decided that the best way to get to our planned starting point was to fly from Dublin to Lisbon a...
Read more

Day 1: Porto to Vila do Conde - Saturday, September 24, 2011

Image
Church in Vila do Conde We followed Brierley's advice and took the Metro to Mercado and started walking at 8:00am. First lesson, if you are buying two tickets for the Metro from a machine, you buy one and then the other one. If you ask for two tickets you receive one ticket for two journeys for one person. We had that explained to us ("for the next time'') by a ticket inspector. At Mercado the Metro stops at the steps to the bridge over the harbour. Coming off the bridge we continued straight for a short distance to a roundabout and there turned left down Rua de Hintze Ribeiro to the sea. For the next 15-16 km we were able to walk beside the sea on either promenade or boardwalk. We ventured on to the sand once and found it difficult. We had to use the sand briefly just short of Castro Sao Paio - the yellow arrows were very reassuring here. After S. Paio it was back to the board walk and in the next village we must have  Staying close to the coast mis...
Read more

Day 9: Redondela to Pontevedra - Sunday, October 2, 2011

Image
Pontevedra - a delightful town We left the albergue at Redondela just after 6:45am, our earliest start to date. We were anxious to complete as much of the day's walk as possible before the heat became too oppressive. This meant that we were walking in the dark for more than an hour and for the first time we had to make our way along a forest path by torch light. The plan was to have breakfast at the cafe at Jumboli as mentioned by Brierley. That cafe wasn't open at 7:45am, at least not on a Sunday. At 9:00am it was the same story in Arcade where both cafes were closed. We were, however, carrying plenty of liquid as well as chocolate and figs so we were able to survive. I should note that we had some difficulty finding the route at Jumboli. At the cafe the yellow arrow points across the road but almost immediately we were presented with three choices. We could find no markings in the dark and decided to take the right fork. After about 200m we found a scallop tile and ...
Read more