Closing Thoughts

As I write this I am hours from starting my departure journey to return home. There's not a lot of new to add for those that have read the blogs over the years. This journey, like all the other journeys, was very unique. One of the biggest aspects of this journey was overcoming. That's not the same things in the past weren't overcome, that is to say that there was a newfound focus on this journey to tackle the stressful or scary situation, put anxiety aside, and overcome. A classic example is the many bridges of wonderful heights. Many of these I'd already crossed in the past, hands-firmly gripped onto the guardrails, staring ahead and speeding across. This time I tried to take the time to enjoy the scenery afforded from the bridge each time. This does not mean that the height did not bother me, or that in the back of my mind I wasn't questioning the integrity of the rusted metal under my feet. It means I pushed myself to find the beauty and enjoyment in where I was when I was.

For the most part, this journey wasn't about new growth so much as it was about continuing growth from past journeys leaving very little to really discuss openly.

As a follow-up to last week's post, I visited the apostles tomb again as promised. I still have one more visit on a future Camino that is promised to the apostle.

4th Camino Status

And most of you have probably come to see, the last 100 km of any Camino gets very intense. When that community was only 115 km, it's intense from the start to the end. Under normal circumstances, I would have pushed this camino to a six days, but five is all I had for walking, so five it must be done in. I have been stuck in an absolute peregrino traffic jam caused by a multitude of factors:

Google #revengetravel - it is the identity given to people traveling, often short notice, to get out post pandemic.

A lot of people, myself included, had plans and are now finally able to execute them.

This year is a holy year, which always sees record numbers.

This week, has had for the most part incredibly good weather given a rain spell yesterday morning. It is also a Spanish holiday on Thursday similar to the Portuguese holiday last Wednesday. The Spanish people are coming out in Mass to walk the camino, many of them deciding to finally do it.

What this is amounted to, is absolute record-breaking traffic on a foot trail. Mind you, the businesses are absolutely going nuts and love it! In the end, this ultimately is really good for the whole Camino system. What this is not good for, it's peregrinos like myself, who have grown to like the peace and tranquility of the trail and find, particularly this week, the traffic to be a distraction.

This really leaves me with two choices: bitching gripe about the local people finally getting out and enjoying a trail network that I'm sure their taxes have paid for and extensively enhanced in the past few years. More of the second option, the one I choose, is to chill out and embrace this for what it is. A massive social experiment of people moving in a giant bubble with one goal. Not only do I choose not to bitch and gripe about it, but I choose to assist those who have been foolish in their preparations and jumped into the journey unprepared. I feel it is my responsibility as a veteran pilgrim to do my best to support "green" pilgrims so they may embrace the trail as much as I have.

Speaking of the trail, since I was last on this section of the Frances route 7 years ago, I have observed significant improvements to both the trail, and the business is supporting the trail. While it is still the same trail, it is not the same trail. I cannot mourn that it is not the same trail I walked 7 years ago, I must embrace the fact that this wonder is being embraced my more and more people and the evolution of it continues. The money that has been invested in the Camino trail Network both on the Portuguese and especially on the Frances routes impresses me every time I'm on the trail. The Galician government has poured extensive resources into maintaining, improving, and upgrading this trail system so that it may continue to support pilgrims well into the future. Businesses, mainly bars/cafes appear to have tripled in numbers in a few short years, and not a one of them appear to be lacking for business!

Now when it comes to pilgrims, I find myself in a unique position. I am, after all only starting in Sarria, which puts me in the same category as so many other pilgrims doing the short Jaunt.  However, I also have the admiration of all of those starting from SJPdP as being on my fourth Camino with this one back-to-back with my third. I find even the ones that have done the full Frances looking to me for pointers and guidance. That, and I am one of the few Americans on the trail, which garners a lot of respect from the locals!

Today's walk, potentially the longest Camino stage I've pulled ever, saw 32.28 km with me nursing a very very angry heel! I did something today in preparation for this walk, that I really did not want to do. I applied ibuprofen gel to my heel when I first got up, which I usually reserve for post walking. I knew I was going to agitate my heel, and I knew I needed to keep the information as low as possible for as long as possible. I got about 40 minutes from my destination, after 7 and 1/2 hours of marching along and found a bar in the corner of the road just as Tina was texting me words of encouragement. I was able to chill out for a while at the bar, apply some cold spray, and apply a little bit of ibuprofen gel. Just as I was entering the outskirts of the city, my heel started to cooperate again. Imagine my frustration when my hotel was at the start of town, but the resources I desperately needed such as an atm, a cafe, and a laundromat, we're all at the other end of this long skinny town.

Three hard days of pushing, one of them in the rain, and one of them just stupidly long, have paid off. I am now at the 39 km marker which leaves me two very reasonable days which should not abuse my heal any further. I expect to return to Santiago a fourth time this upcoming Thursday before noon time local time. Aside from being incredibly busy with long walking days and taking care of everything else and contacting my family when I can find the time, I have been preparing for this fourth visit. This journey has a special meaning and objective which I have very absorbed and readying myself for the arrival... That and there's just so many pilgrims to talk to and foods to explore (and fairness, the food along the front desk route is a lot less varied than it is on the Portuguese route).

But that also brings up another topic I've been thinking about. I have had a substantial amount of time on the Francis route and a very respectable amount of time on the Portuguese route. A discussion yesterday got me thinking. Which route had the nicest people. At first I was going to say "Well the Frances of course" but then I got thinking about the time I spent in Portugal and how incredibly friendly almost every Portuguese person was (and how much English they spoke). After some back and forth, I decided the Portuguese eaked out the Spanish buy a slim margin. Now if you wanted to ask me where I would rather live in Spain or Portugal, that was an easy answer. Portugal had a lot more variety, was much easier to travel through, and their investments in community outdoor activities was just mind-blowing. Couple that, with the fact that the older generations remember life under a dictatorship - something that is constantly taught to the younger generations, and you have a society that is genuinely happy for what they have.

Along the roots, I have met so many incredible people that it's hard to remember them all! Which is actually a serious problem, because walking down the trail I will have people calling out to me quite frequently and I have to suddenly try and recall who they are and where they're from. That aside, I have made some pretty tight connections along this journey, that I will be maintaining connections with. They don't come out here for the purpose of making friends, but on that same token, I don't come out here to avoid people. I walk my Camino solo, but I will help anybody in need to the best of my abilities even if that is just providing some veteran advice.

My official Camino mileage will total up to 375 km, add about another 10% to that because that's what you actually walk along the trail not counting at day's end and I will have put on well over 400 km in three short weeks. That's 400 km of refreshing the mind, the body, and the soul... That autta' last me a year or two before Tina starts packing my bags and shoving me out the door telling me just to go again so I'll shut up for another year 🤣.

Santiago in 2 days.

SANTIAGO!

This camino continues to be a blur as each day finishes before I feel like I got the most out of it.  Thursday was a largely uneventful walk into Padron Spain. Thursday night I had the pleasure of seeing up close one of them Stone remnants be broke that carried the apostles and change to the resting spot at Padron. The town is also nice and that it issues a certificate for visiting stone.

Friday, yesterday, saw me leaving and usually early for the cleaning portuguese. I was on the trail before 7:00 a.m., which is more of a trait that you would see on the Frances - he Portuguese typically starts later around 8:00 or even 8:30 a.m..  I don't know the full reason, but my pace was fast all day and I made very few stops for only a few moments each, taking a "full" rest break about 13km in. Around the 10km marker my pace went from fast to Fast. In Milliardo I decided to stop at a cafe for a quick break - I had no idea it would be so quick.  The short story, RUDE bikagrinos and a waitress catering to the rude, and my desire to stay a good Pilgrim and not unleash my anger upon someone desperately in need of a stay in the rubbish bin....  I left, quickly and aggressively, swearing to uphold my commitment as a peregrino.  My pace was now FAST!!!  I was not going to further delay my arrival in Santiago any moments longer then necessary.

The arrival in Santiago was very personal, emotional, extremely uplifting and refreshing - mind, body, and soul!  The rest of the afternoon was spent in mostly quiet contemplation before visiting the cathedral and completing the steps required for plenary indulgence.  I returned to the tomb of Saint James, fulfilling a promise made in 2018 viewing to make at least two more visits God allowing.  Later, a farewell meal at my favorite restaurant, Antollos pinchos e viños, with new members of my Camino family.

The above photo is Antollos himself - he remembered me from previous caminos (or so he said).  He runs a fantastic place and is an awesome host!  By the end of the night we were all friends, promising to meet next time I am in town (Spoiler : Next week).

I only committed on a final decision for next 6 days just this morning - The Camino provides and I will place my trust in the Camino.  I am traveling to Sarria, 115k. From Santiago on the Camino Frances...  I am going back to the route that started it all for me and going to walk for 5 more days and continue to process the deep impact this journey is having on me.  (So, yes, I will return this upcoming week for a fourth arrival.)

Catching up

I haven't been very active on social media or the blog the past few days - I have barely talked with Tina and only a few messages exchanged with my daughters.  I am just so alive and LIVING in the moment - read: I am totally immersed in this experience we call Camino!  A Camino is about three aspects; mind, body, and soul. The body, also the physical aspect of the journey, is the easiest to document as it is more of a journal of where I have been and what I have done. Mind, is more of the internal growth and the mental "Awakening" that one experiences while walking the camino. That leaves the spirit, which is also one of the hardest ones to articulate never mind even put into words.  Suffice it to say, I have been immersed in this experience and growing in mind body and soul every day!

I'll catch you up on the physical journey:

Monday's I pushed well into uncomfortable zone with Heel pushing it up to 25.5km. fortunately, the stop at the end of the day was an all-inclusive stop with dinner, breakfast, laundry machines on site, and a inground pool in the backyard!  Temperature had reached well into the '80s Fahrenheit which caused an uncomfortable slog into the albergue at the very end.  Fortunately, the pool was just warm enough to soak tired feet in. But being pilgrims, that wasn't enough, one broke Pilgrim decided to go for a swim. Then a few more decided to join them. They dared the American to jump.

CANNONBALL!!!

***SPLASH***

(All that water on the patio was from my cannonball!)

The irony, I was in freshly laundered clothes. I quickly stripped off everything but the swim trunks made sure the pockets were empty, and proceeded to make one of the biggest splashes I'm sure that pool has ever had 🤣. The pilgrims around derived a ton of amusement from my near instantaneous action...  Did I say that this place had a Washer and dryer?  Cuz I made use of it, twice 🤣.  The end result of all of this spontaneity, with many pilgrims having a spontaneous pool party and just having one of the best times without any scripting.

Tuesday, yesterday, saw a much easier day on the trail for me. There was only one hill of consequence that needed to be climbed and I was able to complete my days walk in a little over 18 km.

Coming down the back side of the hill, I found myself laughing out loud at the sheer amusement of a construction project. Apparently there is a major upgrade going to the n550 highway, causing major road construction. The amusing part, was the signage indicated that pilgrims had the right away and construction traffic always had to stop and yield to pilgrims 😲.

The last several kilometers went by in a blur because I bumped into one of my new friends from Portugal while I was taking the Riverwalk detour into Pontevedra.  We actually had a wonderful conversation about topics that people usually are too emotionally invested in to have any kind of meaningful conversation. The outcome, we decided, was all things in moderation and finding the right spot on the pendulum that feels good for each person.

Today saw 23.5 km of mostly non-eventful walking. The highlight of my day, I elected to treat myself for a whopping 50 euro, to stay at one of the thermal spas in Caldas del Reis. They have both an outdoor swimming pool, and a thermal spa, both heated my geothermal heat in the area. I have already had a chance to thoroughly enjoy thermal pool and I'm waiting for my allotted time to go to the thermal spa.

So enough of the physical journey, last night, while sitting down at a local tapas bar, one of the people that had joined me made an observation. He noted that I always seem to be comfortable wherever I'm at and particularly he noted that I seem to be at home. I told him not upon doing the Camino process in 2015, I learned to be comfortable where I was at when I was there. There was some other observations by the other people at the table which generally said I seemed to know what I was doing and was comfortable in whatever place I was in so everybody was grouping around me 🌝.  I took that as a very big compliment and I also took it as a testament it's the how intensely these Camino journeys have affected me.

There's more going around on the mental side of the journey, and absolutely tons on the spiritual side! It's an evolving process, and I'm not ready to put any of it into words, even if I think I could find the appropriate words.

In two days I make Santiago, tomorrow will be my last night along the Portuguese route and I will stay in Padron which is not only famous for its peppers, but it it carries a tremendous amount of significance for pilgrims on the Portuguese route. Padron is where the stone boat carrying the remains of St James washed ashore covered in scallops. That is the reason why pilgrims take immense care of displaying their scallop shells on their backpacks.

I cannot promise any frequency of updates. The next few days is promising to be a blur. I have some posts Santiago plans in the works but I'm not ready to commit to anything, much less announce any plans.

Camino overnight transformation.

I have gone from walking HOURS in solitude from other pilgrims to being stuck in an all day peregrino traffic jam.

even the pilgrim bars were jam packed at each stop

Apparently there are a couple of groups, all heading out from Tui today - reminiscent of the pilgrim traffic jam coming out of saria in 2015.  Fortunately, their hyper start saw them fading by O'porrino - Sadly, many of those groups were planning an extra 14km beyond, pushing to Redondela... Extra sad, MANY of the people in those groups were very unprepared for the walk in both physical readiness and in appropriate gear...

It is frustrating to see these groups, with people spending to dollar for someone to coordinate this for them, come out and suffer so.

Back to last night, the was so much activity in Tui, I don't know where to begin.  The was some sport being played in the nearby sport hall that last well past 10:30 complete with horns blowing and crowds loudly cheering.  Then there was the bandstand in the center of town, with bangs playing past 12:30 am - I know that because I some up briefly to hear the finale.

Today, upon arriving in O'porrino I found all the albergues were FULL, THAT, and there is a celebration going on in town.  Big festival with many of the streets closed to traffic and jammed up with locals celebrating.  At one of the albergues I checked in at, I met Rikesh from Porto who was likewise struggling to find  lodging.  I was close to heading and pushing to the next town I found ONE albergue with space.  We scored right over and found a BRAND NEW albergue, only opened yesterday.

SCORE!  Pod style beds and all the necessities, all for €12!

We quickly went about it chores and were ready to head out and explore the celebration.  We participated in the celebration's feast of choice.

It has a taste not unlike mild American chili, with chorizo and an assortment of mystery meats (I suspect tongue, ear, and a few other pieces) (yes, they have me Fanta instead of KAS).

So, back to waking, today definitely was more reminiscent of the crowds on the Frances which is not necessarily a bad thing just bit the solitude I had become spoiled with them last few days.  I expect this bubble to moderate over the next few days as the groups push their members harshly forward.

There was one very amusing event in the early morning, as I walked my stay pace the leaders in the groups out of Tui subconsciously found themselves trying to match my pace - it was not for them and the first semblance of a hill saw them fall into the distance quickly.

As I (finally) was walking in a wee-bit of peace I came across a road construction warning sign...  Only, this path was strictly pedestrian which confused me until I came upon a pedestrian stone bridge under reconstruction complete with all the treatment vehicle bridge would get.

A full on temporary pedestrian bridge, temporary fencing, signage, everything!  I was really amused see all of this considering so many other projects along the way and the very carefree manner they were handled, not then again I am now in Galicia and they tend to take the camino network the most serious of all the areas.

Spain!

Today I started walking about 7:30 heading up the coast to Caminha catching my first glimpse of Spain as I exited the city and rounded the corner.

The journey after that turned mostly straight making an almost laser straight line for the city over not quite 10 km. Upon arriving in Caminha I noticed there was some kind of ceremony by the waterfront so I was able to dart down and observe a rather large ceremony from the Portuguese Republican national guard (GNR).

I can only imagine the primary purpose, however during my observation there was a lot of formality and pump and circumstance.  Later, as I was waiting for my train, the GNR barricaded most of the downtown section. These built-in barricades carried a message that roughly translated to "today this road is for you"and I can tell you that the armed guards making sure no cars went through the barricade we're taking no excuses for anyone trying to get by. Apparently the streets are closed off and that section for pedestrian traffic only and if you were trying to drive a car you had to go around the long way.

I can tell you I had a wonderful time at the cafe well whittling away the time and indulged in two different treats suggested by the lady staffing the counter.

The short train ride to Valencia was largely uneventful and all of 22 minutes. Arriving in Valencia I once again made my way to the old fortified City where it still amazes me that anywhere else in the world this would be a historical site, yet here it is still as active and alive as it was when it was built. The town is full of shops, some even nestled into niches in the fortified walls. I enjoyed the brief stroll through there before heading out to the bridge into Spain.

I work my way through the approach to The Old City coming up the steep climb to the cathedral, passing it and heading down the back end through some steep stairs and a tunnel to my albergue.

I have to say this private albergue is quite a treat for a pilgrim with a luxurious back Garden and plenty of space for pilgrims to stretch out and relax.

My friend Charlton and I decided to head back into town and grab some eats.

No anyone who's been following my journeys for any length of time knowns that there is one item in Spain that I absolutely love that I just cannot get stateside.

KAS LIMON

Paired with a wonderful kas lemon was a Spanish omelette and to my surprise some zorza. Zorza is a very simple treat of pork meat marinated and wine some garlic in a few other spices and lots of sweet Spanish paprika. When prepared it is cooked in a pan with a generous amount of oil to crisp up the marinade coating resulting in an absolutely delicious product.

Waddling away from the meal we ventured into the local Supermercado only to find a dream come true for me:

I had a private chat, I would load up a whole bunch of that stuff and bring it back with me! But for today I had to suffice getting a few cans to bring back for the night.

A couple little observations.  Day two on my track, I stopped at the local to read my office and learned a wonderful phrase from the lady staffing the desk. I asked her how I could say I hope you have a wonderful day. She responded with the appropriate Portuguese phrase is "Espero que tenha um bom dia.". I can tell you that when I use it, it oftentimes brings a smile to the face of the people I am dealing with. Yes it's common for people to pick up a lot of simple phrases, but I think the act of learning that one phrase has changed the Dynamics of my interactions with people so many times. Today for example I was cashing out from the bakery, when I use the phrase with the lady at the end of the transaction. She motioned me to wait a minute and handed me a sampling of a cookie with a huge smile and a very sincere obrigado... Okay, the cookie was so delicious I bought a small box of them! There are other times when using the phrase during a transaction has really shifted the entire transaction and made it from an impersonal transaction to a sign of true gratitude.

Tomorrow I strike off across Spain heading north to Santiago de Compostela. I am enjoying this journey as much if not more than previous journeys. I feel very free and unencumbered even though every step down the trail I'm carrying all my belongings that I need for this journey with me. There are a few choices on paths coming up, but nothing major. In most of the path choices, it's a choice between a straight line shot through a busy area or a slightly longer pass but through a more beautiful area. I'm reasonably certain that I will opt for the prettier paths but as always I reserve the right to change my mind for any reason including but not limited to how the wind blows, sunspots, or what direction my breakfast pointed to in the morning. Through the stretch I expect the distances between myself, charlton, and Ed and Pat, too lengthen. While we are all battling physical issues that eliminating each of our journeys, I have my limitation the most dialed in and tamed - I usually can push Heel to about 22 km before it throws a fit. Charlton can get 15 to 16 km on his knee right now, anymore and he's done for the next day. It is currently around 12 km a day battling pain with every step. While I do expect to arrive in Santiago plenty ahead of everyone else, I also have aspirations of some additional trail mileage which I will discuss if the opportunity still is viable when I get there.

Last full day in Portugal

As I'm sitting here getting dinner at a local restaurant. I am both excited to enter Spain tomorrow and saddened to be leaving Portugal behind. The people of Portugal are so incredibly friendly and helpful that it's frankly embarrassing to so many nationalities that visit. The value that they put on Camino infrastructure in this country it's amazing. Literally dozens of kilometers of Oceanside boardwalk promenade and pathways for the purpose of recreation and fitness. Very very little of this country has privately owned oceanfront.

The food is always so incredibly fresh and then lock in the Camino you walk by many of the growers in producers of the foods here. As you've heard me say from other Canadian adventures, the bread and pastries, all artisinal, I baked fresh every night and delivered early in the morning to the pastry shops. You're a country that loves their bread and pastries, they are generally very thin, fit, and healthy! The most important aspect of it all I believe is that thing to have a singular pastry and a small cafe.

Today, today I was feeling more in an "adventurous" mood... Well okay, Heel was still a little upset from yesterday's walk so I was looking for anyway to make the walk easier so I decided to walk undocumented coastal section. 20 kilometers of freshly built roadway, halfway coming forward one, etc, all for the purpose of recreation and fitness. Upon leaving my last town, I was getting a little anxious because I was not seeing a ready supply of Camino directional arrows. As a matter of fact I only saw three of the entire distance leaving the city and they looked like they were impromptu ones put up by somebody else. The entire distance between the two major cities didn't work one single directional arrow. Fortunately the trail system they built so complete that no additional markings were needed, one just needed to walk the path. And in the places where it wasn't abundantly clear, one just needed to walk with the ocean on their left.

One of the really great things is it took me very very little time to fall back into my Camino walking groove in no time at all I was already walking with my entire world lead needs on my back living in the moment in the space I was in at the time. It is so extremely freeing to just get up and walk and stop and find watching when you're ready to start without setting an artificial goal for yourself of having to make specific goal... It is worth noting, and there are a few times because of logistical reasons, we do have to plan your day stock a little better like today. All that being said, it is very liberating to be on the trail and not to have any worries but you're immediate needs at the moment.