Yes it goes on and on my friend.... Ok, not really the truth as a matter of fact we have less than 7 km to go. however when you're dealing with the injuries Tina dealing with the road just seems to go on and on and on Without End.
By the way tomorrow is the Santiago invasion and occupation. today was actually a little heartbreaking and sorts because many of the pilgrim friends we had met along the way and various Fashions casually or otherwise we're pushing today clear to Santiago and leaving town tomorrow. The trail today was a trail of Quasi-teary goodbyes as we bid an Ultreia farewell to our friends. For my Camino friends they know how easy and quickly type bonding Camino friendships become, for those who have not walked Camino it's a very hard sensation to describe other than there is a near immediate bonding with so many people. Some people we seem to bump into everyday. Some people we've only met recently. Some people Proclaim that we have assisted them in some way. Whatever the reasons for the friendship it seemed today we were passed by a constant stream of peregrinos all wishing us the best in our future as we likewise expressed our best wishes.
Tonight Tina and I are enjoying a quiet relaxing night in the largest suburb of Santiago before we invade tomorrow. Looking back time seems to have stopped this brief week and a half that we've been out here. When we set out we had an aspiration of Walking the Camino Portuguese from Porto along the coast for a while and then changing to an Inland route. We tried our best to leave ourselves at the mercy of the Camino and let it guide our movements and not us forcing our movements in the Camino.
The first day out a minor ankle twist ultimately manifested into a full-sprain. Thanks to the wonderful Portuguese and Spanish farmacias we were able to continue Along on a modified itinerary. out of a possible 240 km we will have walked 177 of those when we arrive in Santiago tomorrow. Along those km we have always put ourselves at the mercy of the Camino, gotten beat down on a daily basis, yet at the end of the day we were always shown kindness as we soaked in the local culture.
Was this a transformative experience like my Camino Frances trip in 2015? No it was an entirely different experience. The 2015 Camino was a solo Journey for myself over 800 km and 7 weeks away from home. This is a joint Journey over a hundred and seventy-seven km in only 2 weeks away from home. Does that mean that the journey itself was without results, absolutely not. While Tina and I are very comfortable in our relationship this journey did help us both reaffirm our commitment to each other.
Tina's own personal take on the Camino she will have to express on her own. for me it was almost like coming back to see a friend you haven't seen in awhile. While a different Camino, it is still a Camino, and you can feel the warm comforting embrace of the Camino. this Camino in the short two weeks probably tested my patience more than the entire Camino Frances did over the whole 7 weeks. Being a younger Camino and still under very active development, I found sections of it more challenging then I would have suspected given the documentation in the guide books. Either way my commitment to not let the Camino conquer me but to ultimately embrace the Camino and finish as friends with the Camino still stayed strong.
Tomorrow promises to be a very emotional day.
Photos:
https://photos.app.goo.gl/BrwX3kEc8aytbNMo9
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