71 trips around the sun

 HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME

This is the second time I have finished a camino walk on my birthday,  I woke this morning and felt grateful that I can still do this, that I have the drive still to live out loud, and try to fill each day with life.

 It’s a chilly morning and we only have about 15 klm, or 10 miles to go to Santiago. Got a message from Kyle who we lost about a week ago on the coast, and he will be in Santiago when we get there later today, he making it in for my birthday, I am so happy about that, I guess we might have a beer when I get there in a few hours.

Mary Beth’s feet are A ok now , and she is trucking along right beside me, in fact, I think we have unleashed a monster 👹. I listen when she talks,and all I hear between the lines is,” I’ll do this again”

So, it’s time to start the day, hoof it out for a few hours and finish what we started two weeks ago.

                                                                  6/27/2022 in Santiago de Compostela, Spain  

Starting the last leg this morning



It’s been a great walk, had its ups and downs, it’s rain and shine, it’s nice accommodation and some shit holes, but I wouldn’t change a thing. 



At this stage, I could use a little nap myself

My 6 th Camino and every one has had its own personality. I loved the scenery along the coast, and the miles of boardwalk, the beachside cafes, and the friendly restaurants, but for me, it wasn’t a Camino till we joined with the central route in Redondela.





This was when I felt at home on the road, it was familiar. The accommodation was familiar, we got to meet many more pilgrims on the trail, shared stories, had pilgrim rest stops  and “ donativo “ stalls out in the weirdest of places,this was the cam8no I remembered.

Some boots just don’t make the distance.




We had three hard hours To go today to get to the cathedral, and I think I pushed the pace quite a bit. MB was right there all the way, she is so fit at this stage, and her feet are no longer a big problem. When we started two weeks ago, I used to watch her struggle to man handle her back path onto her shoulders, today she swings it like it’s empty, which I know it’s not, if nothing else,,,,,I know there is chocolate in there.

The trail today was a mix of forest, wild open space,  then asphalt and concrete as we got closer to the old city.





We walked in to the old city but instead of going straight in, we walked around behind the old section and came in from the French Camino side, this is the traditional way in and takes you through the arches and past the ever present bagpipe players, from there, it’s straight onto the plaza, and there it is, the Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela , ,,,,,,,,and it’s over.

Kyle, myself, Mary Beth , at the end


Let me just lay here and soak it in on the plaza

There was the buzz of other pilgrims finishing, hugging each other ,tears for finishing, then out of the blue comes Kyle. So good to see him again.




 We took off for the pilgrim office and presented our stamped credentials at sign in, got registered and received our compastelas ( certificate in Latin, with our Latin names, declaring us as pilgrims of the walk)

MB and I checked into our hotel , she then did her handgrenade thing, I hid and took a shower, then we met Kyle for a birthday lunch before he headed out to the train station to begin his journey home. 

We sat in this excellent restaurant in the old city, and I dove into the best ( and biggest) steak I’ve had in a long time, happy birthday me.



Tomorrow we will see the city which I now know pretty well, take in the service at the cathedral, hoping they swing the butafumero, then chill out and get ready for an early morning flight home the next day.


I hope to post one more time, once I collect my thoughts on the journey

BUEN CAMINO





Mary did handgrenade timpression

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Day 3 of walking

Image
 FAO TO VIANA DO CASTILO Today was a challenging day to say the least. The  day was supposed to be a short one to a town on a lake that was shown in the guide book I bought in Porto. This guide book is as useless as tits on a bull, the lake and town don’t even exist., this forced us into a 20 Mile day and nine hours of walking. Today we started out after Kyle because it rained last night and our clothes were still wet. What to do but hang them on the back of our packs and walk them dry. We did not look very tidy, more like a moving garage sale, but it worked. The town of Fao was our start point, but soon arrived in Esposende which seemed deserted because it was a national holiday, something we got to share in later down the road.   We had breakfast in Esposende and then the trail took us into the mountains. We had not done any elevation work yet, but we’re not worried as we were going to stop at the lake for the night, we’ll now we know that doesn’t exist, but still,,,,,,...
Read more

1st day on the WAY ,Porto to Villa de Condo

Image
 It’s always a long day, day one will make or break you, but we made it with some trepidation. Mary Beth was a trooper, I on the other hand, was not that comfortable, it’s been awhile and I forgot I’m older since the last go round. Bom Camino is Portuguese, BUEN Camino is Spanish, it all means “ have a good pilgrimage” A larger than life camino way marker We left Porto, and dropping down to the beach in Matasinhos, we walked into a coffee shop near the harbor, before the devil in Mary Beth got out and took control, once we had finished her morning coffee therapy, we crossed the River Ave via the Ponte Movel opening bridge, that in itself being considered the official start of the coastal way. For about15 miles, we walked the beaches and dunes along a continuous wood boardwalk,  last time I came through here, most of the boardwalk had not been built. I don’t think anywhere else in the world has one this long. Crab traps at the old fishing village Start of the 15 miles of wooden...
Read more

Day1, Porto

Image
 A WELCOME RETURN It seems a little strange to be back on the camino, what with COVID changing the world and how we think and operate now. I excited to walk again, and I’m doing it with Mary Beth who is walking a camino for the first time. I have walked the Portuguese Camino before, 6 years ago, but there are two routes out of Porto, and this time I’m following the coastal route which will be new to me. The Camino has become so important to so many who have walked it, for so so many personal reasons. Some religious, some spiritual, some for fun, and some who have no idea why they are here, but everyone always has answers when they reach the end, I’m really excited and happy to walk this 300 kilometers with Mary Beth, and I think it will have a lasting effect on her, as with me again, when we get to Santiago de Compostela in Spain. Compostela is the Latin word for “ field of stars”, a reference to the finding of the tomb of the apostle, “ Saint James the greater”, after being behead...
Read more