Day1, Porto

 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 beheaded by King Herod Agrippa, St James’s body was left in the wilds for the wild animals to eat, but two of St James’s followers stole the body and returned it to Spain where he had been sharing his teachings. There he was buried in a hidden tomb. As the story goes,, 800 years later, a hermit found the cave and shared its location with a local priest, the priest recognized the adornments on the corpse and told King Alfonso of the find, the king named St James the official patron Saint of SPAIN.

the King built the first temple on the place of the grave and pilgrim started walking to honor St James from all over the known world. The temple was destroyed by the invading Moors and in 977 AD, a new temple was built over the old one. Pilgrims once again started to come to the city, and the pilgrimage became one of the greatest pilgrim journeys, and greatest pilgrim sight in the world. The first pilgrim guide to Santiago was published in the 12 th century, and it was called “the code calixtinus”.

With the rise in the number of pilgrims walking the WAY, crime was on the increase and pilgrims were being beaten and robed, this prompted the creation of the Order of the Knights of Saint James, a group of knights charged with defending the pilgrims.

At the end of the Middle Ages, the Camino was all but forgotten due to civil uprising and economical down turns.

The In the 20th century the Camino seemed to have been rediscovered and the new age of the modern pilgrim began. It was mainly in the 1980 s that it really took off, and in 1985, the city of Santiago was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

This is my 6th Camino, over 3000 kilometers of it, and it still calls.

Following my blog each day is easy, just remember I dates it backwards so it read from top to bottom. Read down the page, and when the page won’t scroll down anymore, go to “OLDER POSTS”, click on that and it will take you to the newer post and next page

We arrived in Porto today and walked around this, one of my favorite cities in Europe, had lunch and an carafe of white Sangria, 

Prior to getting here, we drove via “FATIMA”, the site if the appearance of the Lady of Fatima, the blessed Virgin Mary, who appeared to three children as an apparition in 1917, and appeared every month for 6 months, on the 13 th day, and who now attracts hundred of thousands of catholic christians every year to the town n the hopes she will reappear.

We arrived during communion.

now early to bed as the steps start adding up tomorrow morning.

Marybeth standing alongside her first Camino Way sign, she smiled when I mentioned that” they are many many more of those in your near future dear”