The last day on my own in Lisbon....

Alexa is off for the day with our good Camino friend and companion, Steve who came to see us from Ireland...
and I find myself a bit listless...and contemplative.

Cafe con leche is first and foremost at the start of this day, like everyday on the Camino...
When I return home I have a list of meal customs (and dishes) that will become a part of my daily life, and one of them is hot milk with hot coffee in the morning!

I have been writing in my journal, listening to the music that has accompanied me over the past two months, and reading poetry that I either brought with me or that came to me along the way...

This is one favorite poem to share before I head out for the next part of my day,
 in beautiful sunny Lisbon...



We shape ourself
to fit this world

and by the world
are shaped again.

The visible
and the invisible

working together
in common cause,

to produce
the miraculous.

I am thinking of the way
the intangible air

passed at speed
round a shaped wing

easily
holds our weight.

So may we, in this life
trust

to those elements
we have yet to see

or imagine,
and look for the true
shape of our ownself,
by forming it well

to the great
intangibles about us.



David Whyte

a new journey begins.........

So much has happened since our last post. We made our way through Galicia...small little hamlets where you trek through cow pies and dirt or stone paths...sometimes along the river but no main roads really. The feeling is awesome....I sang to myself outloud, carried stones and left some behind...holding my thoughts and intentions...and walked completely alone for long stretches...The closer we got to Santiago the more new pilgrims we saw on the Camino. The truth is we avoided them...they were too perky and asking the early questions we had left behind.."Where did you start, why are you doing the Camino?" We avoided the large Albergues choosing instead the smallest ones in the lesser known areas.We averaged 25 to 30 km a day.

By the time we reached Santiago...we were tired and excited...also strange to know we had arrived. Our pilgrim familia waited four hours for us to enter the plaza l`Obradoiro in front of the main Cathedral and sang to us as we walked in!! It has been an emotional experience...all the endings and good-byes that have come up one by one as each of us have departed! We decided to go to Finesterre for three days and return to Santiago for the Holy Day. Finesterre is known as the end of the known world...it was wonderful to go there and do a bit of decompression...and spend time with our friends. Alexa and I spent the night out by the light house...at the edge of the Atlantic ocean..It was awesome! It will be remebered as one of the top moments of our pilgimage...So beautiful....we just slept outside between the big rocks...

We returned to Santiago for the Holy Day...streets super crowded as we expected...apparently the King and Queen of Spain were there...didn´t have a clue...there was so much going on...fireworks, huge fun carnival, bands, parades all night long! We visited the cathedral and got ourselves commemorative small siver medallions which we are wearing on our wrists....

We are now in Oporto, Portugal...been here three days ans heading to a small seaside town tomorrow.
I am filled with a mixture of emotions...a sense of accomplishment for having made the 800km journey across Spain...oddly empty at the ending of it all, new inspirations for the next part of my journey...and missing the walking and our friends....we´ll be home soon and that will be good too...

Planning to post photos upon return....I have a gazillion to share!

In the flats...

We're in flats headed toward the city of Leon...this is the stage of the Camino called La Meseta...known for being flat, long hot stretches with nothing in between...few trees if any and not many places to stop for water. It is time you spend with yourself. Peregrinos get up and out early...5am or so to try to avoid the hot afternoon sun. On our way to the small town of Berciano, we found cool shade under an overpass under construction...under some scaffolding! We are more than half way to Santiago.... though there is much ground to cover still as next we'll head into Galicia. There are new pilgrims just starting as we get closer to Santiago. This Ano Jacobeo, which won't come again for 11 more years, attracts twice the number of people to the Camino. There is concern about overcrowding but we will take it day by day and focus in the moment and aren't worried about it. We met a French man who is walking with his donkey named "Licorice". It wears a straw hat with holes for it's ears! We have been staying in smaller parish albergues where dinner is served communal style and everybody helps prepare the meal and clean up. In Berciano we stayed in a 16th century adobe monastery. It was very cool...Despite lack of television there is alot of enthusiasm for the on-going World Cup soccer championships...Spain is still in and it matters in a big way to Spaniards...I'm sure we'll stay informed on this subject.

Getting totally philosophical...

I am in Santo Domingo de Silos...famous for it's singing monjos (monks) known for their beautiful Gregorian chanting. Imagine being in an old stone cathedral high in the mountains overlooking a picturesque valley...the acoustics are perfect for Los Cantos...the chants. I am taking a brief detour here after arriving in Burgos, the capital of the Castilla and Leon region. Alexa and I have walked every day (generally 23 to 30km per day...and yes our pants are sagging). This has been our first real break...There has been much celebrating going on for the Fiestas de San Juan...as well as the Fiestas de San Pablo and San Pedro...the Saints famous in the region. We arrived in Burgos to crowded streets during a city wide parade along the main street and the Plaza Mayor...and had to wend our way through crowds with bulky packs as we had to follow the conch shell or yellow arrow symbols of the Camino in order to know where we were going...we thought people would be annoyed with us but instead they were kind and wished us "Buen Camino!" and "peregrinos!" There were huge fireworks and people partied in the streets all night long...including a few peregrinos! The "fiestas" are popular and we have been catching them from town to town.

We have met a father and son duo from Oxford, and another mother-daughter from Boston. Alexa and I have found a way to work out her need to stay with the Camino friends group and my need to do a detour here and there by seperating out as neccesary. It is working out. We are
together but are respecting our individual needs along the way, as it should be. I find the
Camino to be a deeply personal experience and is feels like a perfect metaphor for the way we
live life. You are on your own journey and it takes you many places. You meet many people and
have many experiences along the way. You connect, you share, you laugh, you struggle, you
grow...Ultimately we understand that we must walk the Camino on our own terms...in a way that is a true relection of who we are. We must be true to ourselves. It is the work of our lives. Sometimes we attach to things because they give us comfort or inspiration or a sense of belonging. But if we are not growing we have to seek a path in which we can...It is solely up to us to find our way...we can't let fear get in the way...we must rest and reflect
as neccessary...it is up to each individual to find the nutrients in life that feed us. It is important to know who we are.

m

The feet, the knees....

It feels like 100 days ago since I last posted...so much happens everyday it's hard to believe we left home just 8 days ago. Our routine is...we're up early at 6:30am...out the door and walking no later than 7:30m. We stop for breakfast at the first town with an open "bar" for cafe con leche and un pan dulce...the first town might be 2 to 7km along the way. The longest day of walking (yesterday) was 28km from Pamplona to Puente La Reina. We're a bit stunned about it actually...but it's one foot in front of the other and we take it one kilometer at a time...we have walked now for six days straight! It has been difficult posting pictures...technology and time issues, so I'm happy to post today in the town of Estella. There's never enough time in the day. Just to back track a bit...we decided to start over the Pyrenees one day earlier than originally planned due to impending poor weather conditions and the fact that we were simply ready to go. We were so fortunate because the rains came (both days) just AFTER we arrived to our destination. The Pyrenees crossing was ABSOLUTELY BEAUTIFUL!!! I'm beginning to appreciate silence in the earliest morning part of our daily walking...it allows me to let it all sink in...deeply...how it feels underfoot, the perpetual sound of birds singing, how vast the sky is...my heart beating, my breath...the cool air hitting my face..It feels like I open up to the day with greater purpose...and all my senses come to life.
Much to say but in need of a meal and as we're in the Navarra region, looking forward to
some Crianza wine!