Backpacking Bill

We started with breakfast at a place that had a full breakfast, almost like being back home.

We had promised our tour guide that we would visit the church Igreja de Sāo Roque. It is distinctive by having a plain exterior and a lavish interior. That was the case indeed.

We then shopped, napped and had dinner.

In the morning we boarded our flight home. Due to blown tires the flight was delayed a couple hours.

We made it home about 10:00 pm

Later I plan to post some reflections regarding our adventure.

It looks like we are going to have a truly blessed day to see the sights in Lisbon. The forecast is for clear skies and 75°F (I still don’t have a clue regarding °C). The plan is to do some shopping as well, they make anything out of cork here; I understand that it holds up better than I would have guessed. I thought all they did with cork was to seal wine bottles.

I notice that Tina and I are sleeping a lot. Recovery from the Camino must be longer than we realized. The best plan, I believe, is to sleep a lot, eat responsibly and not plan a lot of activity.

We are starting the day with a Tuk-Tuk tour. We were going to do the Hop On Hop Off bus tour but they didn’t have very high ratings in Lisbon.

Tiago explained this controversial monument. The 25th of April was the date that the dictatorship was overthrown in 1974 known as the Carnation Revolution. On the right is a red disc (kind of reddish,) on a green pedestal (kind of greenish) that symbolizes a carnation. On the left is an obelisk that squirts water (Tiago pointed out that locals are disturbed by the phallic nature of the obelisk).

During a visit by Pope Francis, the obelisk was dismantled for “restoration”.

Lisbon is beautiful.  So much more spread out  and light filled than Porto.

Starting off as a cloudy day in Porto but, we will be heading for the train station for our trip to Lisbon. It happens that seniors get half price tickets for train travel in Portugal. (Most countries in the EU restrict the discount to citizens). Since we got the discount, we upgraded our travel to more comfortable seating.

We found our lodging  to be really great in comparison to some that we recently had. And, it is in a great part of town.

Our lodging was near the Museo de Guarda.

In the evening we went to listen to Faco music being performed in our hotel. Lasted for three songs then went to bed. Maybe we will last longer on another evening.

We went down to the riverfront.  Porto is a popular tourist destination. The city was packed with people and it is quite hilly. Lots of shops selling souvenirs: anything made with cork, tiles like the ones that cover every building and wine. We needed quiet and reflection, not a carnival atmosphere. We walked around and by late afternoon came back to the hotel for a long sleep.

Livraria Lello is a unique bookstore. Very fancy with a unique staircase. The line was over an hour to get in. Plus the 16€ ticket fee discouraged us from going. There is a local legend that scenes from Harry Potter were filmed here, that is not true.

Porto, like most cities in Europe has plenty of  churches. This one, Clerigos, is Baroque style built in the 1800’s. It is currently part church and part museum.

We started the day with breakfast at the hotel, it was excellent.

We signed up for an all day tour of the Douro. We will be on a bus for most of the tour and a portion by boat. We found that Ubers are common here so we Ubered to the starting point. This will be our first bus tour on the trip. Looking forward to riding and not having to find places to eat.

We have been reading about the protests going on around Europe. Porto is not exempt. The bus has to alter the drop off place in the evening due to anticipated protests.

We started the day with two types of port wine

The tour was ten hours, all were ready to end the day. Nobody wanted another glass of wine.

Our time in Santiago de Compostela is short. We are booked on a bus to Porto, Portugal the morning after we get to Santiago. We plan to relax for a few days in Porto as well as take in some sights.

Before we left Santiago we met our friend Helen for breakfast. She is spending a few days here. Although we may have enjoyed a few days here as well, I believe it was a good choice. The weather is getting bad. We would have liked to attend a Pilgrim mass. However, the cathedral services are on hold due to renovations. We could not have seen the Botafumiero (the giant censer used in Pilgrim Masses -Giant I am told, due to the odor from the Pilgrims).

We had a midday bus to Porto. One thing that struck me while Tina slept was how far it is to Porto. 149 miles – 240 km. The notion of walking the Camino Portuguese was not appealing at all.

This is the last day. For the last month or so I have had nothing to think about except to get up, get the luggage in place for pickup, eat and walk. The route is laid out with markers and yellow arrows. I may miss the predictability as I grasp new challenges.

Looking back on that predictable time reminds me of the lines from Camus: “The struggle itself towards the heights is enough to fill a man’s heart. One must imagine Sisyphus happy,”

Imagine me remembering Camus

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Native Spanish don’t like the Eucalyptus Trees as they are a significant fire hazard in dry years.

We met our friends from Austin when we picked up our Compastellas

We had lunch with our friends from Maine

Tina’s Thoughts.

WE ARRIVED in SaNTIAGO de COMPESTELA!

Woo Hoo!   🥳🎉🎉

As we walked onto the Cathedral grounds to the sounds of Amazing Grace playing on the bagpipes I was surprisingly overcome with emotion.  It has been a journey and a challenge and we did it.  Joy, relief and gratitude are what I feel right now.

The cathedral is undergoing renovation so it was a bit chaotic with construction and myriads of people all around   it has also turned very cold these last few days of our walk so we were eager to get our paperwork from the pilgrim office and sit  somewhere warm.

O Pedrouzo is the last stop before we enter Santiago. I am happy to be at the end; however, I am not feeling elation. I believe this to be a common response. When I completed the Portuguese in 2018, I noticed that there were no cheering or dancing people in the plaza at the Cathedral. Occasionally a “Hurray”.

This was a quiet day. The weather was overcast, Tina dials not feel well and we did not take photographs.

We went to a pilgrim mass at the local church. We felt that it was a fitting thing to do on your last night on the Camino. We had dinner (dinner was a challenge since most of the eating establishments close their kitchen from 4:00 pm until 8:00 pm – you can get a haircut but you can’t get a hamburger).  We went to bed early.

Earlier today we spent some time in a local point of interest.

Note: I should have mentioned in the beginning of my blogs that I publish in the morning. When you read this, Tina and I will likely be in Santiago. We have one night there then travel to Porto for our recovery time.

The end is nearly at hand. We have a comparatively short walk today, 9 miles. It occurs to me this morning that those who have been following this blog are probably as anxious for our Camino to end as we are. After all, quaint Spanish villages, stone bridges and medieval chapels all start looking the same by this time in our journey.

I believe I am entering the mental state of the end of the Camino. I believe it to be a time for reflection as well as celebration.

This was a cold gray day – didn’t take many photos.

This morning we had a better look at our lodging.

I understand that our lodging facility was originally a religious community.

I can’t believe this is our 40th day walking.

This was an average day of about 12 miles. Not much new in the countryside.

The group of boys wanted to speak English with a native. At every place that gave out pilgrim stamps, the boys swarmed the place to get their stamps. One of the chaperones has a friend who played Soccer for Clemson. They were full of energy but very respectful.