Tom and Val - Camino

Below is a blog from Tom and Val on their travels across Portugal and into Spain - over 3 weeks.... and all on foot!

05/06/2022

Sitting at the airport contemplating the meaning of life and potential flight delays, got me remembering what someone asked me about Camino. “What is camino and what do you get from it?”

Camino means The Way. So Camino Santiago de Compostella means ‘The way of St. James of the Earth and Stars.’

What we get from walking the Camino is something that is greater than the sum of its parts. By that I mean, The Way has been walked for over 1,000 years and everyone who has walked the way over that time, has left something of themselves behind. We also leave something of ourselves there, and we take a little of what everyone else has left before us. So we get more than we give.

Also the walk is really incidental to the way. It’s the atmosphere, the interaction and spirituality of the way. The interconnectedness of things. Who we meet, where we meet them, how we meet and what we do, like share a meal or a beer, or walk and chat with another peregrino. (pilgrim)

We didn’t do the last Camino for any religious reason although the religious element is ever present and runs alongside the spiritual element. We’re not walking this Camino for religious reasons either. We’re walking it for the joy and pleasure of meeting others who also get more that they give. To see the country at a slower pace than we’d get if we were on an organised tour. We get time. A precious commodity these days. Time to reflect on life’s pleasures and problems and process them so that we are in control of them and not the other way round.

Some of you might be thinking “he’s lost it!” Quite possible but I’d like to think that what I’ve lost is some of the stresses that life throws our way.

Follow us through Portugal and Spain and see what you get from our experiences.

06/06/2022

Having spent the day yesterday exploring Oporto with its narrow streets, dark alleys, interesting shops, delicious restaurants and tall colonial style buildings, we set off this morning on our Camino proper.

Following the coast path and keeping the sea on our left, we passed the fishing port of Oporto. Fish kiosks abound. All selling their wares. But on the streets was the constant aroma of we’ll gone off fish 🐠, which would make anyone who doesn’t like fish continue not liking it but with much greater passion.

Once out of nose shot of gone off fish, the way became more open and we walked along the seashore for several miles on a boardwalk. The ruggedness of this part of the coast is reminiscent on some parts of the north Cornish coast. Black rocks and white sand. We were overtaken by several other perigrinos, most of whom were a lot younger than us which made their overtaking us OK.

We’re now in our albergue in a small town called Labruge. Sounds French, but it ain’t. There’s a fish restaurant about a mile down the road and we could smell BBQ’d sardines. That could be dinner tonight.

08/06/2022

Well, a change in the weather. Not rain, not drizzle but that very fine mizzle that can soak you without you knowing it. Apart from that, we had a very easy walk along the boardwalk with pink wild roses to colour our path. Several local couples around our age would stop us and wish us ‘bom Caminho’ and give us kind words in Portuguese that basically said their hearts were with us. This, to us, is part of the Camino magic, where people’s spontaneity and love and joy shine through.

In one village we met a couple from the wilds of Cheshire. They weren’t walking the Camino, they were holidaying, but they knew the way. In another village a couple from Holland stopped us for a chat. They have walked a Camino before but arthritis and tin knees has stopped them from sallying forth on another one.

We stopped or a late lunch in Povoa Varzim. Val had a Franchesina, which is a toasted baguette with ham, cheese and salami covered in their ‘special’ sauce. Basically baked bean juice.

I went for the bacalhau which is a cod salad. Their idea of salad is onions and olives. The bacalhau is dry salt cod reconstituted in water but essentially raw. An experience not to be missed and never to be repeated!!

After more soggy mizzle walking, we made it to our posh hotel. It’s got all the trimmings including a pool which, if the rain stops, we’ll take a dip. It’s an outdoor pool and we don’t want to get wet in the rain. We have a sea view from our balcony but we can’t see the sea because of the misty mizzle. Hey, Ho. But we do have a nice dinner to look forward to later and the forecast is good for many days after today. So we’ll find more of the Camino magic which should become stronger as we get closer to Santiago.

10/06/2022

Well, I got over the raw fish and onions! Drastically!!

The weather is getting hotter but there’s a cooling sea breeze which keeps us from boiling away, most of the time. But as we get further inland, the breeze becomes less and the heat more intense. No blisters for me but poor Val is having some foot pain which is causing her to walk a bit lopsided and she’s got a blister which fortunately doesn’t hurt. Hopefully, it’ll calm down as she gets into her stride.

We’ve been walking through forests of eucalyptus and cedar and the heady scent of these resins coupled with that dry, herby Mediterranean smell has been intoxicating. We wish we could bottle it and bring it home.

One thing we’ve noticed on this Camino is that there are many more older folk setting forth and striding purposely toward Santiago.

Our Albergue this evening has folk from several European countries and even though the language is a bit of a barrier, we all seem to be able to communicate without start another war. We’re the only Brits and we’re sharing a room with a chap from the states and a young lady pilgrim from Hungary. It’s her first Camino and she’s very excited to be here. And she said how much she admires us for walking our Camino. She must think we’re both so very old and that we’re out on our own without any carers.

I think today’s highlight has been sitting in a bus shelter eating our lunch of 24cent cheese rolls and 64cent apple, oranges and grapes. In total, less than a euro.

12/06/2022

We took a wrong turn today. Oops! It didn’t cause any problems, we just walked through a boring bit of town.

We are still walking the coastal route although it’s actually up in the hills in amongst the little villages all with cobblestone streets, which made it very difficult to walk on. We’re well away from the sea but we could see it from the high hills we were walking.

We walked through another forest of eucalyptus and leaves rained down on us like confetti. Val said they look more like flat banana skins. One of us sees the romantic view, while the other says it how it is.

We renamed a eucalyptus today the photo will show you why. Using the scientific bio nomenclature that all plants are defined by, we’re calling this one E. Phillipii x headerier. This is based on the tree’s seed case.

Our walk was long 15/16 miles. Very hot but there was always a cooling breeze and some shade to walk under. We met a couple from California who we’re thinking about finding a hotel and calling a cab to take them on to their overnight stop. I wonder if at sometime in the future, they’ll stop to think about the bit they missed out.

We stayed at an albergue in the seaside town of Vila Praia de Ancora. The view from the front door was amazing. I’ve added it to pics.

The route so far has been a bit disappointing. We’ve really had to rummage to gain a sense of the spirit of Camino. This part of Portugal is commercialised toward the sea and water sports. The churches, large and small and often closed, carry something of the Camino magic and there’s nearly always a small statue of Santiago in a niche in a corner. We try not to compare with our experiences of our first Camino but generally it seems that Northern Spain is far more geared up for pilgrims, whether on a religious or a spiritual journey. Portugal seems to be lacking in this regard.

Well that was yesterday.

Today, another hot 🥵 day. We reckon it touched 30degrees and not much shade. It was a case of many water stops and bars for cold lemon drinks.

We’ve reached our stop for today Vila Nova de Cerveira having not seen many pilgrims or anyone else for that matter. Probably too hot. Only mad dogs and Englishmen as the song goes.

We walked along the river ‘Rio Minho’ which is the physical border between Portugal and Spain. Pic added. Many folk take a ferry across the river to Spain and carry on Caminoing on that side of the river. We though about it but decided to stay in Portugal for a couple more days.

We’re staying in a youth hostel and we have a private room with a balcony and a view of the mountains behind the town. It’s just like a hotel and is less than quarter full.

Our pilgrim Credencial is getting fuller with stamps collected enroute. We need two stamps each day to prove we’ve covered the ground. We present this at the pilgrims office in Santiago and after answering the question, “ why are you walking the Camino?”, we get our Compostela, certificate, written in Latin. It’s a proud moment.

Well, that’s all for now. We hope you’re enjoying reading our blog , ‘cos there’s more to come yet!!

14/06/2022

After walking 130km, we’re having a rest day in the border city of Valença. Over the rio Minho is the Spanish city of Tui. Now, I’m a devotee of Bernard Cornwell’s Sharpe novels, set in the Peninsula wars against Napoleon and I’m sure my literary hero bumped off a few Frenchmen around here. The description of a Portuguese fort as described in the book Sharpe’s Battle, is so very similar to the the city fort of Valença, down to the gun slits in the porticos. There a pic of the fort entrance

However, inside the city fort is a maze of wiggly streets and alleyways, little squares and small cafes, along with one or two expensive restaurants. The Camino route is also found running through the city. Yellow arrows painted on walls and on streets and small metal squares with the Camino symbol, the scallop shell, on the roads and pavements.

We saw several peregrinos walking through the town. This is a major pilgrim town with several different routes coming together. However, there isn’t much for the peregrinos to savour.

We took a land train across the river to Tui and the difference in approach toward the Camino was amazing. It reminded us of our first Camino. As we thought, the Spanish understand what Camino is about and what travellers want. The atmosphere in Tui felt more as we remembered and if you can remember the last time we did this, I wrote about the pilgrim menus. A three course meal, good wholesome cooking including wine, for about €10 and several of the restaurants and cafes had pilgrim menus displayed.

So tomorrow starts the next leg of our journey toward Santiago and we say ta ta to Portugal. I’m not sure of what I think of Portugal. It is a lovely country but perhaps we took the wrong path and instead of walking along the commercialised coast, we should have kept to the inland route called The Central. Nevertheless, so far we’ve had a most brilliant adventure, raw fish and onions aside.

16/06/2022

Well we’re now in Spain and like I said when we crossed the bridge into Tui, the difference here in the appreciation of Camino is a tangible thing. Spain has that deeper understanding of what Camino is about. The old ways of Spanish heritage and tradition are very strongly held but run alon Wall’. It was all a real effort and when we reached our albergue in the town of Porriño (we called it porridge) for the night, I felt too tired to be tired. We also arrived about 3.00 pm which is a good time but the restaurants were all closed until 7.00pm and they’d finished the lunch menu. aghhh. We did find a splendid cafe and we sated our voracious appetites with a Bocadillo each. That’s about a whole fat baguette filled with cheese, ham and salad. Washed down with a big beer.

Last highlight of the day-we saw a funeral.

Today, three lovely things happened. First, we were pondering which path to take and a nice old chap game out from his little vine yard and pointed the way for us. Thanking him, we went along the path. At the bottom of the path, which coincided with the bottom of this chap’s vine yard, he appeared again and pointed us to cross the busy road and follow the railway opposite. So we did.

Second, again we were pondering the route and another elderly chap who had loads of tattoos came rushing across the road with his dog and took us out of his way to the path.

Third, a man spontaneously gave Val a large scallop shell. It wasn’t solicited, he just did it.

We also met a young lady in some woods who was playing the Galician pipes. They’re like bagpipes but with nicer tunes.

With any luck, the link above will take you to YouTube to hear Carlos Nuñes playing the Galician Pipes. A nice tune.

So today has been nice. I don’t feel tired and neither does Val. We’ve had a good pilgrim lunch which although took nearly two hours to order, serve and eat, was extremely tasty and washed down with a cold beer.

We’re now in our albergue in Redondela, showered and changed and resting.

18/02/2022

We left Redondela with some fab memories because it was fiesta time and some of the streets were decorated with flower pictures. There was a brass band playing in the park and we sat and listened to them. We moved across the park to see the Galician traditional dancing and hear the pipe playing. Unfortunately, the weather decided not to be helpful and it rained. Heavily. With thunder thrown in for good measure.

We trotted off to a cafe for a bite to eat and a drink, watched an off duty lady pretending to be a statue, getting bored and having a fag. Then back between rain showers to our albergue, which was run by a nun who had a lovely sense of humour and a hairy top lip. I shouldn’t say this, but she reminded me of a song by Jake Thackeray, called Sister Josephine (it’s on YouTube).

Our walk took us up a lot of hills and ancient tracks, some which must have been there for almost as long as these pilgrimages have been in existence. We could see where the wheels of the carts had carved furrows into the laid stone. I could imagine those ancient folk driving their animals along these lanes to wherever they we’re going. I could see the history of those ancient people and the lives they led. This is Camino.

The last four kilometres was through a lovely wood, following a river’s course as it meandered its lazy way through this forest. The sunshine dribbled through trees to let its light hit our eyes and add warmth to our faces.

We reached Pontevedra, an ancient old city surrounded by much modern building and after asking a few people directions, we found our hotel where we are staying for two nights. Another well deserved rest.

Today, after a marvellous breakfast, we went to explore the old part of Pontevedra. Like many other towns in this region, it has narrow streets and alleyways which seem to go nowhere but end up in a praza. A square with at least one cafe. We found the pilgrim chapel, which is unusual because it’s round and the floor space is shaped like a scallop shell. We had our credentials stamped there.

Walking through these windy old streets, we found the market. I’ve added a pic. Our markets don’t touch the sides of these municipal markets and the things they sell. The people certainly love their fish and seafood. Clams, crabs, lobster, squid, various other crustaceans. Fish of all descriptions. All fresh and alive in the case of the shellfish. Can I hear a collective ugh?

The meat stalls had several items that would never appear in our butcher shops, not even in Gibsons!! Dried pigs heads, trotters, corn fed smiley chickens all ready for the pot, tongues, offal and other odd off cuts.

Then off to the beer fest in another square. And some delicious beverages to try. Val had a pear cider. Pic added. We sat and savoured our drinks and ate some date and walnut maize bread.

We’re back at our hotel and we’ve slept it off and shortly, we’ll be going out for a seafood dinner. Well, I’m having seafood. Val belongs to the ugh! brigade.

19/06/22

They say “the rain in Spain stays mainly in the plain’. No it doesn’t!! It rains in the Galician hills too and it does it very well. So it was a head down and get on with it day, today and not much to report.

We went to our first Pilgrims Mass last night. We’re not religious in a strong way. Like most, it’s Christmas and Easter. However, these masses give an extra something to Camino. After all, Santiago was an apostle. We went to the Pilgrims Church that I mentioned before. A round church with the floor space shaped like a scallop shell. It was all in Spanish so understanding it was difficult. But the choir in the organ loft above us sang beautifully.

Afterwards we had a delicious meal at a small, out of the way seafood restaurant. I had clams in a wonderful tomato sauce with padron peppers and lots of bread to soak up the juice. Oh my!

Val had stuffed pimentos with patatas bravas and a dippy thing for the patatas. Afterwards a slow walk back to the hotel via an ice cream shop.

It’s fiesta time all over the place and events are happening for the Corpus Christi festival. We thought they were putting up street barriers for a carnival procession but it turned out to be for a mini marathon around the town.

Today, in the rain, thunder flashes were being fired up into the skies. We heard several bangs and saw several flashes and heard even more throughout the day. This was more of the Corpus Christi celebrations.

Now we are in our albergue and waiting for the restaurant to open. We’re hungry.

The pilgrim meal was large! Seafood starter, followed by an enormous chicken dish with chips and a dessert. Val had melon and ham and then the same.

This morning we were again hungry and found the pastry shop. Decadent start to the day. Again, it rained pretty much non stop until after our lunch stop. Delicious home made yogurt with apples, honey and nuts. The cafe owner commented on how she could tell that we were enjoying it, because we both stopped talking!!

There are more peregrinos on the way now as many of the southern routes through Portugal begin to converge as we near Santiago.

We’re now in our albergue in the town of Padron, where the little green peppers get their name.

22/06/2022

Well, here we are in Santiago de Compostela. We walked here this morning through a light mist with cool air. Yet all around us there is heat and forest fires.

Yesterday, it threatened rain but it didn’t until around 20.00. By that time we were safe in our brand new albergue, with the smell of new pine wood in the dorms. The common area even had a log fire, which, strange to say, was very welcome.

We spent a quiet evening playing dominoes and reading the only English book in the place and reflecting on our journey.

I think the highlight of the day yesterday was being clapped by a group of school kids. We saw them several times during the day and every time we passed them or they passed us, we’d get a round of applause. We must look really old! Probably for being old and walking this Camino. It was rather touching and I’d like to think they were not being sarcastic but showing great deference to these two ancient pilgrims.

Today we took a short detour to find the tree below. It had a write up in the RHS Garden magazine having come third in the European tree of the year 2022. As we were passing, it seamed the right thing to go and say “hello”.

As we walked into Santiago through the newer part of the city, locals wished us Buon Camino. This greeting follows pilgrims which ever route they take.

We made it to the main square next to the cathedral which was filled with peregrinos everyone happy to have completed their Camino but mostly they were quiet. The main sound being the Galician pipes being played next to the square.

Our hotel being found and us being checked in, we went to the pilgrims passport office to have our credentials stamped for the last time and to be awarded our Compostela, written in Latin. It gave us a great feeling. We then spent a few minutes in the pilgrims chapel to watch the video that offered highlights of spiritual enlightenment for all pilgrims.

So that’s our Camino. We hope you’ve enjoyed following us through Portugal and Spain. We’re going to have a few days R&R before flying home, subject to easyJet not cancelling our flight again.

Well done Tom and Val - heres to the next one ?! - Andy