The trip tick

This map was so helpful!
As I purge my bag of all the papers and receipts, I want to keep this  sheet for my soft board in my home office.

Pain deflector

Only 4 left in this bottle at the end of the Way.

Camino Espiritual

Our tickets for the boat ride. It's a high power speed boat. One of those inflated things. We took it at 6.30am, so it was rather chilly. Actually it was very cold. But they stop at important places indicating where the remains of St. James were found and two other places. It's only in Spanish so ill be googling too find out more.

Did you find God on the Camino

Well now,  that's a simple enough question for a journey like this, isn't it? Especially when you've told people you're doing this difficult thing on a highly religious path which is steeped in spirituality and awakening.

I don't believe my Creator is a tide, whose presence or love ebbs and flos. My Creator is. Just is.

And so here, on The Way - what happened for me here? Because one, always, is touched in the mystic opening of a new experience and just like a new piece of music, it becomes us enough for us to move in that way and reveal our dance.

Walking, is a miracle at stirring compassion for self.

So,  here I found how much that Creator of me wants me to love myself. In the pain that tore my muscles, I found the strength to keep going by stepping my body mindfully, bearing the weight of my backpack gently through my legs to my feet. In reaching an abergue, I needed to look after myself yet keep my belongings safely, lovingly tolerant of others already resting.  And in waking up the next day, so very early, knowing how many miles I'll need to cover and do so with kindness for myself.

It's not what I'm used to doing, so I'm leaning into this healing feeling which for me, living with this mindset, creates a new era. I see the grace of 'God' in me by being so graceful.

It's the end of the road

The Camino comes to an abrupt end here. The tall-tall buildings hit my senses making me want to run back into the open plains and bind again with the wilderness.

Walking in nature for so many days makes you feel how much you belong here. If a bird sings, you feel you're the same. If a river flows, you become it. If the trees wave in the breeze, you know you're making up the same leafy sound. The stones you're crunching are a part of your body. We're so much in the image of the Lord when you're in Nature that you really don't need anything else. And then you hear God whisper to you in that stillness - you are Me and I am you. Now that you've found yourself you've found Me.
Amen

From going to done

Right now I feel like taking a train to a spot on the Camino and sleep amongst my fellow pilgrims and join in on that snoring symphony and wake up early and silently leave to begin walking until I come to the next albegue in the afternoon to feel the joy of getting that simple bed to lie down my exhausted body.

Abbas myself and Sophia

Three of us walked and finished the Camino Portuguese today. Sofia is in this photo - my faithful water bottle! Sophie is written by hand on the underside of this bottle and so obviously we called the bottle by Sofia all the way. She only ran out of water once and that was because we ended up on a longer route than what we saw was in our journey that day.
I thought I'd toss the water bottle away after our Camino but now that she's been through so much with me, Sofia is staying with me. She'll be with me, bashing herself in my side for as long as she can as I continue to keep walking on the face of this beautiful Earth.

Awesomeness

We had dinner with Loredana and Ricardo from Italy. At the end of the dinner they told us,  with hand on heart, that they saw Abbas and me coning up into Pontevedra. They saw a mother with her son and the aura was glowing. Me, walking slowly and Abbas walking patiently beside me. They said their 'heart broke' at the sight.  Later on they spotted us, now without our 'load', looking for a place for food. We stood right besides their table, weary. There was a crowd milling about because of the Celtic festival.  We circled around the square not finding any place serving supper yet and we came back again to them, that's when they asked us if they could suggest we eat where they're eating. We didn't know at that time that they were pilgrims, they looked way too elegant and well dressed. We found a table there, sitting down with relief, and had our dinner.  It was a good place indeed. We didn't expect to see the beautiful couple again, until we saw them walking towards us as we waited for the albergue to open at Vilanova de Arousa. This time it was us looking at them and we were feeling as if we'd found our long lost friends. After buying tickets for the boat ride to Padron we said we'd meet for dinner, and now here we were breaking bread.

Pilgrims come up to us and say the most profound things about what we made them feel when they saw us walking the Camino.

Lena, from Switzerland, a school teacher,  teaches 12/13 year old children, said, 'when I see you two I see something deep and beautiful and special.'

A Spanish family, themselves walking with their 3 small children, said we're the inspiration  and spirit of the Camino!

Through the language of the body, although we didn't understand what other people came up to say to us, pausing as we come upon them along the Way, we understood that whatever they said  to us was meaningful and touching.

Sharing a Camino and dorms with all these people has been our great privilege.

85 km to Santiago De Compestela

My heart is full. My mind is quite. I'm in pain with my body,  but it's only because I'm getting physically stronger. I'm here to have fun not to suffer. To embrace the lustre of life. My backpack feels like it's a ton, but I'm ok with it because I've got only my necessities. I have to have  water and a bench at regular intervals and then I'm doing pretty well. What the Camino taught me so far is this - Embrace the joy. Take it easy. Don't suffer anymore. Be compassionate to myself. Live to play, and play big. There is no rest in peace in death, there is rest in peace in life.

Bring your Tom Tom with you!

There are days when things just seem harder than they really are. And today was such a day. I struggled. This was to be an easy 17km path.  (Look at me saying 17K is easy!) But just we left civilization, I ran out of water. It's hilly and winding and somewhat shady, for a while. I have kidney stones and cannot be dehydrated, or those stones start a revolt in there. Just about when I was about to get very irritated by this road and my lack of water,  we came upon a snack bar right in the middle of nowhere! Water! We sat down, drank their delicious fresh orange juice, attacked our sandwiches and I lay down on the cushion bench fanned by a cool breeze. Heaven! Here we were told we were halfway but the distances didn't add up. If the route was 17K then why were we told we've done more than 13 km if we started at Valence and still have 9.5Km to go?
The road ahead gets better and the rest of the original way (there are detours if you want to take them) is very straight, very hot, no shade and crossing an industrial area.  Thankfully a company called Ceamsa has a bench with a tap of water and you can access their  guest Wi-Fi too! Thank you for that!
The Spanish have no idea about how to give accurate directions. In Portugal when we asked for directions they were precise about how far and how long a place was. Here, just make sure you rest as you go, and luckily there are plenty of places to sit down. I literally strolled this whole route because of my pain levels. I knew I would need a good night's rest and a better bed than what we'd get at the albergue and so we checked into the hostel we found 50 meters before the abergue.  It's worth it. I needed a night devoid of snore symphony to sleep deeply and to recuperate.
My Fitbit says I've walked 27.6 Km. Yes that's be how I felt.

Serenity and solitude by design

My son Abbas asked at the tourist information centre in Vila Nova de Cerveira for the best route to Valenca. They showed him this river route. I swear it was my best yet. I didn't even put on my hiking shoes and did it in my fancy hiking sandals.

Just the perfect solitude and serenity that we come to the Camino for.

Well. My feet still hurt but I'm feeling brilliant.  And the abergue is way nicer and the restaurant nearby is awesome.  What else do you need in life?  Family. Then you're complete.

Tired feet, happy heart and getting stronger. Buen  Camino!

Winding rainy road

We did the famous  walking in the rain today.  We have been doing the Seaside route with one day walking on the N13, but today the Camino decided we're doing the historical Coastal way just by default.  As we headed out from the albergue we followed the arrows, crossed a bridge and thought we were heading towards the ferry. But at the end of the bridge we read the road sign going to Valenca, which is in the Coastal Route, anyway, we decided that we're keeping on this road.  And besides,  it was raining and unforeseen circumstances led us here,  so we'll take it.  And then we turned into the Camino and saw that it's a red carpet!  At a fork in the road, we took the road well travelled!

Everything is perfect on this road until you cross over a railway line. Then there are more than 3 different routes that we tumbled down and up.  The historic route took us winding up and down steep hills and rolling left and right along the N13. I got so fed up of it that we jumped down from the Camino when wee saw a couple of local residents take a shortcut down and so we also slid down to the N13 which would take us straight into Vila Nova de Cerveira now only 4km away.

I've been struggling along with pain levels from 5 to 8 today, and on reaching the hostel all I  wanted was a hot shower, to do my laundry and go to sleep. However,  my 13 year old was jumping up and down excitedly wanting to go kayaking!  And so here I was grumpy and aching on a river in a kayak with him! 

As we walked home we talked about our walk tomorrow which will be along the river. Dinner was a pizza and crepe for dessert, a meal which we rated at 3, 3/10, not 3 Michelin stars.

In Portugal the restaurants don't serve dinner before 7pm and it can mean that you'll miss out on a fullsome meal if you happen to miss lunch time and can't stay awake until 7pm.

We met 3 interesting people yesterday. One girl was from Czechoslovakia who has done the Camino 4 times. She walked into the albergue with us, sat down on the bunk bed, contemplated a little and then she left!  Then there was David from Germany who has been walking the Camino for 5 years and has done it 8 times.  He said the Camino isn't meant to be painful. Over the years he's realised that 15 to 18km is all one needs to do a day. He also said this is his last time for he must now go home and do the Camino of life, which he says it's the real Camino and that too isn't meant to be difficult. And we were reunited to the very first pilgrim we met in Matosinhos, Vincente, who is on his second Camino and he was finding this one rather long and difficult. He said the Camino isn't meant to be hard. Here there are too many options and that's making the Camino harder when you end up on a path that's winding and making it unpredictable. It is stressful.

It got me thinking how the girl showed me that she's not willing to stay in a place she's not happy with. Got me thinking about how the hardest things in life needn't be so difficult. And really got me digging into my own compassion for myself.

Ok Valenca tomorrow.

Solitude, you asked for it!

We did not see a single pilgrim nor any yellow arrows the whole day today. We were directed to use the 'main road' a.k.a. the highway and we missed all the beauty of the walk today. 

Kept asking for directions and kept being told 'this is the way to Santiago, keeping going'. Yet my gut was saying no, because I'd read up prior to leaving how the walk should look like. But then where else would we go but straight ahead and northbound. 

Today's walk was mostly pain-free. Two books I've read came to mind.  One is Antifragile and the other about walking meditation.  Antifragile has a theory that the human body only gets stronger when we push it and  tear our muscles in pushing ourselves beyond our norms.  Then the walking meditation one was saying, that unlike vipassana, where we put our mind into our breath,  here we're mindfully stepping with each step,  noticing the stresses in our posture that create stresses in our feet. That helped a great deal. 

When we got to our hostel we caught up with other pilgrims who were just as disappointed by the walking directions they received in Vianna do Costello as they also walked  to here on that highway. Ah! Goes to show that sometimes the Camino chooses which path you'll take. 

Its beautiful here, Vila Praia de Âncora, if we had more time this is the place to spend a day to rest. But we're told Caminha is more beautiful.  We're joining up with two other pilgrims today.  Passing Caminha which is 8km away and going on another 15 km. Let's see how we do. 

Feeling great! Feeling blessed to be able to get to do this.

Signs we never notice

Can you see the yellow arrow in the picture?   Walking The Camino has created a sense of being more aware of the hidden messages in our lives.  To be walking and in so many ways relying on finding that yellow arrow to get us there is blowing my mind.  To realise that in my life, up until now, I used other means of finding directions and now to simply find a yellow  arrow creates in me such a sense of joy and relief. Almost like euphoria.

What else is there in my life that says 'go this way and keep straight on on this path', that I do not see?  And which, if I could see,  will make it so easy to move along.

My answer came to me - to live is easy. Yes - to do the things that come easily to me. To not believe that if what I'm doing is effortless then it's not really doing anything. I will move in my easy mode more.

The Camino taught me this lesson yesterday. Because we couldn't find a place to stay overnight, I let the place we found decide our distance of the walk we will walk for the day.  I could tell my body was not in sync with this idea and  the struggle and the pain showed up in my body when I felt I was being superhuman.

Many times along the way we stopped to rest and to replenish with food and all was going well until we reached the 9.56 miles mark.  Yes,  miles. Then my body started rebelling. My thoughts were either I keep walking or I fail on my first day. When Abbas started asking  me more often whether I was ok, I told him not to worry and that on reaching the next town we will catch the bus.  We've don'e well, we're almost there.  And this is not a race or a test to see what we can do.

There were no buses because it was Saturday and everyone were people chilling and enjoying the water on the spectacular beach.  We spoke to two cops on bikes who said Vila do Conde was 6 km away.  Yes, 6 kilometers only. And neither them or anyone else knew about buses running that day.

I tried calling an Uber but my app didn't work so a kind waiter helped us call a cab.  Abbas and I  gave the cab driver the address we were going to and suddenly I realised that the gap in my intention filled up. Go with the flow and take it easy. Because when the cab driver got off the road and drove away from the direction we knew we were going,  I knew he was taking the longer way there. 

Sitting in front in with the driver was Abbas and I saw that he was looking at the driver suspiciously. He had obviously also realised that we were going the opposite way.  Let him be, I assured Abbas, look, I can see that he has the address on his gps but he's taking the long way there.  And once we settled in, then we started seeing the parts of Vila do Conde that we'd not have seen  if we didn't get in this cab!

First day

In the past few days leading to our walk,  I've been sending messages, talking on the phone and basically having the best time of my life connecting with the people who are close to me. In the hours building up towards our flight, I was in a state of joy and gratitude as my last phone calls were being made. I didn't rush through my  calls, as I sat talking and listening to your voices and being so grateful that yo'll are in my life. And I felt deep satisfaction for being in my life and living in my purpose.

The flight and connections and Metro to Matosinhos went smoothly.

So now my son wants to hit the beach and I want to find the Cathedral where we'll get our first stamp on our Pilgrim's passports. Both these places are at opposite ends of here.  I'm happy to be here and so glad he's here to keep me company. I'd not have stayed on the beach for the 3 hours we did were he not here. I'd have taken a nap and been in preparation mode. He's teaching me to chill. 

We talked about our lives and what our intentions were for our Camino. When I asked him what his invention was for this walk he said he had no intentions. My intention is to go with the flow.

Everything is peaceful with me. I feel the big difference in the woman in me who has arrived in Porto today compared to the one who was here last year.

Our lunch is here!

Matosinhos

Stamp #1 Matosinhos

Many people have no idea what The Camino is that's crossing right through their very own town here in Matosinhos.  

I'm glad we got this stamp, even though there was no pomp and ceremony. The surprise was that Abbas said he had an intention for the Camino!  He said his intention is to chill. "I will take a chill pill," he said. It made me ponder my intention as I felt whether I was leaning into the flow or not. I'm going to say I do, but I also feel I need more. I'll see what shows up to fill that gap. 

After getting the stamp we walked to the starting point to look for the iconic sign - the yellow shell, but it wasn't to be seen, so we asked someone and he said yes go straight and keep walking and walking, he laughed. 

That done we headed home at Praia-Mar to rest for the night, stopping in the way to step into a hotel to ask whether they'd help us find a place to rest for tomorrow night. All the places were full, albergues, hostels and hotels are all full, and finally the kind hotel manager found us a single double bed on our route on the Camino. That decided for us how long we will walk tomorrow.

So... our fist leg starts at 24.Km.
Good night.

Being stupendous and happy

I've decided to find as many of my most favourite tunes and upload them on to my iPod. I'm feeling so happy already. I will dance and swing and sway on my walk.
To think that the songwriters and singers and musicians will be with me, and therefore doing the Camino.
Leonard Cohen Michael Jackson Abba Gosh Groban A.R. Rehman Adnan Sami The Eagles Sonu Nigam 
I  love my playlist,