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| It all began in
2010,
when I started reading books about the ancient Camino de Santiago -
the 31 different routes that go from all corners of Europe, to the
alleged burial place of St. James the Apostle in north-east Spain.
I wanted to 'offer up' thanks for the last
seven years of my life - some of the happiest I had known - but I
wasn't keen on starting a 1,000 km walk, so decided for my first
pilgrimage, to limit it to the 250 kms from Porto [in Portugal] to
Santiago de Compostela in Galicia, Spain. I started out on All
Fools' Day [April 1st, 2011].
This was a true pilgrimage - days of
walking and prayer and contemplation: they turned out to be some of
the most amazing days of my life! The wonder was not in arriving at
my destination, but in the people I met along the road - not just
other pilgrims, but the kind hoteliers, the locals and, yes, the
other pilgrims too.
I always walked alone: yet we met up from
time to time in albergues [hostels] and passed each other en route:
and we developed the most wonderful, loving fellowship and concern
for each other. Many times we exchanged e-mail addresses, and we
still maintain contact.
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walking along the path beside the river Lima and in the outskirts of
the beautiful town of Ponte de Lima. The views of the town across
the river were stunning.
Ponte de Lima
is “…a delightful market town that retains a sleepy medieval
atmosphere.” |
A tired old pilgrim finally makes
it to the great door of Santiago Cathedral! |
I had allocated a month for the walk -
which I completed comfortably in 16 days. So many memories .....
being attacked by dogs in a Portuguese forest, sleeping in a hostel
with one other pilgrim - who could have snored for Spain. Crossing
ancient bridges, built by the Romans as part of their main road Via
XIX: the warmth of the sun always on the back of my legs: the
constant sound of trickling water in northern Portugal: cuckoos.....
I took over 700 photographs, which have been
uploaded to Picasa and I can send you the links if you e-mail me at
pilgrimage@calig.co.uk.
However, I wrote a diary of the pilgrimage in which there are about
sixty of the pictures: if you'd like to see the diary ......
 | 1. Open "Word" on your computer, then |
| 2. Click this
LINK TO THE DIARY
- it should open up as a Word document [.doc] on your computer. |
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During the 2011 pilgrimage from Porto to Santiago de Compostela I
took over 700 photographs.
These are available for anyone to view on Picasa - see the links in
the window 
They are broken down in groups of days.....
I
would suggest that you RIGHT click on the links, then select "Open
link in new tab" so that you can easily return to this web site.
I don't expect
you to look at all of them in one go ..... in fact I don't EXPECT
you to look at any of them! |
Minus 3 to Zero -
the preparation for the trip, and
the journey to the starting point of Porto in Portugal.
After that the journey was broken down into various stages:
Days 1 to 4:
Porto - Gemunde - Arcos - Barcelos - Lugar
do Corgo.
Days 5 to 9:
Lugar - Ponte de Lima - Rubiaes.
Days 10 to 12:
Rubiaes - Tui
- Mos - Arcade - Pontevedra - San Amaro
Days 13 to 15:San
Amaro - Calda de Reis - Teo
Days 16 to 17:
Teo - Santiago
de Compostela.
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But now
we come to 2012!
There is a saying "The end of the Camino de Santiago is the
beginning."
I have already booked flights for the end
of April 2012, to take me from London to Valladolid, and thence by
bus to Salamanca. At Salamanca I start the next pilgrimage - again
to Santiago, but this time on another Roman and medieval path over
the Galician mountains to my destination.
This is part of the Via de la Plata - a
path from Seville to Santiago, stretching a thousand kilometres from
start to finish: but I'm joining it half way along it's route,
giving me some 500 kms to walk to Santiago. I have thought about
this for many months - should I really try a second 'camino'? Was I
expecting too much after the perfect first camino? Time will tell!
Only now do I truly understand the saying "The end of the Camino is
the beginning."
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