In April 2019, setting off from Sarria
Ever since we walked the Camino Santiago in 2019, my sister ML and I knew we would walk it again. It was an absolutely beautiful experience for us and we shared about it then, you will find some of those posts on this blog.
I hope to share as much as I can this time around too as a diary of sorts, to help me document my journey.
The Camino was one of the things I wanted to do when I turned 50 last year. What was and is inexplicable, is its call.
People think I’m a bit kooky when I say that the Camino was calling me. The call was so strong that I decided to do it again, before I turned 51, whether ML could make it or not!!
But she can…so I start off solo, walking alone for 6 days before she joins me.
The thing is, that on the Camino you are never alone. And it has been this way right from the two days I spent in Porto, where I bumped into people who were going to start walking it and we connected over the most peculiar things.
So today I started a little outside Porto at a little church of Santiago (St. James) at Castello do Neiva.
The past few days have been a bit surreal, as I was busy working right until I had to leave. Yet today when I started a little outside Porto, I was all completely in the moment and I felt right at home.
I needed to find my Camino legs and bearings, alert to the yellow arrows and shells that show pilgrims the way.
As I walked through a forest happily. I missed a huge arrow, thinking oh what a nice stone plaque with the symbols….when a young man who could not speak any English followed me and turned me around, pointing to the plaque with the obvious arrow, which was pointing in a completely different direction.
The Stamps fin my Camino Passport from my first day
The highlight of my day was being lured by a sign that said ‘stamp’ 60 mts.
All pilgrims need a stamp in their official Camino passports.
I go down the path and find an elderly lady in sitting in her wheelchair on her balcony. She kept indicating that they provided stamps there, so I walked towards their garage where a little table had the stamp and a paper on which to list your name and country. The lady shouted out and an old man emerged from the house and together they waved me off.
As I went on, I couldn’t see any yellow arrows, so retraced my steps to find the old man who seemed to have gone over and read the list, asking me which part of India I was from. We had a little chat….him in Portuguese, me in English, and plenty of actions through in!!!
When I went back to the arrow sign, I realised that someone had created this little sign for the elderly couple diverting pilgrims down a signed road to get a stamp. Right behind this was the arrow and shell pointing to the Camino path.
I ended the day in a beautiful town with a historic medieval center….Viano do Castelo.
The highlight of which is to take a funicular to the church of Santa Luzia on the top of the hill.
When there I opted to go into the ‘zimbario’…what I assume is a word for the dome of the church.
An elevator took me up there but then there was the most narrow staircase winding up like a corkscrew.
I climbed up a few and then fearing that I wouldn’t be able to make it back down, I turned around. At the base of the steps, a Portuguese family asked me if I enjoyed the view, and I shared my fears.
They buffered me and insisted that I climb up then pointed out the Lima River valley and an ancient Roman site, buffeting and supporting me as we headed down….
A beautiful day, filled as the Camino is, with beautiful people.
The pictures below have a caption with more details.
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