August 2017 – Page 2 – Short Thoughts on Long Walks

Despite one’s best intentions, even an activity that should promote inner peace and spiritual reflection can’t be fulfilled without at least a basic plan. As a retiree, I would prefer to be spontaneous, but it’s not to be. There are still family and other obligations that need to be minded. For her peace of mind, my 95 year old mother wants to know where I’ll be each day, although small town names like Alvaizere or Vilarinho won’t mean a thing to her. My wife, Nancy, wants to know too, but we’ll be in constant contact through tech devices in any case. A long walk on any of the Camino routes definitely lifts us out of our daily ruts, but sadly not sufficiently that we can be entirely independent of our non-Camino lives. And so I plan.
First come the flight plans. I’m booked to Lisbon, via Dallas and Madrid, leaving home (Boise, Idaho) on August 25th. The return flight leaves Santiago de Compostela one month later, September 25th, making the same transfer stops along the way. That gives me 30 days to walk from Lisbon to Santiago, but as this will be my first time in Portugal, a little sight-seeing and resting of weary limbs will be in the plan as well.
Then comes the detailed plan. Lisbon, is a must-see, so I’m looking forward to 2.5 days (hah, you already forgot that I’m a banker, and a German-born one to boot, so precision is hard-wired into me) of active tourism. I’ll start walking north on the 29th. The classic route runs along the Tagus River (Rio Tejo) which flows down around the eastern edge of Lisbon before it spills into the Atlantic just below the city’s southwestern point. It’ll take three days to get to Santarem, a place where Julius Caesar established a camp for his troops in the first century AD. (I go crazy over history, so brace yourself if you’re going to read my “short thoughts.”) A few more days of hoofing it will take me to Tomar where I’ll take my first break en-route. More Roman history underlies this city in Portugal’s bread-basket region, but so does Knights Templar and Moorish history. More on that when I get there. Then just three days before I take another break in Coimbra. By now you know why – history. Again, three days of walking should get me to Porto (aka: Oporto), the second largest city in Portugal, but, according to many, its most beautiful and most fascinating. That reputation deserves two full rest days to savor it all.

Up to this point there’s generally not much argument about which path to follow, but in Porto the paths diverge and so do the opinions of pilgrims. The coastal route, hugging the beaches and traversing the coastal resort towns, is a popular choice for many. Similarly the “Senda Litoral” stays close to the coast and offers long stretches of boardwalk. I should add that many pilgrims, especially those with limited time, start in Porto, foregoing the stretch from Lisbon to there. All Camino routes have alternate paths which may lead to notable destinations that are off the main route, perhaps a monastery, but this divergence seems to be the greatest for the stages north of Porto. The spontaneous pilgrim might not want to commit in advance, leave his options open, but since I let you know that I can’t afford that luxury, I’ve decided to follow the central route.

From Porto, I’ll need to walk for ten straight days to cover the 215km (134 miles) to Santiago de Compostela with an expected arrival on Saturday, Sep. 23rd. I’ll recover there for a day, enjoying the magic of the place where the various Caminos – and the hundreds of pilgrims each day – end in front of the Cathedral of Saint James. I’m not Catholic but I’ll attend the daily Pilgrims’ Mass because it’s the perfect way to feel the joy and the gratitude for having accomplished a great journey, regardless of faith. I already know, I’ll walk out – hopefully on a sunny day – with well-washed eyes and tingle throughout my body.

Then I’ll be heading back home.

August 5th, 2017

WELCOME – family, friends and others – to “Short Thoughts on Long Walks.” Two years ago I started a Facebook-based blog titled “Followers of Tony’s Camino de Santiago – Sep./Oct. 2015.” My mission then – and now – was to maintain a personal journal that is open to others to see and to participate with comments or questions. Since not everyone I know is on Facebook, I’ve created this web-based site for those who may wish to follow my next adventure. In a few weeks I hope to post on the blog site and will then share these posts to the original Facebook site. Updates and photos will be the same, regardless of which channel a follower chooses.

The original blog covered a friend’s and my 500 mile long walk from a small village in southern France, Saint Jean Pied de Port, to a city in northwest Spain, Santiago de Compostela. We were hardly alone in following the steps of pilgrims preceding us for over 1200 years. We encountered hundreds of others from all over the world. We met many – always with the greeting “Buen Camino” – and became good friends with a few. There are countless memories and feelings from those 33 days of walking, and all of them are still accessible in that blog on Facebook. Those who followed the journey also sustained me, especially in those moments where the drudgery of walking long stretches, or the physical pain, might’ve served as an excuse to quit. I remain grateful for the interest, the questions, the words of encouragement, and more, that nearly 200 followers provided. With their help – truly – I made it, feeling better, happier (despite tears of sadness at the end of that adventure) and reinvigorated.

Those good feelings laid the foundation for a commitment I made soon after I finished: I will walk the Camino again. There’s not just one Camino; it’s a network of paths all across Europe, especially the southern regions, that lead to The Cathedral of Saint James (Santiago) in the Spanish city that bears his name. In the spirit of keeping this a “Short Thought” I won’t go into the history of the Camino pilgrimages or even Saint James; you all have the resources to educate yourselves if you’re inclined. Rather than retrace the steps of two years ago, tempting as that would be, I chose to walk the Camino Portugues from Lisbon, Portugal’s capital, to Santiago (Spain), a distance of approx. 620km or 390 miles.

I’ve never been to Portugal, and one of the joys of a “Long Walk” is the constant – and intimate – discovery of new places. Every day will present a new horizon as a destination, and all along the way there’ll be new sights, new people, and new experiences. As the late summer weather on the Iberian peninsula seemed ideal two years ago, I chose the same time period for this second Camino. On August 25th I’ll fly to Lisbon, and after a few days of sightseeing there, I’ll start walking north on the 29th. If all goes as planned, I’ll walk into Santiago on September 23rd, and two days later I’ll fly home to Boise.

As was the case two years ago, I hope to post daily updates and photos. All of this will be done on the smallest device possible, my i-phone. It’ll serve as my camera, writing instrument and communications link to you all. Despite the best intentions, I’ll make typos and other mistakes. Please bear with me. My goal for photos will be to convey the scenery, the history, and the culture of the places I’ll pass through. Yes, there’ll be people too, but most likely there’ll be fewer of them in these shots, and fewest will be shots of me… definitely none of blisters and swollen ankles.

I’m eager to start this newest adventure, this time without a friend but certain that I’ll make new ones, and I look forward to my virtual conversations with you along the way. Thanks for following.