By this point on my Camino journey, I will be on my sixth day of walking. I'm writing and scheduling this post before I leave, anticipating what my experience will be like.
On Thursday August 15th, I'll have a 5-mile walk to the dock of the Xacobeo Transfer Ferry and Taxi Boat service in Caminha. My reservation is for 12:30. To make it to the ferry on time, I need to have my luggage in the hotel lobby by 8:00 and then find breakfast at a nearby cafe. Most mornings the hotel will provide breakfast, but not that morning.
Once I arrive on the other side of the river, I'll be in Spain.
According to the information Mary provided, "you will now experience your first taste of the Galician forests! Enjoy." So much of my walking will be by the Atlantic, that I imagine being under a canopy of green will be a refreshing change. Another change is that it will be six hours ahead of my East Coast, U.S. time -- unlike Portugal that is five hours ahead. That night I'll stay in A Guard--a harbor town so I'll end the day on the water. What will that place look like at sunset? I wonder.
The next day, I'll be walking for 11 miles along the coast that will include a mix of hills, woods, and ocean views. My destination is the small hamlet of Oia, with some nice restaurants and a beautiful monastery, Santa Maria of Oia.
On this day that I'm posting, August 18th, I'll be walking 16 miles by the coast and into Vigo, which is a big city. Mary's suggestion is to "stop at one of the many restaurants along the beaches and enjoy a nice meal and drinks." I like that suggestion! I'll have earned it after trekking that many miles. My lodging is in the historical part of the city. Hopefully, I'll have enough time and energy left to explore at the end of the day.
I wonder who I'll have met on my pilgrimage by this point.
My first knowledge of the Camino was through the movie, "The Way" with Martin Sheen and Emilio Estevez released in 2010. Their route was the Camino Frances, also called the French Way, which is the most traditional of all the pilgrim routes to Santiago and covers 500 miles. I was fascinated by all the people along the way, their nationalities, different personalities, and reasons for walking that pilgrim path. I'd hiked short sections of the Appalachian Trail and could understand why people chose that meditative, contemplative way of walking; it was a way to disconnect from the things of our everyday lives and connect with something greater; the Camino is a path that unites these pilgrims over the centuries.
On my solo journeys, I start the day with the prayer, "God, bless me and the people in my path." Then, I pay attention to who shows up in the places and spaces I inhabit on that journey. I hope I'll have made some special connections with fellow pilgrims by this point on my journey. It's not a forced thing; it will unfold in the way it's supposed to unfold. A man in our Raleigh Chapter of American Pilgrims on the Camino said, "Let the Camino be what it's going to be."
My first hike with the Raleigh Chapter. I'm pictured with Bob, one of the Coordinators.
Each week when I post videos and photos on my site on Facebook, I hope I'll have news to share about fellow pilgrims in my path.
https://www.facebook.com/connierosserriddle55
Buen Camino, Friends!
Connie
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