Fresco Camino Day 5

Yesterday evening the village of Portomarin where we are spending two nights began celebrating a Fiesta dedicated to Jesus Christ. The town was full of young revelers. The main stage was right next to the entrance to our hotel, and from 10:00pm to 6:00am the music was blasting. Earplugs were no match for the base drum thumping boom, boom, boom, all night long. Well, what about that? We love you, Jesus! Let’s party! The guides decided to shorten our Camino today because of the high heat and the logistics of reaching a good location for our picnic. So we returned to the point where we left off in Gonzar and trekked 14 km (8.7 miles) to Mesón A Brea. The first segment went quickly up a couple hundred kilometers to Castromaior, the ruins of a pre-Christian Celtic settlement. From there we walked through quiet country lanes, past stone crosses and chapels and houses and working farms with sheep and chickens and milk cows. The Camino is becoming full of fellow pilgrims on the move wishing us good day and buen camino. We are beginning to feel more fit and better adapted to the pace of life in Galicia. So far my body is holding up well, no injuries, a good bit of healthy muscle soreness and tired feet. My heart rate is better today, with a normal high of 143 bpm. Hydration with an electrolyte powder called LMNT has been helpful. Our group of fifteen pilgrims over 50 are resourceful and fun to be with. We are all helping each other to make it through the challenges. I feel confident we will all make it to the end. This evening before dinner I have a sports massage scheduled to help with the muscle soreness. 

 

Fresco Camino Day 4

Today we finally reached the 100 km marker! To get the certificate of completion for the Camino pilgrims have to prove they journeyed the last 100 km to get to Santiago. Is that why people do it— to get the certificate? If not that, then why? What’s so special about Santiago?  Unlike Jerusalem, the founding place of Christianity, or Rome, the founding place of the Catholic Church, Santiago is not a major founding place of any institution. Saint James may be buried in the tomb at Santiago, but there is a good chance he is not. So, why have tens of millions made this Camino since the Church declared it a holy site? Over half a million in 2025 and this year will top that! Many make it more than once in a lifetime. It seems to me that the Camino is not so much the relics that lie in Santiago de Compostela. But if it’s not about the destination at the end, why are so many people willing to endure such hardships to get there?  It is a long arduous journey on foot, literally along a winding rocky path walked for centuries by pilgrims seeking something that cannot be easily explained in words. When you ask a pilgrim why are he or she is making the Camino, the answer is never, I want to see for myself the relics of St James. The answer is unique for each person and becomes more interesting each day of the journey. I pondered that today as I walked 21,346 steps, climbed 25 flights, descended 66 flights, journeying 2.3 miles down from Ferreiros to O Descanso, and down another 2.2 miles to Portomarin. From there I rode up the 2 mile 720 ft incline and got out at the Hórreo (corn crib) at the 86 km mark and walked the rest of the way to Gonzar, 9.2 miles total for the day. We feasted on a delicious home made picnic in the shade, and took a long siesta before our planning meeting and dinner in town. We're staying two nights in the Vistalege Hotel and Spa in Portomarin. I discovered two potential blisters on my toes and put moleskin on them. I have nineteen stamps in my Camino passport and will get one more tonight.

 

Fresco Camino Day 3

We started our walk at 8:00 instead of 9:00, hoping to beat the heat of the day, but we were outpaced by the sun. Through the streets of Sarria and up 50 steps to a patio, Ana gave us an oral history of the various peoples who conquered the Iberian peninsula from the time before the Christian era when tribal indigenous Celt-like people lived in Galicia to the present day with its more or less politically autonomous regions. From Sarria with an elevation of about 430 meters above sea level to Mercado with an elevation of nearly 600 meters we walked 6.35 km, mostly uphill in the cooler part of the day through rolling countryside, classic Galician farm lanes, stone paths, meadows and small hamlets. I prayed along the way for my family, friends and sisters, for our Laudato Si’ commitments for Care for Creation, for the people and land of Galicia, and for my own discernment of what God is calling me to in the next phase of life. The final rise of 100 meters through Peruscallo and Morgade to Ferreriros was very difficult because of the high humidity and temperatures nearing 100 degrees. My 20 year-old Keen hiking boots are working well, and thanks to the walking sticks my feet, knees and hips are pain free. The challenge has been the long inclines in the sun that increase my heart rate and make it difficult to breathe. I had to stop and rest several times because my heart rate spiked and I felt faint. I rested and drank water, and prayed, then continued on. I arriving at our picnic after nearly six hours on the Camino. I set a personal record of 25,065 steps, 9.3 miles in one day. We had three hours siesta and rode into Samos to visit the Benedictine Monastery, attend Mass and have a fabulous Galician dinner in town.