From Pilgrim to Not So Accidental Tourists

Pilgrim to tourist - a very difficult transition. As a pilgrim, we were in a world unto itself. A world where we knew what we were going to do each day - walk. A world where we were in communion with the nature surrounding us. A world of community with our fellow travelers and hospitaleros who were interested in our welfare, as were we in theirs. The only decisions to be made were where we were going to stop walking for the day, what albergue we would stay at and what we were going to eat from the limited choices on the pilgrim menu. Everything else was pre-determined, even the clothes we would wear. It was simple.

Now we found ourselves in the world of the tourist. A world filled with decisions as to what we would do, where we would stay, how long we would stay there. And the choices for those decisions seemed limitless. A world that was whizzing by with us as spectators rather than participants. A world without our community of co-pilgrims. And we were not ready for that. We wanted to be back on the Camino.

We thought giving ourselves an extra 20 days as a way to assure a completed Camino was a good idea. And it probably would have been if we had gotten seriously injured or sick and had to rest for several days during our walk. As it turned out, we made it through without the need. So now, even with our days in Finesterre and Muxia and extra days in Santiago, we had nearly two weeks to fill before heading home.

Our Camino friends Jean Robert and Ayala had also found the transition difficult and although they had the same plans as we to fly out of Portugal on the 10th of June, they flew home early. When we checked on getting our flights changed, the cost to do so was more than it would cost us to simply stay. So... stay we did.

Our initial time as tourists was spent in Porto where we were fortunate to stumble upon a guesthouse, "6 Only". Mariana, the wonderful hostess, provided a bridge from the Camino world to the tourist world through her caring hospitality. As a result, we kept asking if we could stay "one more night" until we knew it was time to head to Lisbon. While in Porto we did have some nice moments touring the Douro wine region with it's beautiful terraced mountain side vineyards. And we tasted some great ports and enjoyed some authentic Portugese cuisine, including tripe, goat, suckling pig and Portos signature sandwich - a Francesinha. We also spent some time looking at the architecture of churches, bookstores, train stations, and cafes - most with beautiful azulejos tiles depicting some portion of the history of Portugal.

Lisbon was a different story. Everything there was busy and hectic. We had difficulty locating a place to stay and felt fortunate to find an apartment in the heart of the historic section of the city - Biaxa which made it convenient to get places. The unfortunate part was since it was in a historic building, it had no air conditioning which necessitated keeping the windows open at night allowing the noise from the street below to fill our ears. It was also on the fourth floor which was quite a climb after walking up and down hills during the day.

We were in Lisbon for four days and despite our desire for peace, quiet and relaxation we also wanted to see some of the famous sights. So we tried to make our touring of these sights as relaxing as possible by visiting only one sight a day and spending much of the time at each just sitting and watching people.

Our first day we visited a castle on the hilltop in Lisbon. With Fred's ankle really bothering him, we thought we would either take a taxi or get on the famous Tram 28 but before we knew it we had walked to the top of the hill. We actually did spend most of our time there just sitting on the stone benches and watching people. Again selfies were the order of the day. On the way back down, we stopped at a wine shop that provided tastings from a choice of 150 different wines and ports. A couple of delicious wines along with area cheeses but mostly we liked the 15 year Madeira.

The photographer in me found enjoyment in a visit to Mosterio (Monastery) da Jeronimos with a cloister that was awe inspiring. I was particularly pleased with a photo of a young girl who was drawing the beauty she saw in the cloister walls.

We spent another day taking a train to Sintra, a little town filled with castles. We visited two of them, a Moorish castle was really interesting as it was woven into the mountainside where archeological excavations showed the area had originally been settled by paleolithic peoples followed by Romans and ultimately Moors. The other castle was the summer home of the queen and was unique in that with it's pink, yellow and purple walls and turrets it took on the appearance of a Disneyland park.

Our most frustrating day was when we spent nearly an entire day trying to find the Alfama district, a small section of Arabic influence with narrow winding streets. This area was known for Fado, Portugal's heart-felt folk music and we were hoping to hear some. Unfortunately, we chose a day that they were not typically playing. Instead we got absolutely jam-packed streets and dance music. We will just have to find a Fado Pandora station when we return home.

As I write this, we are on our way home, very anxious to be back. We are really looking forward to "looking back" at our time on the Camino through pictures as well as re-reading our blogs and journals. We want to try to reconstruct what was at times a blur of days and places mixed together and to ultimately try to define more clearly what we learned from our experience. I hope one lesson learned is how to better relax through what is sure to be a hectic time when we return. Hopefully it will be a lesson that will carry the day.

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Returning to and Leaving Santiago

Thursday - May 28

 

It was strange to arrive in Santiago by bus instead of on foot. Even though our walk from the bus station followed the same Camino path we had walked the previous week, it felt very different, almost like we were frauds. With our packs and boots on, we stopped on the Cathedral steps where we asked someone to take our photo as we didn't do that on our initial entrance into the city and we wanted one of us from the end of our journey.

It was our plan to pick up our suitcases from storage on our way into town but once again our ability to find what we were told would be easy to find proved to be less than required to accomplish such a task. It is a good thing we never made it on the Amazing Race as we had once hoped as we would have been eliminated on the first episode! Anyway, we decided we would try to find it later.

Arrival in Santiago

Arriving just as the gift shops opened after their afternoon siesta, we thought we could get all the gifts for family and friends as well as a couple of items for us before they closed for the day. This would allow us to leave by bus for Porto at noon the next day (Friday). Given our new penchant for "cafe cortado", we bought cups to house these tasty drinks at home. Another item we had decided to purchase as a remembrance of our Camino was a customized poster. We were told it would take only a couple hours to complete but when we dropped off the information to create it, we learned it would not be ready until after 2:00 the next day. So.... with that (plus unfound suitcases and dinner arranged with Camino friends), our plans to leave the next day were changed.

 

Although we had walked some distance with Dawn, due to her pre-planned stops as well as plans for her friend Ann to join her in Sarria, she was some distance behind us. So it was fun to hear the rest of her Camino stories over dinner, once again at Le Bispo, and to meet Ann as well.

On the way to meet Dawn for dinner, I made a quick dodge into a store while Fred stood outside. So glad he did because he came face to face with Jean (of Bill and Jean from Portland). We last saw them in Leon and truly thought we would miss seeing them in Santiago so this was a very delightful surprise. We quickly arranged meeting them for breakfast the next day before they were scheduled to head out to Finesterre.

Friday - May 29

Our breakfast with Bill and Jean was a great time of sharing Camino experiences. We are quite certain we will remain in touch with these wonderful people as they live so close and our personalities really clicked.

After breakfast, I left Fred sitting at the hotel with ice on his ankle while I went in search of the rest of the gifts for people. My sisters had also given me some money to purchase something special so I was looking for that thing that would hopefully embrace the emotion of the Camino for me. By one o'clock, I had the list of gift items and where they were located so met Fred at the fountain so we could once again try to locate our suitcases. This time, we had directions from the concierge at our hotel so in no time found ourselves at the front desk of the albergue where our suitcases had been stored. We noticed a beautiful solid terra cotta sculpture of a male peregrino in a sitting pose and commented on how neat it was.

Our suitcases in hand, we now began the embarrassing walk pulling them through the streets of Santiago, definitely not feeling like peregrinos now. Back at our hotel, we realized how many dirty clothes we had acquired while in France and so now..... we decided we would stay until Sunday. This would give us the opportunity to get our clothes washed, spend a day finishing up our journaling, and more importantly to be there for the arrival of Ralph, our English friend who had prescheduled his arrival in Santiago causing him to arrive after all those he shared the way with to be gone.

With this decision made, we finished our shopping for all but the "special gift" with my sister's money. I thought I would get a carved wood peregrino but there were so many and they all looked alike. It was while looking in one more store, right next to the cathedral, that I spotted her. A solid terra cotta sculpture of a child peregrino. It totally captured the essence of the Camino for me - the childlike wonder I experienced as I took in all nature around me, the childlike vulnerability, and the childlike acceptance. I know that it will be a continual remembrance of how special the Camino was for me. Fortunately, Fred liked her as well. Unfortunately, I did not take a picture of her before she was wrapped like a mummy in bubble wrap so it will have to wait until I get home to share. She weighs about 15 pounds and I am not risking putting her in a suitcase so I will be carrying her all the way home.

Peregrino

We were ready for something different to eat for dinner tonight so found an authentic Italian place and had a really good pizza and caprese salad. A welcome change.

Saturday - May 30

Knowing that Ralph was going to be arriving in Santiago today, we made our way to a section of the walk into town that everyone essentially walks by so it would be difficult for us to miss him. Sitting there with our coffee and crosisant, only a short time later, we spotted him. He was so surprised and pleased that someone was still there for his arrival. We walked with him to the compostela office and made arrangements to get together at six for dinner.

The rest of the day until dinner, we spent journaling/blogging with a glass of wine or sangria to refresh us. We enjoyed sharing our last trip to El Bispo with Ralph. It was so great to have this time to visit with this warm-hearted Englishman.

Back in our room, we made an important FaceTime call to our beautiful grandaughter Teagan as it was her 7th birthday. A great way to end our day.

Sunday - May 31

After breakfast at our hotel, we got a taxi to take us to the bus station for our trip to Porto. It was really sad for us to leave this beautiful city that had become so special to us. I plan to be back someday soon when I hopefully have the opportunity to repeat this walk with my sisters. What an awesome experience that will be!

Arrival in Santiago Statue

I plan at least two more posts before I consider by Camino blog complete. One on the mental, spiritual and emotional impact this journey had on me. The other the practical lessons learned. Both may require a look back through and some additional processing so they will likely be delayed until our return home. Suffice it to say for the moment, this walk was the most rewarding experience I have ever had. It will be difficult to become tourists for the rest of our time here and to ultimately rejoin the real world when we return home.

 

 

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