October 11, 2022. At Baiona, Spain.

Dear Christine. What a grand day this has been! I meant this to be a rest day, and it has been with the exception of my feet. I have accumulated nearly 20,000 steps touring the town of Baiona today, approximately 10 miles and I am not through. I am meeting Ken and Bambi this evening at the Parador for drinks and dinner. Perhaps that’s a good place to start sharing my day:

As you may recall, Paradors are historical structures that have been taken over by the government and converted into top-flight hotels.

It’s a great concept that preserves history yet minimizes cost while serving a modern purpose that promotes tourism.

This Parador is not quite as exceptional as the ones that we saw in Santiago de Compostela and Leon. The cost is also not as excessive. I could have secured a room here for €85 a night, far less than the €200-300 that is quoted in Santiago.

This one is situated within the confines of a huge fortress. There is a walkway around the perimeter of the fortress that is 3 km long. I wasn’t aware that one had to be a guest of the Parador in order to walk the grounds and the upper wall. No one stopped me, so no harm no foul. I ended up walking both the lower and upper perimeters.

Visible from the Parador is the 50 foot tall statue of Our Lady of the Rock.

Her construction began in 1930 atop a small mountain near the seashore. She was completed in 1953. The climb to the foot of the statue consists of irregular stone stairs and The Stations of the Cross.

She is huge! These pictures do not give the best perspective of size. However, you will see that she holds in the crook of her right arm a boat.

One climbs to the boat, which is a viewing platform, through the center of the statue. It is an extremely tight winding staircase that is not more than 18 inches wide.

The view from the top is extraordinary but not for the faint of heart. There is only enough room on the platform for two or three people at a time.

In the harbor is an exact replica of Columbus‘s ship, the Nina.

She sailed into this port and took on final provisions before crossing to the New World. Upon her return from “discovering America“ The captain made this his first landfall in Europe so that he could personally deliver the news of the great discovery. The town celebrates this event every year with a festival on March 1st.

The ship had a crew of between 27 and 30, including the captain and navigator. It’s hard to imagine that this ship was capable of an ocean crossing.

Sometime ago we saw a replica of the Pinta and on another occasion the Santa Maria. By my recollection the Santa Maria was not much larger, and the Pinto was quite a bit smaller. These vessels has more in common with a large bobber than a sailboat.

Finally, I visited Saint Maria Church which dates to the 13th century.

What is most interesting is the clarity of the stonemason marks throughout the interior. These “signatures“ were placed by the stonemasons as proof of their work and entitlement to compensation.

I have made reservations for the next three nights which will see me to Pontevedra, only 70km from Santiago. However, I am considering taking an alternate route known as the “spiritual variant“ which will add approximately 40km to the total distance. That final decision is pending.

Going to get this posted before I head off to meet Ken and Bambi. I hope to get to bed early in preparation for the long day ahead.

Love, Peter

PS. Just a couple more pictures.

October 8–10, 2022. At Baiona Spain.

Dear Christine. As of this afternoon I am 130 km from Santiago de Compostela, the approximate halfway point from Porto. We also crossed into Spain yesterday. Tonight is my 11th night in Europe. The days are flying by!!

I will give you a better overview of the last three days and include some pictures later, but for now I want to focus on a fundamental change in this journey. Until this morning I walked in the company of Kris. When we began it was understood that she would go as far as Oia Spain and then decide whether to go further or spend some special time with her friend Tanya who runs a tourist guest house in that town. She elected the latter and thus the “fork in the road”.

As we walked together the focus was much on conversation between us and less on the experience around us. Embarking alone this morning I found the experience vastly different. The only voice I heard was the one in my thoughts. My awareness of the surroundings was heightened as I could no longer rely upon Kris’ experience on this route to guide me.

I’m grateful for the time that I had in her company and I am equally grateful to have the experience of going forward alone. I made excellent time today in spite of this being my first rainy day on the Camino. The skies are supposed to clear tomorrow. I have scheduled a “rest day“ to take in this wonderful seaside village and plan out the next few days. Now for the overview:

October 8 found us walking parallel with the shore and being very aware of the tide.

It was low tide which treated us to the sight of local men and women harvesting shellfish. The green things that Kris is looking at are large crabs, covered with seaweed.

In the distance I made out a tidal swimming pool.

Remember when we were at Jersey Island off the coast of France and a huge tidal swimming complex was located across the street from our lodging? Well, just like that one, the walls of the “pool“ are built to a height slightly lower than high tide. When the tide comes in water overtops the walls and refreshes the impoundment. I wonder how many centuries this “technology“ has been employed by coastal civilizations.

We came upon some unusual stones, carved flat with slightly elevated edges.

These were iron age “salt pans“. Ancient people created these to hold shallow seawater that then evaporated in the sun, leaving salt behind for harvest.

There were more windmills, this one with wooden vanes is the only one of its kind in Portugal.

All of the others use cloth sails suspended from the four masts.

The following day there was more coastal walking.

The surf was really up which seemed predictive of the changing weather and rain that hit this morning (the 10th).

Kris had arranged a ferry crossing of the Minho river for the 9th from Portugal in Spain. Near its outlet to the Atlantic the river is very wide which is why there is no bridge until miles inland. Our “ferry“ was little more than a powered fishing boat.

The passage was exhilarating and only took about 10 minutes.

After a brief photo opportunity, more hiking followed.

Oia and the guesthouse “La Cala” were our destinations for the evening of the 9th.

Kris and I were received with open arms by Tanya, the owner of the guesthouse.

She and Kris had shared duties as volunteers in an alburgue a few years ago and struck up a lasting friendship.

Tanya is from the United States and took on the remarkable task of renovating an older structure and converting it into a very modern facility that serves up to 10 guests a night. In honor of the reunion we all met at a delightful restaurant just down the hill and enjoyed excellent meat dishes, excellent wine, and liquid dessert in the form of glasses of port wine. I was treated more like a long-lost friend than a new acquaintance.

This morning I woke early in order to get a head start on a damp and dreary day.

In spite of the rain the walk was peaceful and meditative.

I met two ladies of approximately my age from New Zealand, both excellent hikers.

A part of the path was through forest upon a 2,000 year old Roman road. Tracks were deeply grooved into the stone from the passage of countless chariots and carts in those bygone days. It was extraordinary.

Tomorrow I will enjoy touring this town and provide you pictures and insight into what it’s like for me to be “invisible“ to the comings and goings of the local population.

Sleep well, which seems the appropriate thing for me to say since it’s night here. I love you. Peter

PS. Please give Kane and little Lennon big hugs from me. It’s incredible that two of our grandchildren would suffer broken bones on consecutive days!

October 6–7, 2022. Vila do Conde to Esposende to Viana do Castelo.

Dear Christine. The last three days have been seriously brutal. Over 26 km each day (@17-19 miles), and my feet show it. I’ve been applying bandages to hotspots and have so far successfully avoided blisters. I fear that I’m going to lose the toenail on my right big toe. I’ve taped it in place. Today we are going to shorten things bit to 20 km. From here out I think prudence dictates that I avoid such long sections, particularly when they are on cobblestones.

We have typically started in the morning around 7:30 and have not concluded the walk until near 5 PM. Shower, dinner, and bed follow. This has not allowed me much time for restful contemplation or writing. I figured I would give you a few photos and vignettes to give you the flavor of what has unfolded. But first, another “Camino moment”.

Yesterday, with about 7 km to go, we stopped to view a church. Seated in the shade outside were a couple. I spied his English Camino guide and I threw out the question, “English, American?“. The gentleman replied, American. We talked. Ken and Bambi are from Atlanta Georgia and perhaps in their 60’s. I mentioned I was retired and with a smile Ken responded, “What’s that?“ It was apparent that he was still working.

Ken walked the Camino in 2013, starting just a few days before you and I did. Now he is trying to share the experience with his wife of 45 years but it was clear that the heat of the day was taking its toll on her. Ken even mentioned in the course of our discussions “Camino Magic“, his words for “Camino Moments“. Bambi was dubiously still waiting to experience one.

As we parted, on impulse I asked Ken, “What is your work?“ Ken replied, “I’m a former litigation attorney and I’ve been a mediator since 1996.“ With eyes wide I exclaimed, “Me too!”. I handed Ken my card and invited him to look at the website. Our conversation renewed with new energy and we all agreed, this was a Camino moment!

As we were leaving the morning of the sixth we passed by a long aqueduct that served a very old convent/monastery. It was 7 km long and featured 999 Arches. It took 80 years to complete. The aqueduct starts at a mountain spring and at the other end once fed huge cisterns at the monastery. It is in ruins, but is still quite stunning.

In front of the monastery was a statue of Saint Clair which provided an opportunity for an “interesting“ picture.

Later on there was a statue of Santiago which provided another such opportunity.

You may recall I made a similar pose in front of a statue of St. James in 2013.

Along the way we encountered some small windmills along the coast which were used for grinding grain. Some of these dates back well over 200 years.

There was even a “links” style golf course, such as one would expect to see in Scotland, that paralleled our route for a couple of miles.

Dinner that evening was in a small unremarkable looking restaurant. However, the food (roasted octopus, salad, wine, dessert, and coffee) was remarkable, as was the price of only €10!

Here are some other images from the following day. This older gentleman is the proprietor of a delightful little café that seems dedicated to the memory of Che Guevara.

He brought out the coffee that we ordered, but also brought out peanuts, cookies, and a bottle of port wine. Out of politeness we accepted one small glass, as did the German ladies seated next to us.

The gentleman was willing to happily pour more. The only thing he charged us for was the coffee, One euro a cup. He also brought out his friend of 35 years, a large box turtle.

We tend to stop at interesting church along the way. We are usually able to add a stamp to our credentials in these churches. This church had a large stone embedded in a sidewall. A marker explained that when the “modern church” was being constructed this stone was found during the digging of the foundation. It is from an ancient church that was located on the site and dates to the year 862. It is a dedication to a saintly Bishop from the region.

Yesterday we encountered a young lady who was working on her masters degree. She was assembling statistics from pilgrims on the Camino. It was a delightful visit in a delightful location.

Another interesting site was an older woman doing her laundry the old fashion way in a “laundromat“ located at the side of the road. It has probably been there for centuries. Look at the ceiling!

Finally, the street in Viana do Castelo where the small hotel I am staying at is located.

Tell Kane that my heart goes out to him and that I hope his broken hand heals soon. It is so sad that he’s gonna miss the last three football games of the season. On the other hand, congratulate to Phoenix on his goalie stand during the end of game shoot out. That’s awesome!

More later. I love you and miss you. Peter

PS. I keep having to pull my belt tighter. I think all this walking is getting rid of some of my accumulated Covid weight. Yay!!

PPS. I think I have figured out the problem with subscribers who have Gmail accounts. There are two ways to sign up for my posts. The former way does not appear to be working with Gmail accounts. For those who sign up now it is through a new application that does not seem to have the problem. If I am to correct this for the folks who are not getting the emails, I’ll have to do it one subscriber to time. That will be arduous.