Greetings from Portomarin, after an absolutely lovely walk through the hills of Galicia. The weather continues to be fabulous - sunny, cool in the mornings and going up to the mid-twenties by noon. Today we walked 23 km; yesterday we did 25 km. A few days ago we crossed the third and last mountain range; the high point was at O´Cebreiro, a lovely little touristy town, set on the ridge of the mountain. So, at this point we are 95 km from Santiago - according to our map book. The signs in town say 90 km....
This morning we left Sarria, which is about 120 km from Santiago. There were noticeably more walkers today, since, to get the official Compostela in Santiago, you must have walked at least 100 km. And this is a holy year - which means that St. James' special day, July 25, falls on a Sunday. So there were many more people on the path today, including teenagers, families, couples, groups of friends, etc. All of these are in addition to our other ¨Camino Companions¨, which we would like to show in some pictures. Unfortunately we cannot seem to upload pictures today, we´ll try again another time.
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Wow!! Good job! We can see that you are doing great! We are really glad you're enjoying Galicia. Portomarín is wonderful, isn't it? I was volunteering there at the main square, opposite the San Juan church during the Summer of 1989. You can see numbers in the stones of the church, because when they built the water reservoir they decided to "rescue" the church and move it piece by piece to the new town. My grandpa was supervising that job, so I feel that town really close to me.
ReplyDeletePortomarín is also famous because of the "aguardiente" (spirits) and the "tarta de Santiago", the very famous almond cake you can see everywhere along the camino. You're in the best place to enjoy it!
We enjoyed the time with you so much that last weekend we wanted to repeat part of the experience, so we walked from Cacabelos to Villafranca with a couple of friend from San Francisco who were visiting. They really loved it, and we were very excited because you had been walking there just a few days ago.
Enjoy the rest of the journey. We are really proud of you!
Love,
Dave and Flor
Hi Alice and Claire,
ReplyDeleteI am delighted to hear how well you two are managing and that you are covering so much ground each day. I am almost green with envy when you write about the fabulous weather, since there was noting but rain in May/June 2008. Your thoughts on the shower, bring back memories of squiriming with my one plastic bag to get the dry stuff out and the wet stuff back in, all the while avoiding indecent exposure.
Congratulations on your amazing progress!!
Love,
Karin
Hi Alice,
ReplyDeleteTried to connect a few weeks ago with no luck. Fran was kind enough to send along the link to me today. My thoughts have been with you and I'm so thrilled for you!! Keep stretching!!
cindy v.
Hi again, Alice.
ReplyDelete100 kms to go! What a milestone. Enjoy ALL those coming steps until you reach your destination. I will continue to follow along beside you with great interest.
Hi Alice and Claire,
ReplyDeleteDelighted and inspired by your journey. We are here at our final bookclub meeting. Miss you! Anxiously awaiting the true details. Enjoy your much deserved European holiday. Best wishes from Angie, Nancy, Lynne, Rosy, Paddy. Penny, Karin and Paula!!
Been following your progress. Glad it is still going well - only one reference to rain that I recall. Better than here :-( Sounds like wonderful country to pass through and see. All the best! You're almost there.
ReplyDeletejohn s
In the words of another pilgrim that I read, and struck me: "The miracle is not the star fall, nor St. Jacque. The real miracle of this pilgrimage is that you do it. You walk all day..........muscles aching, blisters bleeding........and then......you start walking again. That is the real miracle." And in your case, with the Parkinson's still there, that you believe it can be allieviated and that it is worth putting in all that work raising thousands of dollars. I hope you realize, Alice and Claire, when you get to Santiago, that you "carried" the real miracle with you every step of the way! Congratulations!
ReplyDeleteHank
Hello to you both! I think by now you may have reached your destination and I can only say congratulations. I look forward to seeing you in a few weeks Claire to hear some more. Congratulations.
ReplyDeleteFlorence