Today I left at first light, partly because I wanted to arrive earlier in the afternoon to avoid the heat of the day and partly because I wanted to catch up with my blog which I had been too exhausted to write for the last days (in fact, my good intentions were thwarted by a shaky internet connection). The first part of the Camino was along the beautiful rocky coastline – the purple heather and yellow gorse growing on the grassy slope to the sea reminded me of Cornwall.
I met a very nice woman who assured me that I would be very touched when I reached the cathedral in Santiago and, more to the point, that I would find a cafe in six kilometers where I could relax and enjoy a cup of coffee. She went on to impart some deep truths about Mary, the mother of Jesus – but between my rudimentary Spanish and her Galician dialect, I’m afraid I missed some of the finer points.
As usual, the Camino was partly on scenic paths and partly on a busy road – although, with this being Spain and not Portugal, there was a rather thoughtfully placed walking/biking path by the side of the road so you didn’t actually have to walk IN the road.
Eventually the path wound back down to the coast and the picturesque village of Oia, where I did indeed find a cafe to relax and enjoy a cup of coffee!
At last, I arrived at the albergue in Mougas, which was right on the coast and soon after, to my great delight, Johanna and her friend, Cam, showed up. (I had walked with Johanna earlier in the Camino and she had left Porto one day after me) I was hoping that my three Italian friends would arrive, and they did – much later. In true Italian fashion, they had slept in, had a leisurely breakfast and then set out around 10am. We were overjoyed to see each other – and we all sat on the veranda above the adjoining cafe for a cup of coffee.
The view from the veranda.
Later we sat on the rocks to watch the sunset.
Top photo – us watching the sunset. Bottom photo – the sunset
(Even though this all sounds somewhat idyllic, each day does, in fact, have its ups and downs. There are times when a view or an encounter makes me feel happy to be alive and times when I feel lonely, exhausted and missing Kenneth)
Fatijah's Camino Portugués 2016 