Day 26: Vitorino dos Piaes to La Bruja

Distance: 15 miles/ 25 km

Total: 253 miles

Notable memories

Camiga Cathy

I had to admire Cathy this morning.

She's having foot issues with blisters. But I watched her with grace and composure deal with it.

Although it looks like she is ending her Camino because of it, I saw a person with dignity and self-respect hold her head up high, take the lesson from today and previous days and move forward.

By the time I left I don't think she had a firm plan yet, but in my heart I am confident that Cathy will come out on top.

Having walked with her for 3 days on the Camino Portugues, I realize what an intelligent and competent woman she is. And I wish her Buen Camino

The Camino Experience

After such a beautiful experience at Casa de Fernanda, I had to ask myself why was I in such a hurry to leave in the morning, just to cover a lot of distance.

I have my plane ticket and that imposes and exterior timetable, but what says that I have to follow that timetable.

I'm free to not go to Santiago just as I am free to stay on schedule and go to Santiago. I think this may be like thinking about retirement. It is an endpoint, it is not the journey.

The journey could involve things like picking up my grandkids at school once a week.

Or it could involve a little less work and still having the pleasure of being a computer programmer.

I think as I was sitting at the breakfast table, anxious to get going, I had temporarily forgotten the meaning of being on the Camino de Santiago.

I was having a little moment of anxiety because I could not have what I wanted. What I wanted was to both continue enjoying the ambiance and environment of Casa de Fernanda and traveling towards my next stopping point.

Although just a little bit of discomfort, in fact it was a lesson from the Camino to me that even in great joy there can be pain, and the point is not to swallow the pain or discomfort but to embrace it as a part of life and then to make your plans, understanding this life and to move forward in the best way humanly possible with dignity.

So I sat at the breakfast table and I enjoyed the comradery of my fellow pilgrims and I said to hell with the timetable. I will go as far as I can and I will go no further. Today.

Today's hike

Good hike today. Got in some extra distance, but didn't go as far as I originally planned. That's okay because I covered 15 miles today in about seven and a half hours and I felt pretty good at the end.

It's amazing how the body adjusts to these kinds of demands.

Tomorrow I have a 1,000 foot climb.