New boots for old

 There is just a week to go to our departure, and the excitement is mounting!  Today I decided to replace my less than waterproof "summer" footwear with a brand new pair of Berghaus Supalite leather boots - the latest, lighter version of the models that had served me very well for the past 6 years on several caminos, but sadly breathed their last (and lost their souls!) earlier this year on a tough descent from Montgo mountain near Xavia, Alicante, Spain.  An extravagance perhaps, but these should last me for many more kilometers, and need just a little settling in before setting off.  

There has been an amazing response to the fundraising appeal for Breakthrough Cancer Research,  and the tally is over 1,500 euros.  A heartfelt thanks to all who have subscribed or pledged, offered us encouragement and support - we will keep you all in our hearts during the hike.  Donations may be made here

Packing continues, and as mentioned previously, the key is to stay light.  We will report on our final weight tallies in my next post.  

Trust

Only a week into our appeal and already we have surpassed our original target. We are really grateful for all the support, and spurred on to repay your trust. We so appreciate the many messages of encouragement received which will buoy us up when the miles begin to tell. The recent Irish heatwave has provided good training ground for early-September weather in northern Spain, and made it easy to get out and walk - but we will miss our daily swims which help us keep cool: we won't be near the coast, but hope to take a trip to Muxia from Santiago, and perhaps walk the last part of the Camino Fisterre (or Finistere).

We are beginning to assemble clothes and meds and test out our boots, shoes and backpacks. We will stay ultra light as usual, to make the uphill sections easier. Only two weeks to go and the excitement is mounting!

Fundraising page

Our fundraising page is now up and running and you can keep abreast of donations here Hopefully our training will keep us fit and well until the walk starts on September 1. Weather will probably be fairly hot so our packs will not need to be too heavy - plenty of sunscreen most important! Picture shows us without our loads, but we promise they will be attached throughout! Thanks so much for your continuing support!

Finally, plans afoot ....

Today is St James' Day, July 25th, 2022, a very fitting date to announce that Frank and I are finally set to don our boots and backpacks, and set out once more on the Camino Portugues. But our ambitions are not as lofty as in times of yore: we won't be tackling long daily distances, and will favour small hotels in place of hostels. We will carry our light backpacks, so we can allow for flexibility along the Way, and we will bring our begging bowls!

The plan is to set out from Valenca in northern Portugal, on the river Mino, and cross the International Bridge into Tui in Galicia, arriving into Santiago some 9 or 10 days later. A distance of about 120 kms, with a rest day allowed for, mid route. So no heroics, covering ground first tackled together on our second Camino way back in 2009, and repeated by me four years ago. A tried and tested route, but this time considerably shorter than those previous rambles.

We want once again to support the wonderful work of Cork-based Breakthrough Cancer Research as it continues record-breaking research into cures for the most obdurate cancers. Please follow our footsteps, and help this amazing charity fund lifesaving breakthrough projects. The walk is planned to commence on September 1, on the eve of our 55th wedding anniversary, so there will be early celebrations and perhaps a glass or two of rioja to help us on our way. Watch this space! (Updates en route will be from a mobile phone, so I'm not sure how the technology will work!)

Holy Year

This must be the world's worst blog! Only a single post in the dreaded 2020, but that at least was a positive one.  Though the word "positive" now, in these Covid times, has sinister connotations.  It is now a full year since we ceased to live normally, but we have survived these long and lonely 12 months, and despite entering into our third, and most scary lock-down on December 30th, reaping the results of frenetic shopping and socialising over the Christmas period,  we are trying to remain buoyant as we hopefully face a slow return to a new normal.  The various vaccines are our key to survival, and will mean that the younger generations don't have to worry so much about their older relations.  But the newly emerging variants have us worried.

Quite by accident I discovered that 2021 is indeed a special Camino Holy Year, when the feast of St James falls on a Sunday.  The last one was in 2010, when I walked 325 kms from Mansilla de las Mulas, 17kms east of Leon on the Camino Frances, and was joined by Frank at Sarria for the last 120kms into Santiago.

Lock-down III has brought more and more people out into the paths and parks to exercise, and there are walkers and joggers everywhere.  As coronavirus numbers rise alarmingly, and the population of seaside trippers expands (despite the 5km permitted travel limit), we are once again limiting our exercise to the fields during the weekends, to severely limit our contact with others.  Conditions are more difficult than during the warm welcoming days last spring.  The ground is wet and rough, but the views are still amazing, and we are so privileged to have these acres open to us. Weekdays are not so busy, and it is wonderful to be able to walk along the shoreline and breathe in the restorative sea air. 

Keeping fit hasn't been a problem.  There is more than enough time for a couple of hours' walking each day, and according to my phone I have completed 445 kms since January 1 -  that's about 44.5 kms per week :  I would need to up the mileage considerably to complete a 100km+ Camino in ten days!  But as soon as we get the all clear to travel, and have had the necessary jabs, I would hope to head for the Camino Porugues once more - tried and tested twice before, and relatively quiet and level.    Once again I will be calling on the generosity of family and friends to support the marvelous work done by Breakthrough Cancer Research

This will be an entirely different year for pilgrim walkers.  I cannot envisage staying at any of the hostels, in shared dorms.  Neither do I see  problems in securing single bedrooms in simple hotels along the route, as there will be a general air of caution about undertaking a trip of this nature.  And if things become too difficult I can decamp back to Tango, still moored safely in Vigo. 

 But with the way things are going, travel abroad this year may only be a pipe dream.  Please watch this space in the coming months as preparations get underway.

Myrtleville Beach

 

Chapel of Santo Antonio, Ponte de Lima

Roman bridge over the Lima river

Cooling shade

Warm springs, Caldas de Reis

Early morning shadows

The end of the road

 

Camino Covid

We Irish seniors have just completed 5 weeks in isolation.  The government cleverly calls it "cocooning", but to us over 70s it feels a bit more like house arrest.  We are not permitted to leave our perimeters, post a letter, pop to the nearby shop.  We are dependent for all our grocery and medication needs on kindly younger neighbours, or offspring living half an hour away, who are already up to their limits with home working and home schooling, and having their groceries delivered by booking several weeks in advance, or queuing patiently at their local shops.  It seems very selfish to add our needs to theirs, but so it is decreed.  We miss our grandchildren and our friends, but this won't last forever, and next week our prison doors will open partially, and we can leave our gardens to stroll for up to 2kms from home.  Alleluia!

I had been hoping to do another fundraising camino.  May is such a perfect month in northern Spain, and the paths would not be too busy.  But of course all those plans are now redundant, as Spaniards tentatively allow their children out of their apartments for an hour's fresh air and exercise each day: they have been cooped up far longer than us.

Unlike most of our friends who are tied to limited outdoor space, we are in the enviable position of living beside fields with wonderful sea views, where we have permission to roam.  Since March 28th this has proved a huge boon to me, and I have rigidly walked two or three hours each day.  It's fairly demanding territory as we are perched on an undulating hill, and the grass is growing longer and lusher each day.  I don my wellingtons, and head out morning and late afternoon, whether I feel like it or not.

Needing to watch where to put my feet in uneven ground, I have begun to notice the wealth of butterflies, insects and wild flowers that populate these acres.  Suddenly I am keen to identify this flora and fauna, and spot birds which are summer visitors.  Away from traffic noise, the birdsong is marvellous, and my heart lifts once I climb the style and enter this magical unfolding of spring .  There are special little spots where I can sit and catch my breath, and listen to the sounds of nature, undisturbed by man or beast.  It is truly paradise.

And to my astonishment, the kilometers have been mounting up almost without my knowing, but my phone has been keeping count.  Since March 28 I have completed a comfortable 193 kms and must issue myself with a Covid compostela.  My two new hips are rejoicing in all this exercise, and while it's nothing like the real thing, it is certainly good training for when I can once again don my hiking boots and be en camino!

Two hips are better than one

Only the second post this year - to celebrate the second new hip! I am almost at six weeks post-op point, and doing really well.  Some lovely weather has greatly helped getting back on my feet, and memories of a few long days on the Camino Portugués in September spur me on to prepare for whichever path I will choose next April or May.

Looking back at Vigo ria

Enjoying shaded paths

Ancient Ponte Sampaio near Acade

By a fountain after a tough climb

I'm probably most tempted by the Camino Fisterre which I completed in June 2011.  Beginning at Muxia roughly115 kms  from Santiago, it fulfills the 100km requirement for a compostela, and is a lot less crowded than the Camino Francés.  There are opportunities for swims along the early part of the route, and the local people are extremely friendly.  John Brierley has an excellent new guide to the area, and it will be a relatively easy way to get back into camino territory once more.  Watch this site for further updates.

Nearing Santiago - one of the best approaches of all the caminos

The end of the journey

Leaving Muxia

Virxe da Barca sanctuary, Muxia

Mediaeval Ponte Maceira near Negreira

A very happy Christmas to one and all, and buen camino to those proposing to discover or re-discover the many and varied Ways to Santiago!