Arrived mid morning after an uneventful flight to a bustling capital city. The traffic was reasonable and the people friendly. Like most airports, LIS is a sprawling large airport with a lot of walking to get through immigration and again to get to baggage claim. One plus is that there is no waiting for your baggage. By the time you make the long walk, the bags are on the carousel.

The Doubletree is a new hotel that was built by retrofitting an old iron works. I have yet to explore all of the hotel but the rooms are very nicely appointed. The staff was very friendly and treated me to the signature cookie upon my arrival.

My intention for the next few days is to walk the city to get to know Lisbon. I was here once 10 years ago on business but never had the time to tour the city. On 1 September I will join the official tour.

This is a test blog as today I begin another adventure in travel. This time it is NOT walking the Camino but taking a guided tour excursion to some of the iconic Paradores and Pousadas if Portugal and Spain. I am packed and ready to go to the airport.

There are three phases of my journey. Phase one is to Lisbon. The tour actually starts on 1 Sep but I am going early to get to know Lisbon better and to adjust to the time change before the trip. From 1 September to 14 Sep the small group of 15 will be visiting castles and palaces in Evora, Carmona, Ubeda, and on to Madrid.

Once in Madrid I will revert to solo travel and rent an apartment 14-25 September. I am looking forward to a mini reunion at the apartment with wonderful people I met on the Camino last year.

To get home I am taking a cruise line out of Barcelona for 13 days that terminates in Miami. Another great way to stave off jet lag.

For those interested, you may follow along as I intend to post pictures of some of the lesser seen paradors.

You are welcomed.

Ibiza

Palma de Mallorca

Palma de Mallorca

I thought that the cruise with our friends would be a good idea after the Camino. That is what we planned. I was wrong

The cruise is fine but it is a painful reminder of her absences. It hurts.

I am blessed in so very many ways.

There are many things that walking the Camino does for you (not to you). It is such a time of reflection that it takes time to accumulate all of the thoughts and lessons learned. I finished days ago yet I am still filled with the memories and ideas that presented themselves, however briefly. Phrases said and allowed to lie fallow come back to demonstrate their deeper meaning and lesson.

As I rest and recover in Barcelona before a cruise with dear friends, the most important lesson that continues to come back is how incredibly blessed I am and have been in life. In spite of an impossible loss 3 months ago, I cannot deny that the friendships created over decades and the support of family are priceless gifts that others never know.

I am not finished with my journey.

A Camino lesson is that there are other friends to be made, adventures to be had, challenges to overcome, and a life to live to its fullest. I am deeply saddened that I am now doing it without Jean but it is mine to do. Life is for the living.

Recognize your blessings and live on

Thank you gentle readers for your comments. You have been most helpful. Let’s do this again sometime.

With much live, Caminopapi

Although this Camino has been planned for well over a year, with the drastic changes in my life with the loss of Jean, it could never have been possible without the love and friendship of Dan Ferris.

There are few people in the world I think I could have trusted and counted on knowing I was going to break down from time to time along the trail, during mass, or after some random story. The depth and breadth of our friendship is such that I could feel comfortable enough to take on a physical challenge while dealing with an emotional crisis.

There is no way I could ever express my appreciation nor repay the debt.

We should all have such a blessed friendship.

Starting out in Porto in a hostel that included a mixture of pilgrims and tourists one never knows who of the people at the hostel you will see again. Melissa Foley, pictures of her abound and I have spoken of her before on this blog, would turn out to be a Camino angel that reappeared every day of the walk and became for me the best part of each day.

At half my age, with twice my energy level she was an inspirational part of each days walk and a delightful conversation that made the kilometers go by. Not just for me but for the many people with whom she came into contact. She was capable of keeping pace with the best of walkers and conversations ranged from music to literature to growing up with a strong father whom she misses dearly.

I was surprised that she had never heard the Almond song “Sweet Melissa “. At the same time after a difficult climb one day I admitted that I was counting steps to focus my mind while she was repeating a poem by Yeates. She saved her biggest surprise for me on our last night here in Santiago. (She has continued to walk on to Muxia and Finesteere.)

As we were all having a night cap, she unveiled the sketch below. She had somehow found the time and energy to draw this sketch, dedicate it and frame it.

There are no words for such an act. Gratitude cannot cover the depth of emotions and the deep respect and love it took to do such a thing for this old pilgrim.

She is truly a Camino Angel.

Sweet Melissa.

Side note for Thomas, there could never be a down grade. There is no one better.

The pain and joy post Camino

I had forgotten many of the lessons learned 3 years ago regarding the finishing of a Camino. The usual steps of finding a place to sleep, washing clothing, and finding food are replaced with getting your Compostela (the certificate in Latin that you have completed the trip) and the magic of running into so many people you met, shared hardships with, and thought you would not see again. Some proof pictures:

I was concerned that we were never going to get to the Pilgrim office to register as we kept running into ecstatic people who wanted to hug and congratulate us at every turn, Ramon and the Spanish friends, Las Madrilenas, Andrea, the Frankfurter, Guy from Malaga, Maria from Peru. It may seem strange but on the Camino, you can be very close to someone and never know their name – so we make up a name based upon a characteristic or whatever is easy. I shudder to think what I was called among other groups.

Once we had registered we were looking for beverages and ran into Isabel who ran the Albergue we stayed in in Padron. She was having a drink at a cafe and recognized us. She was the most helpful person we had met on the trail and as e departed just after 7 yesterday morning we thanked her profusely thinking we would never see her again. She bought we 3 guys a Camino keepsake. An amazing intensity of relationships.

This morning came the aches and pains that one was denying for weeks. It is as though the body recognized the final steps and said ENOUGH. I am off to the Pilgrim mass now. More later.

All is well in Santiago de Compostela. We started our day early on a cool and breezy morning. Had a quick coffee and roll at the albergue and said goodbye and burn Camino to a couple of young ladies from Madrid we have seen all along the way. The final day can be very emotional as it is something you plan for and work for for so long that when it is suddenly here it can be a bit overwhelming. Below is a picture of me and the Madridlenas.

Santiago is a large and very busy city so the country manages route for pilgrims so as to not cause problems with congestion. This can be frustrating as you know that you have only 24 km to go but it takes over 30 to get here. We walked most of the day with Melissa from Ireland and Colin from England. Delightful people who complemented our group in so many ways. It will be sad not to see them again. I will have to work on staying in contact.

The walk was longer and got hotter as the day went along. Dan and I found the need to take a short rest break once we got into town with Melissa and Kim from Scotland.

But we finished and plan to attend the mass tomorrow.

Walking today was very emotional for me. Finishing and saying goodbye to new and old friends but mostly because of losing Jean exactly 3 months ago. All the things in life were always better when shared with her. I will write more about that tomorrow.

Thanks for reading.