James, the older son of Zebedee and older brother of the apostle John was a seaman and fisherman in Galilee when he was selected by Christ to be a fisher of men. After the death of Christ he was chosen to preach the word on the Iberian Peninsula. After seeing a vision of the Virgin James returned to Rome to tell Peter (Acts of the Apostles written by Luke in Rome). In Rome, James was captured and beheaded by Herod Agrippa.

Old Christian texts reinforced by medieval texts after his martyrdom record that James’s desciples Theodorus and Athanasius gathered his remains which where thrown out of the walled city for animals to consume and they transported his remains to the Palestinian coast. In the harbor of Jaffa a merchant ship (the stone boat or a boat that carried stone from this region to other ports) carried his remains to the limits of the known world where James had been preaching.

Following known sea routes, the boat entered the Ria de Arusha. A type of fjord that cuts deeply into what we now know as Galicia. From there they sailed up the Ulla river passing the Roman settlements of Turris Augusti and Pontecesures to the town of Padron.

From here, the remains were taken by land to Mount Libredon and buried. The remains were rediscovered in the early 10th century and Santiago de Compostela was added to the list of Rome and Jerusalem as places where Christians should make a pilgrimage in their lifetime.

I sit tonight in Padron, about to complete my second such pilgrimage humbled by the historic surroundings and the thought of the many millions that have made such a pilgrimage before me and how their experiences changed them and their cultures forever.

Amen.

Crossing over this Roman Bridge at 7:30 this morning in the dark, we set out for a relatively short day to Padron. Only 14 miles with a small hill (only 56 flights of stairs) and the eat down hill we made very good time arriving at our lodging at 1215.

The thought occurred to me today on the walk that we pass more churches than anything else but I fail to photograph them as there are so many. Below please find a chapel from the 12th Century.

Another fascinating structure all over these billiards are the drying sheds for corn and grain that are built above ground to protect the products. Here is a photo of one just outside of Padron.

Always the first priority is to find a bed. Not any bed. We gentleman of a certain age do not want a top bunk. I have to have an outlet nearby for my CPAP. It usually works to my advantage that people do not understand the CPAP not sleep apnea.They just want to accommodate me and not think about it.

As we were earlier than expected we decided to have the pilgrim meal. Choice of protein ( pork, chicken or fried fish) with fries, rice, and a salad. Comes with a drink, desert all for 10€. We had to add a plate of Padron Peppers since we were here and if I did not Jean would have punished me.

Tomorrow we push the final 25 km to Santiago de Compostela and the completion of our journey. Our plan is to spend 2 days in Santiago so I expect to attend the pilgrims mass on Saturday noon. There will be tears.

km marker and Roman Road sign.

tree covered mossy trail into the hills of Galicia.

Ramon and friends crossing a Roman Bridge

Beautifully cool morning to walk away from the coast. Cool and dry as we started our journey earlier than ever. We had 18 miles to go into the interior of Galicia and Spain. We made good time walking along Roman Road 19.

Most of the trail today was along heavily wooded Roman Roads crossing streams on stones placed there thousands of us ears ago. As this was day 10, there is an interesting phenomenon that kicks in along the Camino. There are no new faces. Almost everyone we passed or passed by us where people we have seen or met or befriended before.

As breakfast is rarely provided one starts out when you can and you stop in an open bar and have coffee and a roll. This morning after walking for nearly an hour, we stopped for coffee at a place where a large group of Spaniard were having their coffee. Since they were staying at our place 2 nights ago, it was like old home week. Ramon has done 5 Caminos and always does it with friends. Their delightful banter and joy of life are contagious. They passed us along the way and we passed them. Always exchanging banter of some sort. I caught them crossing one of the Roman bridges.

I have been surprised at the number of people on the Camino Portugues. My experience on the Camino Frances is that there are always people. The day I started on 5 September 2015 from St Jean Pie de Port there were 450 people that also started that day. But I never saw more than a few of them along the trail over my 29 days. Here there are times when you can look up and count more than 20 in sight before the next bend. Unfortunately this requires one to take bathroom breaks only in bathrooms. It also requires one to make reservations for lodging ahead of time which does reduce the flexibility one has in how far or little one walks each day.

Because of sketchy WiFi right now, the pictures will have to follow

OK. I bought a belt. On my way to dinner last night I passed an old fashioned shoe shop where there were leather belts hanging. I stepped inside and told the nice man my story and showed him my wire belt holding up may pants. He was as disgusted as I that someone would steal a belt but he showed me that each of his belts was 100% leather and is cut to size. 10 minutes later I had a new hand made leather belt cot to fit me. He also added two holes extra because “you will loose more weight before you get to Santiago. As I write this I am already using the first of the extra holes and wishing he had given me more.

Our departure this morning was uneventful. We left the albergue at 7:00 and went to get coffee and a roll. We started our journey just before 0730 with the knowledge that the 23 km would include two climbs. This portion of The province of Galicia in Spain has a number of sea water inlets like the fjords of Sweden and Norway. As you walk along the coast the elevation changes almost constantly. We crossed one old Roman Bridge and walked through a number of forests with Roman roadways still visible.

Arriving in Pontevedra just after noon we were able to have time to 1. Get a bed 2. Do laundry 3. Get some lunch and 4. Relax and see some of the town. Pontevedra is one of the treasures of the Camino Portuguese with its Naval Academy here (Beat Navy) and the mussel barges in the fjord visible from the Camino as you walk into town. Bridge across the fjord

Classic tiny street in a town along the shores of the fjord.

Dan Ferris and I as we got within 71 in of Santiago. (1971 is the year we graduated together)

Four days ago, having done my laundry and hung it out to dry, I went to the line to retrieve my clean(er) clothes and found that my belt was missing from my pants.

Now of all the things of value one must have with you on the Camino why would someone take my belt?

The annoying thing is that on Day 1 the belt was hardly needed but as time goes on along the Camino the belt is becoming more and more necessary. This is complicated by the fact that each day we walk into a town shortly after 1:00 PM when all stores are closed for lunch so it has been impossible to replace it. 3 days ago I was given a piece of plastic cord to help me with my sagging pants.

Today with out good walking and good Fortune, I finally found a store that has men’s belts for sale. 29.50 €!

For 40 dollars I do not think so

Another 22 km today over country roads mostly up hill. The route off the Camino follows the Roman road 19. We passed many road signs and mike markers placed by the Romans. We had an early start and it was still dark when we kicked off our journey for the day. It was cool and with a slight breeze. Perfect for walking. There were many pilgrims ahead of us at 7:38 AM and as usual tired legs and soreness mean a slow start. Once we got going we were making good time in spite of the climb. As this was early in a Monday morning there were no restaurants open to distract us with mundane things like eating breakfast. The result was that we essentially got where we were going just after 1100.

One of the towns we passed through was Padron just before Redondela. This tiny town is noted for its peppers. The peppers have an interesting quality due the soil here, some of the peppers on each plant are hot but most are not. Years ago as a graduate student in Madrid, Jean and I would gather friends and order a plate of peppers grilled and salted. We would stand around and eat one at a time to see who got the hot one(s). They wee one of Jean’s favorite Spanish dishes.

Walking fast has a double edge to it. The good part is that you find yourself now only 80km from Santiago but the bad part is that no albergue is open until at least 1:00PM and unless you have a reservation for a bad at an albergue, you don’t know if you will have a bed. One course of action is to keep walking – and so we did.

Tomorrow’s journey will be shorter and it includes two moderate climbs into Pontevedra. This is one of the largest cities we will pass through before Santiago.

Starting in the last darkness of night at 7:38 we were quickly out of the city limits and walking through forest along the Minho river. As this area is one of the oldest in Spain, there are reminders of antiquity everywhere. The roads we walked in retain the Roman road designation Roman 14 and 19 (XIV and XIX). We also cross original Roman bridges still in use today as you can see below.

After 4-5 hours of walking we came into Porrino and stopped for a beer break and some pulpo. Octopus is a Galician specialty and one of my favorite foods in Spain. Picture below. Staying in a small local hotel here as we have come upon a huge number of pilgrims and all the albergues seem to be full. We may have to make reservations the rest of the way to Santiago.r

Regret that the weak WiFi at the hotel will not allow me to attach pictures today. I will catch up tomorrow

As we have “front loaded” our miles on this Camino, I find myself only 117 km from Santiago and we have 5 days to get there. The next two days are short walks. I just might make it after all.