We walked into Santiago de Campostela on June 8, a lovely and sunny day. It felt different from our first entrance to the legendary city, in 2015. Coming as we did this year from Portugal, the Way was much less crowded than the route “Frances” from St. Jean Pied du Port across northern Spain. And the mix of pilgrims on our route contained fewer young people and more retirees, many of whom seemed to be inclined toward tourism rather than prayer. In ourselves, too, the inner process was different. There was still a sense of swelling anticipation, but with a sort of quiet pleasure. We even slowed our pace as we drew closer, in order to savor our last kilometers of countryside (and favor Anne’s newest blister). Local people tell us that the weather in Galicia has become less rainy, foggy and chilly in the last couple of years. (Draw your own conclusions about global warming.)

So, Santiago: one wouldn’t expect a city founded by the Romans, that has been welcoming pilgrims for 1,200 years, to change much in two years. And, indeed, the Parador next to the Catedral is still beautifully comfortable, the bagpipes still play under the arch, and Ex’s barber is still in the same location to give him a great Spanish haircut. On the other hand, we were hoping that after two years they might have completed renovations on the Portico of Glory, an important part of the Catedral, and opened even some part of it to view. But no, and no completion date is even contemplated.

So, that will be something to look for on a future camino…

We have been spending a magical three resting days with our friends, Rafael and Marta, at their finca (family compound) in the village called Cangas. The finca is on a beautiful and quiet hillside across the ria (fjord) from Vigo. Thanks to our friends, we have learned that there are four rias, and the vistas from viewing points sometimes show two rias at one time, with gorgeous deep, surging waters and protective islands. Clouds and sun alternately sweep across the finca’s flowery hill that is home to palm trees they have brought over from Naples, Florida, where we met.

The light is amazing until close to 11 pm, so the sun was shining when we went to Pentecost vigil mass at a small church, Santa Maria de Hio. In front of the church is a remarkable stone cross with the descent from the cross at the top and Old Testament scenes below.

Rafael and Marta have welcomed us into their lovely family of children, their spouses and grandchildren with hospitality, great food and drink, conversation and comforts. Our friends are for us the face of Love on the Camino.

In 2015, our 43 days along the Camino Frances across northern Spain included only one day of rain. So far, of 23 days in Portugal, we’ve had five rainy days, of which three have been walking days and two resting days in Lisbon.

Rain implies MUD, and mud suggests slippery footing. Even though the Portuguese Way has rarely followed its ancient course (unlike the Camino Frances), there have been many stretches of Roman road, marked by uneven stones and cobbles. There have also been (as in Italy) plenty of places where you walk ON the watercourse, picking your way up or down rocks tumbled together by streams of water.

So, we arrived in Baiona, Espana to meet our friends Rafael and Marta needing to take a break from walking to get some rest and to let some injuries heal before we walk the last 4 days into Santiago. 

Thanks to the recommendation of friends, we are staying at the Pousada (historically significant inn) within the Fortalezza of Valenca, Portugal looking across the Rio Minho at Spain.

We have been so fortunate on our Camino. The lady who threw open her second floor window to tell us we were going the wrong way… Saturday in Braga when the Tourist Office told us there was no 4 pm vigil mass anywhere and we happened to peek into yet another church in that ancient capital city known as “Little Rome” just as a 4 pm mass was beginning!… Yesterday, when we walked into Valenca to learn that our reservation has been mistakenly made for the previous day, but the manager honored it anyway…

And also yesterday we were fortunate when we sought a medical consultation for Ed’s increasingly painful back. It started after an exercise session back in DC. At first, it seemed to get better, but in recent days the lump on one side of his back got more and more painful. So, we had our first encounter with Portuguese medicine, involving walking in to a clinic with no appointment, a 2 hour wait, a consultation with a doctor and an English translator, two prescriptions and an assurance that the lipoma is not a serious condition. And today, at the same clinic, Ed had his first-ever chiropractic adjustment. It turns out that the clinic houses the only chiropractor in northern Portugal! 

Ed should be feeling better in a few days, and he already reports some relief. But in future photos, you won’t be seeing him carrying a back pack…

We give thanks for our many blessings, and for all of you. Praise be to God.

Yesterday we walked into Olivera de Azemeis when the town just happened to hold their annual Mercado Antiga (Ancient Market). The place was bursting with people, almost all locals, enjoying hundreds of booths and musicians dressed in ancient garb. The music, wind, drums, accordian, voice and more, sounded a bit Irish and definitely Celtic. It was lovely to see how many ancient arts and crafts, including basketry, wood carving, embroidery, baking, etc, are still enthusiastically practised.

While there was food, drink and handicrafts for sale, there was little commercial feeling. Rather, as has been our consistent experience, people are friendly, kind and patient. (Patient with our attempts to speak Portuguese… a very difficult language…)

Although we have heard of Fatima so much we really didn’t know what to expect. We visited for 24 hours the day after Pope Francis was at the sanctuary to canonize Jacinta and Francesco, two of the three shepherd children to whom Mary appeared in an oak tree the site now of a chapel at one side of the enormous plaza. Papa Francesco performed the canonization on May 12 and the 100th anniversary of the first apparition on May 13.

When we arrived in May 14 the huge crowds had gone and the giant spaces were fairly quiet. We attended Sunday mass in the newer of the two basilicas, beautifully decorated with a gilded mural of Our Lady with the three shepherd children and a host of saints. The figure of Jesus on the cross was strikingly muscular and had thick, curly hair like a young Portuguese fisherman.

Our greatest experience was in the quiet and cool evening, when we walked the Via Sacra, which wends through olive trees a short distance from the sanctuaries. Ed and I said the rosary together as we walked. Mary urged the children and the crowds who gathered for her second and third appearances to pray the rosary for peace. Our peaceful experience at Fatima increases our appreciation for this prayer practice. We keep our family and friends in our hearts.

We have been walking for several days and luckily left the rain behind in Lisbon. Initially we took trains and buses for a few days to reach Coimbra, the beautiful university city, and to pay a visit to Peter and Catarina in Figueira da Foz, an oceanside town. We are so happy to have made these new friends!

Stay tuned for more in our next post.

We have failed to post for more than two weeks; our only excuse is distraction and fatigue.

Our last post, Assisi to Roma left us headed for Roma by train on October 6th. Ed found the Casa di Santa Francesco Romana a Ponte Rossi, a well-run convent in the trendy section of Roma known as Trastavere. This great location was our base for eleven wonderful days.

Ed’s brother Bill, from St. Paul, MN and cousin Mary Furey, from Derry, Northern Ireland, joined us for five days which were packed full of walking across the city and enjoying delicious food in the evenings. A couple of rainy days did not dampen our spirits. As we hoped, we visited the four Major Basilicas in a mini-pilgrimage: St. Peter’s, St. John Lateran, St. Mary Major and St. Paul Outside the Walls. We also attended a Papal Audience (together with thousands of other pilgrims) and got a personal, although somewhat distant, experience of our charismatic and people-loving Pope.

A highlight was our visit to the levels BELOW the baldequin of St. Peter’s. The “Scavi Tour” is limited to only 12 people at a time and we booked our space months in advance.  We found it surprisingly moving to view the archaeological excavations bravely ordered by Pope Pius XII which subjected the ancient tradition of the burial of the remains of St. Peter’s to modern scientific scrutiny.

We left Rome on October 16 to spend five days visiting cousins Mary & Tony Furey in Northern Ireland and cousins Mary & John Kerins in County Sligo, (western) Ireland. Quite a change of scenery and temperature (20 degrees cooler at least)! We returned to the USA on October 24, with a deepened understanding of the love and peace taught and exemplified by St. Francis of Assisi.

We left Assisi on Settembre 29, a Friday morning, after visiting the Basilica di Santa Chiara. Our goal today is to walk 20 kilometers to Spello down from the top of Mt. Subasio. While there were some uphill sections to the walk(approx. 1,000 ft in total) the slope was much less severe than on the paths that we walked before we arrived in Assisi. In Spello we stayed at the Albergo Il Cacciatore. Spello was a very nice medieval walled town built on the side of a mountain.We went to Messe at an 11th century chiesa- Santa Maria Maggiore. We secured a timbro there for our pasaporta. There are some 2,000 year old remains in Spello- Porta di Venere and Porta Consulare – that we visited. We enjoyed our afternoon and evening in Spello.

On Ottobre 1 we walked from Spello, through Foligno, to Trevi. Since it was Sabado (Saturday) there were crowds of people in Foligno’s town square. There was an Italian TV cooking show being set up in the central piazza which attracted lots of gentile (people). We continued beyond the city for another 2 hours on the floor of the valley. Then we started to climb uphill (1,300ft) for the last 1 1/2 hours of the 26 Km walk into Trevi. We had a reservation in the “center of Trevi”, but learned that the albergo was located 6Kms out of town with no restaurant near it. No problem if you are driving, but a big problem if you are walking. Neither Anne or I were up to the additional walking so I walked round town until I found another albergo that had a room available. Later that day we had some difficulty and confusion on where the 6:00 Messe was offered that night. We walked around the town square and eventually found the correct chiesa and went to Messe. After Messe we had cena (dinner) and went back to our room for the night.

On Otttobre 2 (Dominga) we walked 27 kms to Spoletto. This was the most unpleasant walk on the whole Camino. WHile the terrain was mostly fairly level, the path took us for several miles next to a river and a sewage treatment plant. There millions of gnats that couldn’t be escaped. Then the path took us along a heavily travelled autostrada with two feet of shoulder to walk on next to speeding cars and lorries. The road was under repair and soon concrete barriers further Narrowed our walking path. For the last hour,  the walk was also steeply uphill.  Our albergo was at the farthest, uphill corner of this famous town, and we were glad to reach it and then eat a nice cena at a neighborhood ristorante.

After walking about 80 Kms. in three days while seeing very few places specifically significant to San Francesco, we decided not to walk to the next two towns on our original itinerary and instead to take public transportation to Rieti, in order to continue to focus on San Francesco’s life. So, on Ottobre 3 we started our day by visiting the Spoletto Duomo and Museo which house some beautiful frescoes and paintings.  We rode the ascensore up to the castle and Museo overlooking the town and valley below. On our way back we visited a church devoted to Saint Philip Neri. We went in and said a oray r for our friends and for Father Richard and Msgr. Andrew who are followers of this Saint at our home parish of Saint ThOma’s Apostle in DC.

On our way from Spoletto to Rieti, we had an exciting Trenitalia experience. We were standing at platform 5 waiting for the train, with only one minute before departure,  there was a load speaker announcement and everyone started to dart for the stairs.  We followed them to platform 1, where a tiny rail car, covered in graffiti, left the platform just after we clambered aboard. It climbed a winding route through the mountains, mist and clouds. According to the step counter, we walked 15 Kms even though this was a “non-walking” day!

We received a message to call home and learned that a very close friend had fallen seriously ill. We went to Chiesa Arcangel Michael to pray for our friend.

Ottobre 4 is the Memorial of St. Francesco in the church calendar, who died on October 3, 1226. Our commemoration included a visit near Rieti to Sanctuario Fonte Columbo (Fountain of the Doves). Like so many of the sites beloved by St. Francis, it was a mountaintop, wooded and quiet. Fonte Colombo was a place of rest and medical attention for Francesco toward the end of his life.  The Bishop of Rieti ordered a doctor to treat Francesco’s eyes. The doctor used a hot poker to cauterize the optic nerves, rendering him almost blind.

Toward the end of the day, we went to Mass at Rieti’s Chiesa di San Francesco, an ancient and beautiful church in bad repair. For the Memorial of St. Francesco, the bishop and dozens of Franciscan priests concelebrated, with a full choir. It was good to see the large church filled with happy local people. 

On the following day we took a taxi to Poggio Bustone. This is another Sanctuario that Francesco visited when he was going to or coming from Roma. The photo on this page was taken at Poggio Bustone and shows the valley and hills that Francesco walked over while he lived and the same hills that Anne and I have been walking for the last 3+ weeks. you can understand why Francesco loved to stop and pray on the top of the mountains, looking  down on the scenes below. Poggio Bustone is the Sanctuario where Francis finally believed that God forgave him his sins, after many years of penance and prayer. Accepting forgiveness is difficult for many of us, even someone like Francis. We walked the 28 Km back to Rieti and finished the day with Messe at the Chiesa Arcangel Michael, dinner and back to our albergo for the night. 

We decided to go directly to Roma from Rieti by TrenItalia since there were no important Franciscan sites to visit on the way to Roma.