Camino Portuguese 2008

I met Martin 2 weeks after I came back from Spain in late August 2006.  It's quite difficult to write this in retrospect as we edit our memories and this blog isn't about "Our story" but of course the two are deeply entwined.  My aim is to show that walking the camino can be a one-off experience or can be the first of many.  That the experience is different depending on the stage in your life, the people you are with and the place you are in.

We decided to do the Camino Portuguese but I quite fancied the Camino de la Plata (SIlver way that runs through the centre of Spain through Madrid) as neither of us had been to Portugal.  The walk was 150 miles long which could be broken into 11 days of walking.  We planned to allow for rest days to explore towns and then to finish with a spot of camping in Finisterre for the rest of the time.  I think we were away for just under 4 weeks.  The picture shows us at the border of Spain and Portugal.  We are still in Portugal and the other side of the bridge is Spain.

I found that the characteristics of this camino was  quite different to the French way.  There were far less pilgrims, we saw less than 10 while we were in Portugal, and correspondingly less albergues, so we were staying in hotels very much as tourists.  Hotels generally gave a pilgrim discount but it still was quite expensive.  Hostals are essential for the longer caminos unless you have a fair bit of dosh.  There were very few English speaking people en route in fact the first actual english voice I heard was on the beach in Finisterre and I had to rush over and speak to them because it was the first english voice I had heard in 3 weeks!

As a christian, the spiritual side of the camino is important for me but I found that I was more of tourist than I had hoped to be.  There was a real conflict between wanting to be on holiday with Martin and wanting to be on pilgrimage.  As on camino as in life haha - it is still my conflict!  How to be an active part of a church community and also spend all my time with my husband and best friend?  Don't know!  Maybe it is one to consider for the Camino Ingles!

The camino cemented our relationship.  We spent 24/7 with each other for a month without a row or disagreement other than grumpiness over lack of food or sleep (that was me), and without the distraction of other people.  And we had such a laugh.  We bought our wedding ring on the way somewhere in Portugal and the happy day was 25th July 2009.