The Pilgrim's Song; with love and gratitude

Dear fellow pilgrims,

You have followed me on this journey and have sent me messages of encouragement, support and love all the way. I have been held up by you and, on some of the long and lonely days, I would take out my phone and reread your messages more than once. I don't know how to thank you.

I have been kind of watching myself all day to see if I would have some kind of emotional response to completing this pilgrimage. But, there was nothing out of the ordinary and I just put it down to my pragmatism and continued to enjoy sightseeing.

I happened to be in the Cathedral late this afternoon (for the 4th time in 24 hours.) It is so enormous and spectacular that you could spend weeks here and just barely scratch the surface of all its treasures. Anyway, as I was looking around,  I passed a door that said "English Prayer Service ". Just the word "English " (after a month of struggling to understand Spanish and Portuguese) was enough to draw me in.

The service was just ending and the woman leading it put on a CD and then a song poured out into this holy place that has been the end point for millions and millions of pilgrims from every corner of the planet. And, when the song began, I then found all the emotions that I thought weren't in me.

So, as a small thank you for everything you have all done for me, I will pass The Pilgrim's Song by Enya on to you.

With much love and gratitude, 

Judith

Pilgrim, how you journey
On the road you chose
To find out why the winds die
And where the stories go.
All days come from one day
That much you must know,
You cannot change what's over
But only where you go

One way leads to diamonds,
One way leads to gold,
Another leads you only
To everything you're told.
In your heart you wonder
Which of these is true,
The road that leads to nowhere,
The road that leads to you.

Will you find the answer
In all you say and do?
Will you find the answer
In you?

Each heart is a pilgrim,
Each one wants to know
The reason why the winds die
And where the stories go.
Pilgrim, in your journey
You may travel far,
For pilgrim it's a long way
To find out who you are

Pilgrim it's a long way
To find out who you are

Pilgrim it's a long way
To find out who you are

Judy and the Jets

I just finished the first of the last 5 days I have left on this road to Santiago. Tuesday afternoon I will arrive and this long anticipated journey will be done. All those kilometres behind me and only 79 left to go.

There is something called a "credencial" or certificate that pilgrims can receive for walking a Camino. You can carry this little booklet and, as you walk from town to town, you collect stamps just about anywhere... cafes, bars, hotels, hostels. And then, when you arrive in Santiago, you can present your booklet and you are given your "credencial". Your Camino can start anywhere but, in order to get the "credencial", you have to prove that you have walked at least the last 100 kms. into Santiago. 

So, that makes this last 100 a very busy route, especially for Spaniards. At one point today, I felt like I was at the MTS Centre for a Jets game as we all clustered around a cafe buying drinks. I am SO not used to being around people now. 

As I was walking along today, I saw a group of adults with about a dozen children. One little girl, about eight years old, came up to me and asked me for my autograph!! This was the very first time in my entire life that anyone has ever asked me for my autograph. The father, who spoke some English, explained that there were six families from Seville with 11 children, ranging from 5 to 12 who were all walking into Santiago for that last hundred kms.  I could not believe that children that young were going to do this. When I expressed my incredulity he simply said, "The Camino is the Way."

And my Way will be finished in:

5, 4, 3, 2, 1.  And.... Done. 

Judith

Everyone Has A Story

Hello all,

First of all, I want to wish a very special girl a happy DOUBLE champagne birthday!  Zara is 7 years old on the 7th day of the 7th month. How special is that? Happy birthday, sweetheart. 

Second, I am very sad to say that tonight will be my last night in Portugal. Tomorrow afternoon I cross the border into Spain.  When I walked the Camimo there in 2003, I would have to say that the Spaniards displayed less "sympatico" than I have found here in Portugal. Hopefully, things will have improved since then. 

I walked all day yesterday with a couple from Ireland, Brenda and Nick. He marched on ahead and Brenda and I lagged behind. At one point, I apologized for slowing her down but she said," Are you kidding? You are saving my knees." 

She told me that their 27 year old son had died suddenly a couple years ago and explained how each of them was coping with their grief. Nick started training for Iron Man competitions and Brenda started a theology degree. She proudly told me that she was the first person in her family to ever go to university.  Each of them is coping in a personal way and yet they hold onto each other for the comfort that no one else can understand or give them.  I cannot imagine what they have gone through and then to be able to, so kindly, give me their story. Everyone has a story and, on the Camimo, most of those stories are powerful ones.

  

Today's highlights consisted of the following:

1. Walking almost entirely on back roads and through forests in 25 C temperatures. 

2. Meeting 2 lovely sisters from New Zealand and a beautiful young (20-ish) boy from Florida. He started in Lourdes in France and is walking to Fatima. He just radiated some kind of really rare spiritual inner beauty. 

3. Climbing 455 meters straight up a hill. I had read the map incorrectly and thought that this climb was before the hill and that I hadn't done the hill yet. When I reached (what I didn't realize was) the top, there was a group chatting and they told me that I had already climbed it! They got quite a laugh out of my mistake. My relief was enormous. (Those walking sticks sure came in handy today, SB!) The funny thing about hills is, no matter how hard it is to climb them, you never know what kind of miracle might await you at the top.

4. Meeting a Portuguese man and his daughter at the top of the hill. She asked me what I thought of her country and, when I told her,  the father just started to cry. He tried to talk to me but couldn't. We just hugged each other and went on our way. These powerful emotional "mini moments" happen often on this journey. 

I'm very sad to leave this country. It is filled with very kind and big hearted people. Muito sympatico. 

I am going to leave you with a bit of Portugal that pleased me so much when I heard this.  This group of young men played for hours on the streets in Coimbra one day to the great pleasure of the crowd and, especially, me. 

Adeus Portugal. Tu es muita bela! Obrigados, Obrigadas!

Life is like a box of chocolates.

You never know what you're gonna get.

The PortuGal is beginning to empathize with Forrest Gump.

The road I was on yesterday.

The road I am on today.

I arrived in Porto late yesterday afternoon after a 30 km walk. It's not as bad as it sounds because the weather was so nice and cool. However, Porto is a huge city with 500,000 in the city itself and another 1.5 million in the surrounding catchment area. I had to walk for a couple hours in the city just to find my hotel. 

Today was a rest day but I found myself to just be restless. Too many people, too much noise. I spent part of the day looking at the "must see" sights but what what I'm really looking forward to is being back on the road tomorrow. 

It got me thinking about the end of this journey. I'm so used to lacing up my boots, buckling up my backpack and hitting the road every morning that I'm wondering what I'll do with myself when this is all over. 

Oh well, 

".. life is like a box of chocolates." (F. G.)
 

J.B.