Camino de Santiago Portuguese - Day 2

Updated: 7 days ago

Summary of the Day: So we’re sitting there in the food court of an indoor mall in the shopping district waiting for the stores downstairs to open so that we can buy a phone charger because the one I thoroughly researched but could never test before I brought it along blew up last night. In the end, we prevailed. God provided what we needed, and we limped into the little campground we’re staying at here in Angieras around 7 pm after walking 14 miles from Porto. It was a stunningly beautiful and difficult day.
What we planned to do: Well, our plan today was to get up and out the door by 8:00 am and head for the Cathedral to follow the Camino (senda litoral) out of Porto to the coast and then walk north to Pria de Angieras. But things didn’t quite go that way.

Topic: The illusion of making my own way - Laying down control
Word for the Day: Vulnerability
Scripture: "Be still and know that I am GOD" - Psalm 46:10
Spiritual Practice: Letting go: Pick something in life right now that is driving me crazy because I can’t control it. Take that “thing” and hand it over to God. Find some practical thing to do that is an expression of that.

Images from the Way Today:
Beautiful Spot of the Day:
Beautiful muted sunset over the Atlantic in the vicinity of Matasinhos after a very long day of walking, the smile of God
Spiritual Meditative Moment: Sitting on the sea wall along the way, contemplating the incredible beauty around us.
People we experienced: we met numerous pilgrims today from all over the world. A couple from Austria, a young couple from Germany who developed a knack for stoppingat different places for a long time, only to turn around and pass us again and again. Two women traveling g together, one from Estonia, the other from New Zealand, a woman named Rebel from Idaho. We also ran into Sally and Hazel Ann, the two ladies from NC with green backpacks whom we originally encountered at the airport.
Unexpected Surprises: Trying to find a phone charger in the morning in Porto tops the list.
Animal/Nature or local life: Following the coast of Portugal today I was blindsided by the sheer beauty again and again.

Video from the Camino today

The coastline along the Camino

Reflections from Today: Listen, I’ve got a plan, and I’ve been putting things in place to accomplish the plan I established. Then, at 11:00 pm, we’re going to bed, and Sandy plugs something into my perfectly engineered 220 to 120 adapter that has to charge all our phones, all our devices, and poof, it’s gone in an instant. I'm freaking out thinking how are we going to get through the next day without being able to charge our phones? We use them for everything, navigating especially. Today, instead of heading to the Camino, we’re trying to figure out where in Porto we can get phone chargers at 9 o’clock in the morning.
"Well, that was hard.": What’s that burning smell?
"What helped me today": The owner of the AB&B where we were staying helped us know where to go to find a phone charger in a city where it’s hard to find things.
"Something I learned": Stores in Portugal stay open really late, and they also open really late
"Insight for the day": My best laid plans can be shipwrecked in a momen,t that’s why you and I need God all the time.
"Mystical occurrences": This may seem odd, but when I’m struggling to do something and I find myself in fellowship with others who are also struggling in similar fashion it gives me strength.

A look at our Compostela (pilgrim passport) from today
Gratitudes (1–3 things I'm thankful for):
Grace and strength to walk today
The fellowship of complete strangers
The provision of God for unexpected circumstances

Enlightened Heart