Camino de Santiago Portuguese - Day 4

Daily Overview

• Summary of the Day: We got out on the Camino by eight-thirty this morning, quite a feat for us, but only after a light breakfast of bread and yogurt that we purchased from the smallest grocery store I have visited in recent memory. We were only staying a few blocks from the trail and the walk beyond Povoa de Varzim in the brisk morning sunshine was in a word magnificent. It’s impossible to fully describe or express the surreal beauty and wonder we experienced today. The priceless fellowship with other pilgrims, complete strangers from all over the world who we have kinship with simply because we are going the same way. It is an extraordinary thing.

  
  

  The Camino has multiple routes and we have been leaning toward the more “Litoral” coastal route that follows the ocean shoreline. Today we got disoriented along the way and got off onto the more traveled coastal path that travels more inland. This took us through country lanes and forests with more pilgrims but even so we were missing the ocean views of the morning. It also meant there was no place to stop for lunch because there was pretty much nothing out there. When we finally got to our little cabin at the campground in Fao we were tired and more than a little grumpy. To top things off the manager of the camp ground in the reception office seemed intent on pointing out all the current problems with our country in detail and we just didn’t have the resources for that. Even in the midst of frustration and difficulty I understand more and more why people who have walked the Camino in the past long to go back.

  
  

• What we planned to do: Today we left the beautiful narrow old world streets of Povoa de Varzim behind headed for our next stop eleven miles up the coast at Fao. Fao isn’t a big stop on the Camino but we are breaking our stages down into smaller ten to twelve mile chunks and Fao was where we ended up.

The Day's Focus

• Topic: The weight we carry (laying down burdens) The size and weight of backpacks is a hot topic on the Camino and all the Camino forums online. You’ll hear a myriad of different opinions from every side but the consensus always is “less is better”. As Sandy and I walk along we are always looking at what other people are carrying. Some people have very small packs that couldn’t possibly contain everything they need. Or could they? Other people carry enormous packs that make you wonder what they didn’t bring with them. I know our personal packs are heavier than they should be, both literally and metaphorically. Doing a pilgrimage is a great opportunity to try and sort some of that out. What am I carrying that I shouldn’t be and if there are things that I do need to carry that are heavy how doI receive God’s grace to do it? What things do I need to stop carrying altogether?

• Word for the Day: Rest

• Scripture: : "Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls." - Matthew 11:28-29

• Spiritual Practice:  At the end of the day, visualize a burden or worry from your life and metaphorically place it outside your pack, offering it to God in prayer.

  
  

Moments and Images

• Images from the Way Today:

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

• Beautiful Spot of the Day: 

  

  The grandeur of the ocean and the Camino with the city of Póvoa de Varzim fading in the distance

• Spiritual Meditative Moment: Sitting in this beautiful church left open as a gift to passing pilgrims felt like resting under a heavy blank of peace that gave us strength for the rest of the way.

• What Church We Visited: 

  After getting a bit side tracked from the route we had been trying to follow we came across a beautiful church that was offering three things that every pilgrim needs, free open bathrooms, a place to rest, and a free stamp for your Compostela.

  

  

  

• People we experienced: We met and talked with pilgrims from the US - Wisconsin, Utah, Montana, Australia, South Korea, Ukraine, Poland, Ireland, Austria, England, Netherlands, Canada (Montreal and Toronto). The world is an enormously small place.

• Unexpected Surprises: The waiters at this restaurant we stumbled across at Nine-thirty on Sunday evening in the very deserted town of Fao, who served us with so much joy and enthusiasm for a meal that only cost 15 euros and also gave us a remarkable stamp on our pilgrim passport.

• Animal/Nature or local life: 

This little dog patrolling his stretch of the Camino, notice the yellow arrow

Reflections and Learnings

• Reflections from Today: Sometimes the way you wanted to go diverges and takes you in a different direction that you needed to go in but didn’t realize. It’s easy to mourn the loss of what you’d planned but better to recognize the benefit of what you gained from the loss.

• "Well, that was hard": walking eleven miles and missing any opportunity to eat until very late in the evening

• "What helped me today": Our daughter Natalie helped us navigate through something with our credit card from five thousand miles away

• "Something I learned": In Portugal the state pays for your college education, but if you leave the country, you have to pay it back.

• "Insight for the day": Trust your own instincts. There will always be people around you who seem like they know what you should do or what direction you should go in. It’s good to listen, but in the end you must follow your own instincts.

• "Mystical occurrences": we were out in the middle of nowhere grumbling and complaining for various reasons that I won’t get into, when all of a sudden Sandy’s phone made a weird sound. She picked it up and our daughter Heidi was on the phone. Just to be clear we only got data for our phones while we travel and Sandy didn’t even know she could make a call but somehow she did and that brief conversation was a joyful diversion.

Daily Conclusion

• A View of Our Compestela:

  

  We picked up six different stamps today!

• Gratitudes (1–3 things I'm thankful for):

  A very late dinner (after going almost all day with no food) served by the friendliest waiters we have ever had.

  Meeting so many different people on the Camino from everywhere.

  Sitting in this beautiful church on a rest break