Day 7 – Tomar to Alvaiázere
Day 7 – Tomar to Alvaiázere – 29km/18 miles Today was my far the best day on this Camino so far. It was a long day but a good day in many ways. I’m an effort to best the heat, we started walking at 6:30am. It started with a very nice hilly forest path before […]
Day 6 – Golegã to Tomar
Day 6 – Golegã to Tomar – 33km/20.50 miles This was the third of four straight 30km+ days and it offered some new surprises as well as some of the usual things this route has offered so far. The new was some legit climbing and descents through a eucalyptus forest that actually had shade. Today […]
Day 5 – Santarem to Golega
Day 5 – Santarem to Golega – 34km/21.10 miles We actually left early today which was supposed to help avoid the heat, but the afternoon still ended walking in 86 degrees. The temperature gradient here is definitely bigger than Spain. It starts in the mid 50s and gradually gets to mid 80s by 4pm. With […]
Day 4 – Azambuja to Santarem
Day 4 – Azambuja to Santarem – 33km/20.50 miles This one was a real doozy. Being the first 30km+ day it was definitely a challenge for the mind and body. We originally wanted to leave around 7 but the bar didn’t open until 7:30 for first breakfast and we had to wait. The day started […]
Day 3 – Vila Franca de Xira to Azambuja
Day 3 – Vila Franca de Xira to Azambuja – 20km/12.4 miles Today was similar to yesterday in that the walking included a good amount of pavement and developed areas. Portugal does its best to route the path around these areas but there’s only so much they can do in this part of the country. […]
Day 2 – Apriate to Vila Franca de Xira
Day 2 – Apriate to Vila Franca de Xira – 18km/11.1 miles Today was quite the contrast to yesterday in the weather. It was overcast, drizzling and windy so the temperature was alright. As the day went on, things became gradually more soaked but the shorter distance made things manageable. It was a mix of […]
Day 1 – Lisbon to Apriate
Day 1 – Lisbon to Apriate – 22km/13.6 miles I got a little start on the day leaving Lisbon since I had to take the metro backwards into the city center for the official starting point. It was a tale of three sections today.. leaving the charming streets of Lisbon, going through the ultra modern […]
Day 0 – Lisbon
Lisbon as a city has been awesome so far. I went to from a hot and humid Florida to cool 70s and breezy. I hadn’t been here before, but it has so much going for it. The views, the food, the people and history have all been great. I’ve always appreciated how well Europe does […]
Welcome to Camino Memories!
Friends, Since we launched “¿Por Que Peregrino?” just over three years ago, we have been immensely proud that a diverse community of pilgrims helped build our site by sharing so many wonderful memories from their Caminos. We want to ensure that those stories reach all sorts of people who are either thinking about the Camino […]
Day 44 – Finisterre to Muxía
6/23/17 – 31.2km/19.3mi from Finisterre to Muxía. This was it. The very last day. The end of my second Camino. I actually put off writing this for a few days because I needed some time both to unwind, and to figure out what closing thoughts I had. So I guess this is a bit long. […]
Day 43 – “Day Off” in Finisterre
6/22/17 – “Day Off” in Finisterre. We had a great time last night celebrating a monumental accomplishment. Not to mention that we’ve covered nearly 100 km since Santiago, in just three days. That’s taxing. As strong as we have become on this journey, we’re definitely tired, mentally and physically. That exhaustion manifested in a few […]
Day 42 – Olveiroa to Finisterra
6/21/17 – 49.2km/30.6mi from Olveiroa to Finisterre, which the ancient Romans thought was “the end of the world.” The distance includes the distance we walked to Finisterre, in town, and climbing to the “lighthouse at the end of the world” and back. The stars were smiling on our night in Olveiroa as we had a […]
Day 41 – Negreira to Olveiroa
6/20/17 – 35.1km/21.8mi from Negreira to Olveiroa. I’ve been enjoying seeing again some of the things that we saw on the Finisterre trip in 2014. For example, the sign for the town of “Fornos,” vandalized so it says “Pornos.” A little puerile, but I found this gleefully delightful back then and now. The Camino Finisterre also has […]
Day 40 – Santiago de Compostela to Negreira
6/19/17 – 22.8km/14.2mi from Santiago de Compostela to Negreira. After 40 days and 40 nights of traveling through a certain desert, certain people reached a final destination. We… have a few more to go. Our “Camino family” has dwindled from 10 to 4, and only Serrina, Courtney, David, and I are left. But we will […]
Day 39 – Monte de Gozo to Santiago de Compostela
6/18/17 – “815km/506mi” from Monte de Gozo (ok, from Irún, Spain) to SANTIAGO DE COMPOSTELA!!! Finally, after a long, difficult, but surely an enjoyable journey, WE REACHED SANTIAGO, which was reason to celebrate! In 2014, we walked 500 miles. And this year, as the song goes, we walked 500 more! My Compostela (certificate) says we […]
Day 38 – Arzúa to Monte de Gozo
6/17/17 – 40(!!)km/24.8mi from Arzúa to Monte de Gozo We’re nearing the end. And so many thoughts are racing through my mind. On this Camino, we’ve had bitter cold and blazing heat. Absolute still air and gusting winds. Sheets of rain and heavy, still humidity. It’s hard to pack light for those kinds of variations. […]
Day 37 – Sobrado Dos Monxes to Arzúa
6/16/17 – 29.8km/18.5mi from Sobrado Dos Monxes to Arzúa Today also promised to be a scorcher so the crew took off early from their hostel at 6:20 to beat the heat. Buuuuut, I slept in the monastery and was so comfortable that I woke up late! I left at 7:17, nearly an hour behind the […]
Day 36 – A Lagoa to Sobrado dos Monxes
6/15/17 – 29.8km/18.5mi from A Lagoa to Sobrado Dos Monxes. Knowing that it would be very hot this afternoon, we all agreed to get walking about an hour earlier than we usually do, about 6am. The good news is that we spent several hours walking in crisp cool comfort. And also we’ve added Giovanni to […]
Day 35 – Baamonde to A Lagoa
6/14/17 – 18.6km/11.6mi from Baamonde to A Lagoa. After a night of merrymaking in Baamonde, some of the crew woke up not feeling so good. Solution? Open up one of our bottles of wine left over from yesterday, and have a morning roadie. I tried to resist temptation, but in the end I had a […]
Day 34 – Vilalba to Baamonde
6/13/17 – 18.6km/11.6mi from Vilalba to Baamonde. It was fairly formulaic today – hike, yoga, food, drink, sleep. So instead, I’m going to talk about the “stages” or “aspects” of the journey. During the last week of our first Camino, we felt real strong. We conditioned ourselves, and endurance was high. So while some members […]