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Camino Portuguese 2025
  • Arlene Genovese
  • Arlene Genovese

Camino Portuguese 2025

Una aventura de 42 días de Arlene Leer más
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  • Arlene GenoveseCamino Portuguese 2025Viajero
    1

    Flowers for Violetta!

    30 abr.–4 may. 2025, España ⋅ 🌧 57 °F

    This is a special post for my oldest and very cherished granddaughter, Violet. She is 10 now, which is so hard to believe! She has been following my journey and posting comments on all my pictures. I LOVE her interest in my journey and hope we get to do a camino together in a few years when she is an " older teenager, like 17 or something"
    In the meantime, every time I see and photograph a lovely flower, I think of Violet and want her to know I do like other things than just poppies. So here are a bunch of them for you Violet. I love you!!!    Leer más

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  • Arlene GenoveseCamino Portuguese 2025Viajero
    5Kenny doing his best to support the local infrastructure.
    Pilgrims handiest items, water and a way marker.Crossing an ancient stone bridgeThe bagpipes playerThe group walking in the dappled sunshine1The old and new2Taken by a local boy about 10 years. He couldn't wait to get back to his soccer game.1The bagpipes and the stamp

    Moving along

    1 de mayo de 2025, España ⋅ ☀️ 55 °F

    It was great weather for a hike today. Sunny but a bit cooler. And the terrain was mostly flat and much of the day was in woods. It's funny how by this time in my Camino, I consider 10 miles an easy days walk.
    Anyway, probably the most eventful thing that happened was running into a bagpipes player playing in the woods. We were resting by a stone bridge over a lovely stream when we heard the music. It was hard to tell if it was live or someone playing a recording. But a bit further down the dirt path we turned a bend and came across a man playing the bagpipes. It was kind of haunting filling the forest with the sound where you normally only hear birds. We stopped to listen for a while and as we moved on we saw he had set up a stand where we could get a stamp in our credentials. Of course, everyone wanted one.
    We reached O Porrino in great time and found our apartment for the night was just steps off the Camino (which is really nice at the end of a long day or early in the morning when you can just step on the path). It happened to be May Day so it seemed most of the town was out celebrating. We did not realize this, so we could not get into a place to eat until 10pm. That made for quite a late night, but it was fun being out and about all evening with the locals.    Leer más

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  • Arlene GenoveseCamino Portuguese 2025Viajero
    Only 100km to go!
    The official marker showing 100km2Morning mist rising off the mountain3A bench someone built inviting a pilgrim to rest. It was halfway up a hillFrom 17163Sculpture to honor abused women2The overlook at the top of today's climb. Start of the downhill on the left. Can't capture the steep2Zoom to see sculpture of today's walk. Size of town names represent elevation

    100 kilometers

    2 de mayo de 2025, España ⋅ 🌧 54 °F

    Another lovely walking day. It rained overnight, and we left O Porrino just as it was ending, heading to Redondela. Most of the walk today was through villages and mostly on hardtop. We had to go up and over a pretty sizeable hill. The going up wasn't too bad as it was broken into sections with flat parts between them to catch your breath and get some rest for the legs. But the downhill was not nearly so kind. It was straight down all the way to the bottom with no break. It was especially hard being on asphalt the whole time since it was so steep you almost felt as though you couldn't get secure footing. Having a 14 lb backpack being pulled by gravity to get to the bottom faster than I was going, didn't help. I did end up with a bit of a sore knee, but hopefully it will be better tomorrow.
    The special thing about today was we hit the 100km left marker. It is somewhat bittersweet. Part of me (my heart and soul) is sad that my Camino is ending. And part of me (my knees and feet) would be doing a celebratory dance if it had the energy.
    I have to give some recognition to Kenny. He didn't train at all, and only walked his first real day yesterday. But he tackled the hills with ease and was still able to get out later in the evening for dinner. I was surprised by his strength and stamina.    Leer más

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  • Arlene GenoveseCamino Portuguese 2025Viajero
    We took the steep road
    Love the support from localsView as we climbed the mountain1Camouflage3Railing in someone's yard1Sculpture in a yardBoulders with a stream running downhill. We climbed it uphill.2Earth love!After the storm1My favoriteMy other favorite

    Beauty all around

    3–8 may. 2025, España ⋅ 🌧 63 °F

    It was another long day walking. I liked the day better than yesterday though the hills were tougher. The difference was the amount of time spent in the fields and woods rather than through streets and towns. I love walking in Nature.
    We got caught in a very scary thunderstorm. We were in the woods, tall trees all around and following along the side of a little river when the storm hit. Tall objects, water and metal hiking poles made us a bit of a target for lightening strikes. But we survived, wet but otherwise unscathed and strangely I felt invigorated and in awe. I realized the storm was a different kind of beauty.
    When we reached the apartment we were staying at in downtown Ponteverde, I was stunned by even more beauty! The apartment was filled with artwork made by the owners mother.
    Anyway, I had a wonderful day full of appreciation.    Leer más

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  • Arlene GenoveseCamino Portuguese 2025Viajero
    3A tree grows in Pontevedra
    1Richard's split lip from his fall. Chipped tooth not shownLoved thisDeb taking a breakKen looking at low tide2Our stay in Meano, and old stone house. Ken loved that doorThis was a fun section, it was like a mazeOn our way into Santiago, where we were headed, were and had beenOnly 5 km left!In Santiago!2The Cathedral of Santiago de Compostella3Our group basking in the Spanish sun and happiness of our arrival in Santiago2These puppies carried me over 600km!Richard getting the kinks out2Three candles in the middle, mom, dad and SharonCelebrating Jayme's arrival the next dayMy last perfect cafe con leche4The last steps of my Camino de Santiago, Portuguese Way

    I spent a month of my life walking.

    10 de mayo de 2025, España ⋅ 🌧 48 °F

    I am writing my final entry on the plane to Paris. My walking the Camino ended a couple days ago. I am still sick and still tired, so writing has been a bit of a chore. But I have also been out of my adventure stage where I can tell of how far I walked or how big a hill was, etc, and I have been in a more personal space, processing my journey. I do have pictures to share and a video of when I made it to the Cathedral. So instead of a report of my days I will just post them and share a couple thoughts instead.
    Somehow, saying " I spent a month of my life walking " feels so much more impactful than saying, "It took me a month to walk the Camino". I think when I am doing something and just adding up the days, I realize it is a lot of days but it still seems like not a big deal since I have plenty of days....I hope. But when I say I have walked for a month of my life I feel the size of that time in relation to limited time I have, and realize the weight of that time.
    I think commiting a month to anything is huge, but to simply walking, all day, every day, sounds a bit crazy. It wasn't crazy though. It was the most important thing I have ever done, just for me. It didn't matter that others were with me, my walk was MY walk. There are many Camino truisms, one of them being that the Camino begins when you finish walking. This is when the work really begins. Now I get to reflect and come to understand what I experienced, how I experienced it, and maybe even why I experienced it. And then I need to figure how to carry it all forward with me. This was not adventure vacation. It was a learning moment that I sought out and paid a price for. I know it was worth it.
    I am already thinking about my next Camino. It will be a while before I am ready, but I already feel the little desire to be walking again.
    I am so happy to have had the people who walked with me, with me. I believe I may have quit if Jayme wasn't there to support me in the beginning when it was beyond hard. I know I would have cried a whole lot more tears of fear, pain and frustration. I was happy to have Richard who added a bunch of levity and encouragement to some tough climbs, and for understanding that we probably shouldn't do another Camino together, but instead stick to vacation travel. And I was so happy to have Noelle, Ken and Deb with me. I felt a huge longing to get back to simply being siblings with the good and not so good those relationships are made of. I felt I had lost so much of that when we all became caretakers for our parents. But mostly, I was happiest just being with me. It has been forever since I just thought about me, not me in relationship to someone else. That time was precious.
    So, I thank everyone who followed my journey for your love and encouragement and a special thank you to Violet for her genuine interest in what Grammie was doing. And also thank you to Penelope who can't read to follow me, but sent me video messages of love and support. Truly, you all buoyed my spirits in ways I can never fully express.
    I love you all, and wish each of you a Buen Camino.    Leer más

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    Fin del viaje
    14 de mayo de 2025