• Rod Murray
  • Colleen Murray
  • Rod Murray
  • Colleen Murray

Portuguese Coastal Camino 2019

Porto to Santiago de Compostela Læs mere
  • History In Oia Spain

    24. september 2019, Spanien ⋅ ⛅ 19 °C

    Tonight we’re staying at Casa Puertas in the seaside Village of Oia, a beautifully restored piece of history. This boutique hotel was once a hermitage serving the Royal Monastery of Santa Maria.

  • Donativos en Especie

    25. september 2019, Spanien ⋅ ⛅ 17 °C

    Today Rod & I walked 13 km before stopping at a roadside cafe for drinks, some delicious soup & homemade bread. We sat in the garden with new friends from Calgary, Queensland & Victoria, Australia. When it was time to pay, our young French hostess informed us her cafe was “donativos en especie”. Those who had the means were welcome to make a donation of their choice. Anyone who could not afford to eat was still welcome at her table at no charge.
    What an inspiring young woman. We had a lovely visit.
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  • The Trek to Vigo

    26. september 2019, Spanien ⋅ ⛅ 20 °C

    It was a beautiful day in Spain. We walked 25 km. The beaches were plentiful, as were the paved roadways (which resulted in some discomfort). Time for a rest before exploring Vigo.

  • Redondela

    28. september 2019, Spanien ⋅ ☁️ 11 °C

    Yesterday, we left Vigo for Redondela in the rain. Walked on too many hard-street-surfaces and were blocked by construction before being directed onto the main road to Redondela. Soaking wet, we stopped for coffee.
    Not to be deterred by a little adventure, we had to get off the road and back onto the Camino. This involved heading straight up the mountain to reconnect with the Way. Thanks to a delivery man and a dog-walker for directions in Galician. They used many helpful hand signals! We followed a steep, narrow trail and ended up back on track in a quiet forest in the fog, eventually descending to Redondela.
    This morning, off to Santiago by train!
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  • Where To Next?

    28. september 2019, Spanien ⋅ ⛅ 19 °C

    Yesterday, Rod and I completed our 150 km trek from Porto, Portugal, north along the coast to Santiago de Compostela, Spain. It was an adventure and so much fun to meet people from all over the world. Thanks for joining us!
    Where to next?
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  • Sunday Morning

    29. september 2019, Spanien ⋅ ⛅ 16 °C

    We attended the Church of England Eucharist held at the unused parish of Saint Susanna in the centre of Alameda Park, just outside the old town in Santiago. In addition to us, there were worshippers from England, the US, Scotland, and New Zealand. We joined a small group afterwards for coffee at a glassed in café with a tree growing out through the centre.
    The rain continued to fall so we headed for the Cathedral to visit St James. The Cathedral is undergoing major restoration for the Holy Year in 2021 but you can still climb the stairs up to touch St James and descend to the crypt to see his tomb. We missed these experiences in 2016.
    Exiting the Cathedral we returned to the square and toured the Cathedral Museum, which displayed many extraordinary artifacts from the Cathedral over the centuries. The third floor takes you around the Cathedral cloisters with extraordinarily decorated chapels and galleries. In addition, there’s an outside balcony overlooking the square where you can watch Pilgrims take their last steps of the Camino arriving in front of the Cathedral.
    Walking back to our hotel for siesta, we discovered the bakery next door was about to close but we managed to score two pie shaped pastries, one filled with scallops and the other chicken. It was a light lunch in preparation for our Tapas Tour later in the evening.
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  • 10 Years since "The Way" was released

    29. september 2019, Spanien ⋅ ☁️ 17 °C

    If you’ve not heard of the film “The Way” produced by and starring Emelio Estevez, in which he played a Pilgrim on the Camino de Santiago and his real father, Martin Sheen, played his dad, an ophthalmologist. Sheen’s character ends up walking the Camino Frances carrying his son’s ashes after his son dies in a freak storm while crossing over the Pyrenees.
    The film, good or bad, has certainly inspired many people to walk the Camino. However, many people long for the days when there weren’t as many people walking and no line ups at the Pilgrims Office in Santiago de Compostela.
    Found this interesting blog by a person who was an extra in the film who talks about the glory days of the Camino.
    http://caminosantiago2.blogspot.com/2019/09/the…
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  • Tapas Tour

    29. september 2019, Spanien ⋅ ☁️ 17 °C

    Despite the steady rain last evening, we toured through old town of Santiago de Compostela on a tapas tour with Juan of @compostours! The traditional authentic dishes were extraordinary! Moving from restaurant to restaurant, washing each dish down with vino tinto or cerveza, we finished our tour with liqueurs at @secretosdegalicia where Carlos showcased his unique food products. What a wonderful evening!Læs mere

  • Monastery of Dan Martiño Pinario

    30. september 2019, Spanien ⋅ ⛅ 19 °C

    Perhaps the most ornate, artistically adorned church museum experience of Santiago de Compostela is a visit to the Monastery of San Martiño Pinario, behind the Cathedral. We spent well over an hour in awe of the frescoes, altarpieces, choir stalls, cloisters, sculptures, paintings and artifacts. The nave is huge, with such high vaulted ceilings and windows that pour light in from above, the symbolism was not difficult to see.Læs mere

  • Another Fisterre Report

    1. oktober 2019, Spanien ⋅ ⛅ 18 °C

    We reached the end of the world today. Although we didn’t walk out to Fisterre and Muxia, another 95 km on the Camino de Santiago , we found both these places to be magical, awe inspiring and very spiritual. For film buffs, the final scene of “The Way” was shot in Muxia, for Pilgrims, Fisterra marks km 0 of the Camino, for travellers, the local seafood is brought ashore at the port here and the restaurants serve it fresh, for early Europeans, this was the end of the world. For us, it marks the end of our journey as we start on our way back home via Porto tomorrow morning. Ultreia!Læs mere

  • Pilgrim Reading

    3. oktober 2019, North Atlantic Ocean ⋅ ⛅ 18 °C

    I’ve actually only once listened to an audiobook. It was back in 1999 when we drove, with the kids and our Coleman camper, to Cape Breton, Nova Scotia. The book was called the Railway Children. I do listen to some regular podcasts though, mostly outdoor related and some current affairs podcasts like the Orvis Fly Fishing Podcast and an Ontario political one called Wag the Doug.
    Fast forward to the weeks before leaving for Portugal and Colleen and I decided that we’d each get an audiobook and during the day, perhaps when the going was tough or we knew there was a longer stretch of walking ahead that we’d walk silently and listen to our books.
    I stumbled on The Stranger In the Woods, while searching my library’s free downloadable offerings. It’s a biography about a man named Christopher Knight who lived as a hermit in the Maine woods for over 25 years, which I highly recommend! There are many parallels between those who choose to live in seclusion and Pilgrims as well as Monks. The author describes how Knight was eventually caught after years of taking supplies from Maine lakeside cabins. Through face to face interviews, and letters, the author retells the history of this man’s life and his years holed up in the bush.
    I listened to the last half of the book on our delayed flight home and was able to listen right to the end. A Remarkable Book!
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    Slut på rejsen
    3. oktober 2019