Arteixo

Santiago Sunday. We went to St. Agustín at noon for another beautiful Mass. Johnnie played the organ and Steve sang like normal then Sybille, Petra, Dave and myself in the next pew. Johnnie made sure I was able to follow the Spanish responses and had a paper for me in English and Spanish to help. Afterwards we went to lunch including 86 year old Kay from England who had a very slow Camino walking about 8km a day with her walker and chair and resting quite often. She made her first Camino to Santiago in 1950 and wanted to walk this Camino, she said, as the other "bookend." Shortly after we sat down Michael Walsh from Thurles in County Tipperary was able to join us. He had just that minute finished walking the Camino Inglés and was still wearing his backpack. He is my age and just finishing a career as a bodyguard to the president. We talked for a while and found we have at least one friend in common. It was nice that I was able to toast and greet him in Gaelic and he appreciated it. He, Johnnie, and Steve were finally getting together to commemorate the death of a friend and poet (Danny Sheehan) who was on a Camino by sea with 3 other Irish men. He drowned a few months ago when they were rowing their traditional Irish homemade boat across the mouth of the Minho River that separates Portugal and Spain. I had been following their story so I knew a little about it.Read more