Days 39 - 42: Amsterdam. Final Posting

We arrived in Amsterdam on Wed and took the train from the airport to the central train station. From there we walked to our Airbnb about 4km away.  Lots and lots of bike and lots and lots of canals. Went to dinner at a local neighborhood restaurant.

Big feet.

Bikes and canals

Where did I leave my bike?

Central train station.

Canal.

Public toilet. Men #1 only.

Church.

Got up Thurs and met up with a walking tour downtown.  Great tour of history, culture, etc.  In the afternoon went to the Van Gogh museum. In the evening strolled around the red light district. Thank goodness for the red lights. They really bring attention to what you are supposed to be looking at.

We tried to get tickets to the Anne Frank house but they are sold out the whole time we are here. We did walk past it numerous times on our comings and goings.

Friday afternoon we went on a bus tour of a windmill village and clog making shop. When we got back we took a canal cruise.

Windmill village.

Bigger shoe.

Clog art.

Canal.

More canal.

For the record - We did not engage in any drug activity here, unless you count inhaling second hand smoke. That is just about impossible to avoid.

Tomorrow we will be heading for the airport to finally come home. We are looking forward to that, and to seeing everyone again, and to having another change of clothes.

This is our last posting on the Camino blog. We had a wonderful time. We hope you enjoyed reading about our adventures.

Paul & Sue

The Camino - What was it all about?

It’s been about a week since we finished our 900km walk across Spain. I thought it might be time to reflect on what it was all about. I’ll write from my perspective, as Sue may want to write later from hers.

The Camino de Santiago is at its core a religious pilgrimage, with the destination the Cathedral in Santiago de Compostella where the bones of St James are said lie.  The journey does not have to be religious.  Many people do it for fun or sport or adventure.

We first came to know the Camino, like many Americans, from the movie The Way. I thought it sounded fun, and different, and wanted to say that I had actually walked all the way across the north of Spain. It was adventure calling.  It took over four years to arrange our schedules to be able to be away for 40 some days. Special thanks to everyone who helped make that possible.

I also had a desire to see where the spiritual/religious side of the Camino might take me. There was a vague idea of things I wanted to discover or work through, but nothing really defined. I was hoping the journey might bring these things into focus.

We started on April 8th very excited, but very naive.  It was cold and rainy, but up the mountains we climbed through the mud. All our posessions for the next 40 days we carried on our backs.  Every day was great, even the couple of really bad ones.

We met fellow pilgrims starting at the bus station in Pomplona, and met more everyday thereafter. People from all over the world. The conversation always began with, “where are you from?”, and often moved to, “so why are you doing the Camino?”

We got to hear and learn lots. The common goal of reaching Santiago, combined with the physical demands of the hike and the openness to share stories made for instant bonding.  And we heard some powerful and inspiring stories.  A German woman whose best friend had died with a last unfulfilled wish to do the Camino. Two heart bypass survivors. A woman dying from Leukemia. A wealthy man in his 70’s who said he was getting more religious as he got older and wanted to gain perspective. The Iowan who first heard about the Camino at age 8 in Life magazine, now 50 yrs later, he has a serious asthma condition where his doctor advised against the trip due to possible death. He had to carry a 20lb machine with him. His friends offered to help carry, but no; this was his burden to carry. The young woman who said she didn’t want to go home because there she was a failure if she wasn’t married and didn’t have children. The man who was terrified because he was retiring in 23 days and did not know what to do. There are probably 50 or 100 more.

So, as I began and heard these stories, I couldn’t help to instantly feel for these people and ooze empathy. I just wanted to share their pain and do anything I could to lighten their burden.

Then my thoughts started turning inward.  But I didn’t have a story like those to share. What was my purpose?

During the next two weeks I spent a lot of time thinking about people I knew who had passed away.  I kept thinking of regrets. And did I have time to think.  We walked from about 7:15am to about 4:00, everyday. We walked together, but mostly in silence.

Regrets and forgiveness, that’s where my mind kept going.  Maybe that was my Camino purpose.  It became sad and intense. And new stories kept coming as we met new pilgrims each day. And I kept remembering things from the past that I regretted.

I finally accepted that my reason for doing the Camino was to think about life and death. What it means, how I miss those who passed, what my legacy will be, and how best to spent my remaining time. Not original ideas of course, not really specific, but still personal and intimate.  It wasn’t until the night with the singing nuns that I actually said that this was my purpose out loud.

Then after about  two weeks my thoughts started to change.  The sadness began to lift.  I now started to listen to pilgrim stories from a different perspective. Now I could listen to them, relate to the person, but I no longer had a need to empathize. I no longer felt the need to try to assume and ease their burden. Their Camino was theirs. It was not mine.  I could listen and understand with just humility and respect. This was a break through. Maybe this was my Camino moment. This brought my search to understand life and death into a new perspective. Respect and accept.

We actively sought out religious interactions along the way, and we are glad that we did. We fondly remember the pilgrim masses and pilgrim blessings we attended, staying in monasteries when possible, stopping at all the old churches that we could, and of course our arrival in Santiago to pay our respects to St James. All these things made the journey all the more richer.

We were a little surprised that there were not more of these types of things along the way. But times change. Many, many old churches are closed or abandoned. There have not been Knights Templar for 600 yrs.  When we did see nuns they were almost always very, very old. Many could barely walk.  At the largest monastery in Spain (2nd largest in Europe) the entire enormous complex was staffed with only 4 monks, one of whom was 92 yrs old. Many old monasteries have been converted to luxury hotels.

About half way thru the journey we stayed at a monastery. The priest who checked us in invited us to a pilgrim mass that night. We accepted that invitation and are so glad we did. He also invited us to join them after mass for bread and soup and sharing. That invitation we declined because we wanted to walk around the town a bit, and we really weren’t sure about the soup and bread and sharing.  And, we figured there would be lots of other opportunities later.

I am sorry we didn’t go.  The German woman who was our roommate that night did attend and she said it was wonderful. We never got another opportunity.  What I remember most was the blessing that the priest gave us pilgrims after the mass. He said that everyone was wishing and praying for us to have a successful pilgrimage on our journey to Santiago. That our burdens are lifted and that we arrive safely and peacefully at our destination. Then he continued. But that is not the end. That we are to use the Camino as a metaphor in our lives to continue our journeys to our true final destination, and that our burdens are lifted and that we arrive there safely and peacefully as well. As simple as that though is I received it as profound. Maybe that is my lesson of the Camino.

One final memory.  About theee weeks into the journey I had a truly wonderful dream. It was me, my sister Julie, and our dad. Just us three. We were all adults. We were in some city in the US walking thru an area with lots of shops and cafes. It was a beautiful sunny day. Dad was completely healthy, both body and mind. We just walked, and sat, and walked some more. There was no rush, we had all the time in the world. We didn’t need to talk much. There was nothing that needed to be said. We just spent that wonderful afternoon together. It was the most pleasant dream I have ever had, and I will always remember it. In many ways just having that one dream made walking 900km all worth while.

Day 38

Today we tried the walking tour again.  We found the starting point on the first try this time.

But, alas, it was not meant to be today, either. An hour into the tour I wasn’t feeling well, so we had to bow out.  We went back to our place and I slept most of the afternoon.  I think it’s probably time for us to come home.

Late afternoon we went out for a light snack.  Then we went to watch the sun set over the city.

Tomorrow we are off to our last stop before flying back on Sat - Amsterdam.

Only pic of the day - tiled building.

Day 37

We started the day with a walking tour of the old town area. The meeting point was only 600 meters from our place with only one turn on the route, but we still managed to get lost.

About 30 min into the tour, just as the guide was talking about Portuguese explorers, Sue grabbed my arm.  I asked her if she was all right.  She said no. Then she melted like candle wax onto the pavement. I held up her head. Another woman held up her feet, and 10 seconds later she came to and asked what happened. After a rest we tried to follow along with the tour, but it was not meant to be, so we left to go back and rest.

Later in the afternoon we went to tour St George’s castle, and sat down by the river, and then went to dinner.

Castle 1

Castle 2.

Templer statue.

Castle mascot.

Commerce Plaza.

Sardine World store.

Cathedral. Start of Portuguese Camino.

At riverfront.

Beautiful building at dusk.

Day 36 - Lisbon

Took the train from Porto to Lisbon. Walked from rain station to old town about 2 km. Passed 2 huge cruise ships on the waterfront as we walked.

First arrived at a main square called Praça do Comércio. We had seen this on tv broadcasts for the past couple days. In the square there were lots of flags, fencing, etc for an event called Eurovision.

Then we went looking for a hotel.  Again, not a lot of signs. Arrived at Rossio Square in the middle of town. Got a map at tourist information and asked about hotels. He pointed down a street a couple blocks away. 1st place had 1 room for 1 night only for 140 euros.  Went to find another.  2nd place had 1 room for 62 euros, so we looked again.  3rd place had a room for 120 euros.  We went back to #2.

When checking in the man asked if we had reservation.  We said no.  He said we were very brave to arrive in town without one.  Then I asked what “Eurovision” was.  He looked up and said, “what did you say?”  I said, “Eurovision. What is it? We saw all the set up in Praça do Commerio”.  He said, “What? You don’t know? JESUS! Where are you from?”

Eurovision is a European talent show like America’s got talent.  Last year’s champion country hosts this year.  So, this year Portugal is hosting, here in Lisbon, because they won last year.  The champion was chosen last night.  Now we remembered seeing  a super glitzy talent show on all the tv’s with contestants from all over Europe. That was it.

St George’s castle on the hill.

Cathedral.

Mosaic on the plaza grounds.

More sidewalk mosaic.

Blue tile on building wall.

Walked around old town to get aquainted and had a nice dinner. Tomorrow sight seeing.

Day 35

Spent a nice day in Porto. Did laundry in the morning, then a walking tour mid-day.

What is left of the city wall.

Looking down on the waterfront.

Portuguese blue tile art in train station.

From the upper city to the lower.

Old church next to Bishop’s palace.

More blue tile art.

It was a busy day in the city. Along the waterfront they had a motor bike obstical course/competition, so it packed.  In the city square they had a celebration for the city’s soccer team who had just won the national championship.


On the tour we went in the old cloister convent. It has over 1,000 lbs of gold.  It is across a square from the old monastery.  Apparently there are tunnels in the city for river drainage, and one connects the two buildings. The city also had a large orphanage. The story is that there were lots of “immaculate conceptions” with the cloistered sisters. The babies would be deposited at the orphanage’s lazy Susan door so no one would know where they came from.

Walked across this bridge, took cable car down to dinner on south bank of river.

Main city square.

Day 34 - Off to Portugal

This morning we left Fisterra by bus. First 2.5 hrs back to Santiago. Then a bus change for a four hr trip to Porto.

When we got our tickets for Porto there was some confusion. Lots of delays with the computer to issue the tickets. The bus was pretty full, so we did not get seats in the same row. We were told it would be bus #601 in platform 19 or 20. The sign on the bus would say Lisbon, not Porto.

We got to the platform. There was a bus in slot 20 with of lots of people going to Porto.  But it was bus #410, and there was no sign on the bus with a destination.  No bus was in slot 19.  The driver arrived to start loading luggage. He said, “airport this side, Porto city the other side”. We stood in line for the Porto city side. When he saw us he said, “you, no. You next bus. Few minutes”.

A few minutes later another bus arrived and pulled into slot 20.  It had a sign saying Lisbon. That was good, but it was number #610, not #601.  When that driver started loading luggage he looked at our tickets and said,”no. You other bus”.

We went back to the first bus  and told the first driver the that the second driver said we were supposed to on his bus, he looked, and smiled, and said, “no, I say you are on his bus”

So we go back to the second bus. We tell the second bus driver that the first bus driver says we are supposed to be on his bus.  He looks at us and says something like a Spanish version of, “whatever”.  He took our bags but kept them separate from everyone else’s.

So now we begin the estimated four hour trip. Just about four hours later we pull into a bus station.  It seemed smaller than I expected. Some people started getting off.  The driver announced “1 hour”. I asked a young man from Spain where we were. We wanted the Casa de Musica station. He said we were in Porto.  I asked if there were more stops and he said yes. Then the driver said everyone had to get off the bus. As we got off I asked him if we had to wait 1 hour.  He looked at his watch and said, “now only 55 min” then he locked the bus and left.

The bus that pulled in ahead of us was the first bus from Santiago that we did not get on. All those people got off and got their luggage and left.  Most went into a building and down into a subway. 

So, now the passengers from our bus were standing around waiting.  I asked the Spanish guy from earlier if this was the Casa de Musica stop. He said yes. I asked if he was going to Lisbon. He said yes.  Now I understood.  The driver from the other bus came back. I said we were staying here so we needed our backpacks. He said ok, but he did not have the keys to our bus. Our driver would be back after he was done eating.  Then he left with his bus.

30 min later our driver appeared. I told him we needed our backpacks. He had an attitude and said something in Spanish or Portuguese to the effect of, “I don’t know why you are on my bus at all”. Then he walked away, unlocked the door, and started the engine. I wasn’t sure if we’d be getting our backpacks or not. After starting the bus he sat and made various bus adjustments with knobs and levers. Then he came back out, unlocked the luggage compartment and retrieved our backpacks. Welcome to Portugal from Mr. Grumpy driver. I am not holding that against Portugal. I am sure he was Spanish.

Everything was good now.  We got a map and started walking to old town. Just 3km.

Old Town Porto. More pics tomorrow.

We did not have a place to stay yet. After our experiences in Spain with little old ladies coming out to rent their rooms I figured we’d have no problem here.  It was Fri night about 6pm. As we walked thru old town there were no old ladies renting rooms. In fact, we walked for a while and saw no signs for hotels, pensions, albergues, rooms for rent. None. Well almost none.  We did walk past a 5 star hotel. After another block I was going to walk right past it,  but Sue saw a sign on the corner for Blue Sock Hostel - “are you traveling alone or with someone?”

We checked in.  It is a super swanky hipster hostel.  Whereas last night we paid 25 euros for a private room in Fisterra, tonight we paid 25 euros ea to share a room with 8 other roommates.  But, our bunk beds do have curtains, outlets, lights, and drawers for storage!

Mother’s Day sign in the hipster hostel.

We walked around a bit, then had dinner along the river at a nice place with heat lamps and blankets outside.  When we were done we planned to look for a chocolate shop, but it started to rain, so we went back to our hipster hostel.  Tonight I am sleeping above Anna from El Salvador.

Tomorrow we’ll do laundry in the morning, then a walking tour of old town.

Camino Wrap-Up

Day 21 El Acebo to Ponferrada.

Day 22 Ponferrada to Pereje

Day 23 Pereje to Hospital de Condesa

Day 24 Hospital de Condesa to Samos

Day 25 Samos to Ferreiros

Day 26 Ferreiros to Palas del Rei

Day 27 Palas del Rei to Arzua

Day 28 Arzua to Santiago de Compostella

Day 29 Rest Day in Santiago de Compostela

Day 30 Santiago de Compostella to Vilaserio

Day 31 Vilaserio to O Logoso

Day 32 O Logoso to Muxia

Day 33 Muxia to Fisterra.

Average number of steps per day for last 30 days - 48,664.

Not sure we’ll ever beat that again.

Day 33 - To the end of the earth

Today we left Muxía for Fisterra.  Sue on foot and me by bus. It was the first time I was in a mechanized vehicle since Apr 7th. Those things can go fast.

Starting off solo.

Views along the way.

And another.

Eucalyptus trees to left, pines to right. Endless path in the center.

Trail greeters.

Beautiful coast.

I arrived in Fisterra first and found us a place to stay. An old lady snagged me at the bus station. Private room for 25 euros. I checked in, and then went to scope out the city and find the route Sue would be coming in on.  It was 2:00pm. I expected her to come thru about 3:30.  Just as I found the path there she was. She covered the 28km very fast without me holding her back.  She is really glad she chose to walk the last leg to have completion of everything.

She made it!

Fisterra means end of the earth.  Before Columbus it was believed to be the western most point of land on earth.  3 km south of town, on a cape high above the water and jutting into the ocean, is the km marker 0.000 marking the official end of the Camino.

We needed to go there, but first had to get the last of our Camino certificates.  This one only Sue qualified for.  Our credentials said to go to City Hall. We didn’t find City Hall. Our land lady said to go to tourist information across from the bus stop. We were having a hard time finding that. So, I went into the municipal albergue to ask. The line was too long to wait, so we went back outside to look again.  Sue found the sign for tourist information. We went there, but this is Spain. By now you know what that means.  Siesta.  They would open again at 5pm.

So, after a drink off we went to the cape. Just as we arrived at the 0.000 marker we stared at another couple standing there, too. They were staring at us, too.  Would you believe it was Kevin and Robin, fellow cheeseheads from Superior?  We last saw them in Astorga over two weeks ago. And, they were not alone.  A cheesehead reunion at the very end.  How poetic. Both their spouses had flown over to join them.  A little confusing at first, it seems Kevin and Robin are not a couple. They are just friends who travelled 500 mi together by foot.  So, we all, spouses included, had a sangria together on the cape to celebrate the official completion.

The four cheeseheads at marker 0.000.

End of the earth #1

End of the earth #2

End of the earth #3 - metal boot monument.

Then it was back into town to get the certificate from the tourist information center after 5pm but before 7pm when they close.  We got there at 5:30.  The office was open, but the man who works there was gone for 10 min, or maybe more. He might return at some point.  It wasn’t really clear.  We waited talking with three Australians for about 10 min. When we got around to telling them why we were waiting, they said we can get the certificate across the street at the municipal albergue.  The one we were in a few hours earlier with the line when we didn’t want to wait.  Anyway, mission accomplished. It was now all complete.

All that was left was salad, seafood paella, and sangria for dinner.

Tomorrow we head to Porto, Portugal.