The Camino Português Trail

PORTO, PORTUGAL

On May 7^th, three friends and I are flying to Madrid, Spain and then onto Porto, Portugal to begin an adventure I never wanted to have.  Not on my Bucket List, not in my retirement plans, not an idea of something I could or wanted to do.  Nada.  

Enter Suzanne, a friend of over forty years who will be 80 this year.  It is her habit to do something new every month of her decennium birthday year.  That is the years she turned 40, 50, 60, 70 and now 80!  She wanted to rope me into the latest idea, and I would not have it.  Although I exercise regularly, I could not walk 10 to 15 miles a day for 14 days, I told her.  I’m not religious so going on a pilgrimage was not enough carrot.  So, she pulled out the stick.  If you don’t go, I am going alone.  Damn her anyway.  If at 80 she could handle this adventure and I at 74 could not or would not, I would be SO MAD.  So, on May 8^th we land in Porto and begin our walk the next morning to Santiago de Compostela.

We chose the Camino Português Trail because it follows the sea, we love Porto from previous trips, and it is doable in two weeks.  But there are twelve routes that have been followed since the Middle Ages through France, Spain, and Portugal.  The longest is nearly 500 miles and takes weeks to complete.  That’s too long for me and Suzanne agreed.  Many pilgrims who walk The Camino carry their gear in backpacks and find a place each night to sleep in albuergues (think youth hostels) that accommodate pilgrims not other tourists.  Most are set up as dormitories with up to 100 people in a room.  

Pilgrims who take this traditional route recommend packing only two pairs of shorts and two shirts for the entire weeks-long trip to lighten up your backpacks.  They wear one set of shorts and a tee shirt, wash them at night, and sleep in the other set that night.  The slept-in set is worn during the walk the next day, then it is washed and they wear the first set to bed and so on.  Hmmm.  Not really my cup of tea.  So, we agreed to compromise and hire a company to provide hotels along the way and transport our luggage.  Don’t even think about judging us!

Two friends, both named Cheryl, heard about our plans to walk while we were on a bike trip through Slovenia.  Inconceivably to me, they volunteered to go with us even without Suzanne's dare to go alone!  This was a good turn of events because the Cheryls are terrific travelers who on our bike trips always lookout for those of us who are older than they.  But it was also a bit scary that two younger women would accompany us and we had to keep up with them.  Luckily, it seems that all of us walk at about the same rate and we've agreed to stay together.

I'm hoping that we can update this blog as we walk along El Camino.  However, this past weekend one of the Cheryls, Suzanne and I walked two days for over three hours each day as recommended the last month before the walk begins.  Day one gave me so much confidence because although we walked over 11 miles I got home and felt fine.  Day two was a different story.  Walking over twelve miles from Virginia through Washington, DC:

• dropped off at the Iwo Jima Memorial,
• crossed the Memorial Bridge, 
• passed the Lincoln, Korean, Roosevelt and Martin Luther King Memorials,
• onto Washington Harbor, (where for a brief moment we considered taking the water taxi back to Virginia)
• through the Navy Yard,
• past the baseball stadium, and then
• turned back by way of the Smithsonian Mall, World War II Memorial
• back to the Lincoln Memorial.  

Our friend and driver, Pam, offered to pick us up on the Virginia side of the Memorial Bridge!  By that time, I was wishing she would pick us up in front of Lincoln and had to sit down for a few minutes to rest.  

So, we will see how we feel at the end of multiple days of walking.