Home Sweet Home

After I visited the pilgrims office to receive my compostela,  my body finally cracked.  I was very thankful that we had an apartment for 3 nights.  My people were quite concerned; hell I’m sure that I wasn’t the only pilgrim that felt like I did.  All you had to do was look around the square and see the Camino shuffle.  But none the less I can’t deny them their concern.   Even though I felt like crap I did manage to hobble around so they could see the sights and get their 20,000 steps a day.  That sounds so funny to me.  It’ll be a while before I even contemplate counting daily steps.

 We took a bus tour out to Muxia and Finis Terra: ...Finisterre which ends at the altar to the sun Ara Solis and a lighthouse.  This is the end of the earth and the zero Kilometre marker and the last sello too.   It was again another beautiful blue sky day and the warm sun felt good.

 The next 10 days we spent traveling down the coast of Portugal, first stop; Porto where we found lots of rain but a beautiful picture postcard city.

We flew to Faro and then did some day tripping via train and boat to touristy destinations.  I love Portugal, if I ever get the chance I’d been saying yes to going back.  We parted ways with Mike n Jackie, they took the train to Lisbon and we flew to Madrid.  John and Raye worked the metro like pros, we spent a day walking the city, Madrid has some amazing buildings again we were blessed with a beautiful day.   We wandered the modern art museum and saw some interesting paintings by Salvador Dali and other famous Spanish artists.  It was cool to see but not my thing.

 The flight home was long, but I was ready.  I’d been roaming through hamlets, villages, forests and cities for close to two months.  It was time for this weary pilgrim to head back to Canada.  The one thing about having a two week holiday after a pilgrimage is you get reintroduced to the mayhem of everyday life.  The traffic and city noises, the hurry up and wait.  Life on the Camino is much simpler but one must return to the familiar.   A colleague asked me if I found what I was looking for, my answer; I found it right where I left it.  Home Sweet Home.  As I reintroduce myself to my familiar it will be with a clearer vision.  Thank you all for your support its been sweet!  Buen Camino.