Well, it’s not actually a rush, this 7 night cruise to Alaska. For most of the passengers it is a more sedate pace. The shuffle of elderly feet, the whirrr of wheelchairs and scooters, the tap of walking sticks, all accompanied by the hum of the engine and the gentle sway of the swell.

Ok, maybe I am exaggerating a little, there were some people younger than us, but the only people moving at more than a leisurely stroll were those I saw through the windows of the library where I sat warmly ensconced with my book and coffee. These were the people striding purposefully, arms pumping, I actually saw some leisure wear, doing laps of the decks. They obviously wanted to meet their 10k Fitbit goal.

‘So find a deck chair, make sure you have a rug to keep warm, the wind’s mighty cold, and I’ll tell you a bit about life on the Noordam.

The days gradually meld into one, I guess that’s why the floors of the lifts have the name of the day printed on it. Or perhaps it’s for those who have become forgetful in their advancing years. I spent some time gazing at the waves from my balcony wondering whether there is a crew of staff whose job it is on the stroke of midnight to change the mats. Or whether they wait until early morning? I wonder if just for fun one of the staff puts a Wednesday mat out when it’s actually only Tuesday? See, that’s what happens when you spend too much time sitting on the balcony, you start thinking about mats.

The biggest decision of the day is where you are going to eat. After a couple of meals at the Lido Artisan Markets, a fancy name for a ship board food hall, we got sick of searching for a table, silently hating the people who had obviously camped over night to get a window seat, then waiting 20 minutes in line for an omelette and finally settling for a table in the aisle surrounded by the debris of the previous meal. So for breakfast we finally decided on the Old Farts Dining Room where we sat at clean tablecloths, were called by our name and had an endless supply of pastries, juice and coffee while we waited a mere 5 minutes for our fluffy smoked salmon omelette or vegetable scramble. I’m not fond of strong black coffee and on the first morning there I couldn’t see any milk so decided the rosettes of a whipped white substance must be cream……..no, it was actually whipped butter which I found out when I saw a neighbor slathering it on his toast. It tasted ok though!

Lunch was easy, a Dog Paddle and chips with Alaskan beer.

An afternoon beer

There were lots of options for dinner, this was the Pinnacles Grill Seafood Dinner.

Stay tuned for more exciting shipboard adventures!

By this stage my foot was really hurting so I hobbled for about 5km to the next town and stayed there overnight and caught 2 buses to Valenca which was on the boarder of Portugal and Spain. Walking over the bridge from Portugal and Spain a sense of relief washed over me, I was in familiar territory at last. I had some chance of understanding the signs and I knew how to order coffee and beer! I walked another 5 km until I found a lovely pilgrim café that let me hang around until 4pm when the place I was staying  opened.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The next day I walked about 10 km until I got to a train station and waited for a train with a German pilgrim and a South Korean pilgrim. I took the train to Pontecesure and found a lovely albergue to stay. Only 2 days to go.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

MY last day of walking was only 12km, so I decided to start super early. I was up and gone by 5:30am. Walking along the outskirts of Santiago I grew more and more excited. I was almost there! By 8:20am I made it to the cathedral. Words could not express the feeling of joy and accomplishment that I felt, despite my poor start to the journey, I had made it.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

To celebrate I found a a café and ordered hot chocolate and churros, yummo!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

After my churros and hot chocolate , I made my way to the pilgrims office again and waited in line  with my fellow pilgrimsfor about 45 minutes to get my final stamp.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I didn’t get a certificate as I didn’t walk the full last 100 km to Santiago but that didn’t matter to me. I had given it a go and to me, that’s what mattered.

Oops! Mama Bear here, and my bad, having hassled D2 to write the story of her Portuguese Camino, I then totally didn’t get around to publishing it, so another 9 months later, here it is………..

Better late than never!

Mama bear has been requesting that I write about my experience walking the Portuguese Camino ever since I got back but I have been hesitant to do so. (NB from Mama bear….just didn’t get around to it!) Six months I feel I’m  in a much better frame of mind to put my thoughts down in writing.

After finishing the Camino Frances with Mama bear and my sister I decided to give the Portugues Camino a try because …..why not??

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I didn’t have the best start unfortunately, after arriving in Lisbon I discovered that my Qantas cash card was not working. I had about one hundred euros and accommodation to pay for put of that, just as well I like 2 minute noodles!!  Fortunately mum and dad were also in Portugal so after a panicked phone call, a couple of days later we met half way and they lent me some money. Every cloud has a silver lining they say, and this one was a delicious platter lunch

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The next day I set off to the Cathedral to get my credentials only to find it was closed to the public for some unknown reason. I stood at the steps and for 1 minute quietly gave up on doing the Camino, but then I told myself to not lose hope and after walking around and looking up my phone I secured myself a credential at a different cathedral.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Despite fixing my money problem and finally getting my credential I was still filled with an anxiety that stayed with me for the rest of my journey. From Lisbon to Porto is around 400km and not many people walk this part. There are less places to stay and the distances between places are quite long. There were a few times when I would be walking 12km+ along main roads without seeing a single person or building and I would be walking 35km+ each day. It would be about about a week into my walk until I met another pilgrim although there were plenty of statue people along the way.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

There were lots of different arrows to help me along the way, some easier to see than others.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It was HOT! For about a week and a half it felt like a heatwave had hit Portugal. It probably didn’t help that I was walking along bitumen roads with little shade. I remember one day being so hot that I stopped walking around 1pm. I checked into a hotel with awesome a/c and after  a cold shower had a short nap. When I woke an hour later I stepped outside and the whole sky was covered in smoke. The next day I learnt that a massive forest fire had started about 30km from where I was. It  ended up killing around 60 people.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Some of the tracks were easier to walk on than others, the cobblestones were hard work. I was proud of my longest day, 45km! But my left foot started to hurt a bit so I took it easy and caught some trains for some of the longer distances.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Once I got to Porto it got a bit easier, back at a familiar place  and only about 220km to go! The weather was a lot cooler, there was less distance between places to stay/eat and more pilgrims walking. Even so my left foot was starting to hurt a bit more so the next couple of days I took it easy again and didn’t walk as far.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Of all the places I stayed at, Casa da Fernanda was definitely my favourite. It was a building with 8 beds and two showers out the back of a house owned by a lovely lady named Fernanda. She cooked us a lovely lunch and we had dinner in her house which was also cooked by her and her husband. It had a lovely atmosphere and we only had to pay what we thought was fair. And only two more days to Spain