Sensations, Observations, Meditations

One morning I sat in a sunny sheltered spot overlooking the river and did nothing except enjoy the sun and soak up the warmth. The sky was blue, blue, cloudless blue. The water of the river was blue, too. Where the river met the ocean, the whitecaps shone. I saw unexpected, unfamiliar flowers on large spikey succulents. Beige sand beaches stretched left and right on both sides of the river. With my eyes closed and a small contented smile on my lips, I saw the red of the inside of my eyelids. I could hear the distant roar of he ocean waves and the gentle lapping of the river water against the shore. Birds chirped, seagulls squawked and there was sweet birdsong near and far. I felt the warmth of the sun on my face. It was like a gentle massage of the molecules of my skin. I felt a few curls of hair moving in the breeze. This church at the end of my lane rings the daytime hours. I have a slow pace here and an empty dance card. It is a blessing and a challenge. 

This monument honours three men from Vila Nova de Milfontes who flew from Lisbon to Macau in 1924.

         

Random observations:            

- Almost no men dress like a 12 year old (baseball cap, tshirt, jeans, sneakers)

- It is a coffee society. There are  many  cafes. In general, women gather, chat, and drink cappuccino. Men stand at the counter and drink an espresso in 3 sips and leave. 

- Smoking is common at the outside cafe tables and cigarette vending machines are available inside the cafe. A pack of ciggies costs E4.70 ($7).

-I haven't seen an obese person.

-People greet each other (and me!) as they pass .

- I haven't heard the f-word in 3 weeks.

I have too much time here and don't know how to fill it. I am at the beginning of week 3 out of 5. I am starting to realize and understand that I am here to live, not do. Doing a load of laundry the other day was comforting and I really enjoyed sweeping the floor of my apartment. Life seemed more normal. I thought of my daughter and my young co-workers who have very busy, demanding lives, as I did when my children were young. I would have loved to have all this endless time. As we get past parenting and working, we have more time but less health. Would I trade one for another? No. To every time there is a season. Everything is perfect the way it is. I have time to feel the sun on my eyelids and the life experience to appreciate it. 

Bom dia

The weather has been lovely since I've been here, cool in the morning and evening, around 10*C, and 20* +/- 2 through the afternoon. I'm having wonderful sleeps in my fairytale 4-poster bed with mattress warmer to cosy it up before I climb in. I think I must get a mattress warmer for home and Linda, you must get one too. I find that I am becoming one of THOSE, old people who are cold at silly temperatures.

I slept so well, I looked like this today. Nice hair!

Once I'm ready to leave the apartment, I walk up the street past the little church with a real bell on top that rings the hours from 0900 - 2100. Everyone I pass smiles and says "Bom dia". When I get to my cafe, I ask for a cappuccino and croissant simple. It's huge!

    

A few days ago, I took a longish walk out of town, over the bridge across the river, and along the edge of a farmer's field. The many, many birds were singing and the sun was shining. I walked past cork oak trees; one very old giant had died and fallen across the path. These trees are grown in this region for their bark which is harvested every 9 years and made into products like purses, shoes, hats, ties, coasters, and wine bottle stoppers.

After a bit, I came out of the tree area and could see the farmer's field and a big old building of some mystery purpose. And it looked like this!:

Who did that and why there???

I had a charming homemade supper here....

And the day ended like this.....

My little sunny home

The Snowbird has landed

Hi all,

Here in Vila Nova de Milfontes the sky is blue and cloudless. There are beaches for miles and miles up and down the coast and my town is at the mouth of the Mira River where the water is still and perfect for kayaking.

Getting here takes a bit of time...Kenora to Winnipeg to Toronto to Frankfurt to Lisbon. That took a total of 16.5 hours from start to finish. Portugal is in the same time zone as Great Britain so here I am 6 hrs ahead of Winnipeg (until today when CST became CDT). This morning I wondered if Portugal had switch to Daylight Savings Time too but the church bell at the end of my lane tells me that I needn't change my watch yet.

My biggest excitement getting to Portugal was meeting the dour German security official and serious young Aryan Polizei who "detected" explosives in my backpack. At 2AM and with a tight connection onward, they unpacked and examined my gear. I hope I'm not on a persona non grata list now.
In Lisbon I paused overnight to catch up on sleep. Lisbon is a very interesting place and the hostel where I stayed (same one I used after my Camino trip) was perfectly located, quiet (unlike last time), and a great place to meet people. I ate custard tarts and wandered with a woman from India and a man from Denmark. Tha accommodation was $24 and a home cooked group meal of soup, pasta, cheesecake, and wine was $15.

The next day at 4 PM, I took a modern bus 2.5 hrs south to this idyllic town of 5,500 people. My apartment is movie-worthy cute, well-appointed, and in immaculate condition. There is a fully equipped kitchen with teeny walled patio, living room with wood stove and tv, bathroom with washing machine. Upstairs is a bedroom with luxurious four-poster bed, full ensuite bathroom and tiny balcony with views of beach. Up the small wooden circular stairs is a larger rooftop terrace with marvellous views of beach and river/Atlantic Ocean waves.

With 5 weeks to relax here I am taking it one day at a time. Today is my 5th day here. The weather is exactly what I wished for, sunny and 20ish. There are miles of beaches but the water is cold (like Lake of the Woods in May/June). There are famous hiking trails in 3 directions. English books are available for borrow!!! Wine is $2-3/ big glass and less by the bottle in the supermarcado. My $12 home cooked Portuguese cafe dinner will feed me for 2 days.

I'm signing off to make my lunch and then walk about 5 km down the sand dune cliff trail toward Porto Covo. Starting easy!

I hope my home people are hanging on through the last fierce month of winter.

Stand by me

A while ago when I was working a night shift at the hospital, one of my patients was an elderly woman in isolation for diarrhea. She was weak from her condition and very uncomfortable physically from her raw bottom and emotionally from the embarrassment of frequent uncontrollable bowel movements. She sobbed to me " I'm so helpless!". Her elderly husband, dressed in pressed trousers, belt, and tidy shirt jumped up from a cot beside her bed in the dead of the night and stroked her forehead while he murmured reassurances. I felt I was in the presence of something special and holy. Moments like those are the quiet blessings of my job.

Today my daughter is getting married. I wish her and her almost husband a life of love. Life is not easy so having someone in your corner, someone to stroke your forehead or hold your hand when you need support is a gift not ever to be taken for granted. A famous person said "we are walking each other home".  Our meander through life is easier with a friend we can rely on. I hope they will always be that friend to each other and have a love as tender as I witnessed that night.

I love you, Laura and Skye.

Barcelona and Paris

Many of you know that I am back home in Kenora, where the snow is deep and it is unusually cold at -35 degrees. What a shock that my epic trip is now over. It seemed to end so suddenly! And what a surprise to come home to these temperatures!

I have received some comments that I left the blog hanging by not reporting my activity after Tarragona. I feel the same way. I won't feel like I've reached the end of the adventure until I write about my time in Barcelona and Paris so let me think back to that time two weeks ago.....

Barcelona is a beautiful city situated between a mountain ridge and the azure waters of the Mediterranean. It is filled with stunning architecture. Its main street is a wide boulevard lined with designer shops and sidewalk stalls reminding me of an unsnobby Champs Elyssees.

One of my favorite people from the Camino was Pau, a Spaniard from Barcelona, and I met with him while I was here. Pau has written and illustrated a children's book about Antoni Gaudi, a fascinating architect, so it was perfect to walk through Gaudi's Park Guell with Pau. We also met for dinner in his becoming-trendy neighbourhood. The next day I walked to the beaches near the harbour and sat at a table in the sun, drinking vino tinto and watching the surfers and one lone brave swimmer. On the following day, with online prepurchased ticket in hand, I went to explore Gaudi's Segrada Familia. Construction on this amazing structure was begun in 1882 and is still underway, with completion slated for 2026. The pillars inside the cathedral morph as they rise and become trees with branches bearing palm leaves when they reach the soaring apex. The stained glass windows are composed of monochromatic saturated colours. The choir lofts on side elevations are reached by curling apple peel-like staircases and will hold 1000 singers. This cathedral is contraversial and unique. For a moment I understood its meaning and the enormity of the beliefs it represented. For a second I had a numinous feeling. And then I cried....

I took the fast train (TGV) to Paris and debarked at Gare du Lyon, where I had a brief "failure to cope" and needed help from an official to figure out how to get Metro tickets and get to Gare de Nord. Travelling can be overwhelming at times!

While in Paris I accomplished my four goals. I went to the famous cemetery, Pere Lachaise and found the graves of Jim Morisson, Oscar Wilde, Edith Piaf, Marcel Proust, and others. I visited the Musee d'Orsay and spent many hours looking at famous art. I saw the Christmas display windows at the famous department store, Galleries Lafeyette. I had an amazing evening with Fabienne and her Portuguese/French artist friend at Fabienne's atelier in Montmartre. I had met Fabienne in Porto where she was doing some research on her grandfather's origins. I had such a fascinating evening visiting with these two women that I missed the last bus and had to take a taxi to my hotel.

And then it was over! My two-and-a-half month epic trip, filled with wonderful experiences and a few minutes of homesickness was exactly like the labyrinth! And life.....The end seems distant and then, before you see it coming, it's over!

I have more than 1300 pictures to sort and many thoughts to process. I will blog again, but probably not for a few weeks now. I appreciated everyone's comments and support. You can't know how much the connections helped me. Thanks!

Four days in Tarragona

I'm in a cafe finishing my breakfast of cafe con leche and a croissant. In a few hours I will put on my backpack and walk to the bus station and ride the noon bus to Barcelona. I've had a quiet, restful four days in this sea-side little city.

The first thing I did when I got here was nap. The night train was comfortable and relaxing but soooo hot that I tossed and turned alot. I've been staying in a little hotel room with my own bathroom (such a luxury). It has been such a well-timed treat because it allowed me to sink-wash my clothes (I still only have my tiny camino allotment) and nap whenever I felt like it. And I felt like it a lot! I think I've been a bit sick with sinusitis but for me, with chronic sinus/cough afflictions...how would I know?  Anyway, I napped a lot over four days.

I have found the weather to be quite cold. The sun in the sheltered areas is blissful. But it is windy often and this hard-core Canadian who walks to work until the thermometer drops below -40, was wimpering and shivering. Another clue that I wasn't in peak health. I've si

nce used the colder weather as an excuse to buy a new angora sweater and I've found that wearing my North Face rain jacket (thanks Cathy) blocks the wind and I am much warmer.

Tarragona has a visible history of its Roman origins and medieval times. Roman ruins (amphitheatre, forum, town wall...) are scattered like weeds in sidewalk cracks. The broad steps up to the cathedral were the site of a fierce and bloody battle with Napoleon's troops. The cathedral has wallhangings and art pieces that are unprotected from thoughtless tourists! Tarragona seems like such an innocent place.

And the Mediterranean is right there! In a blue that cannot be described!

Tarragona has been a great place to rest up and regroup before the last week in Barcelona and Paris.