Memories

- even your most precious ones -

Fade surprisingly quickly

 

But I don’t go along with that 

The Memories I value most 

I don’t ever see them fading 

Kazuo Ishiguro

Hola a todas y todos !

The Camino dos Faros ( C de F ) is over !

#JobDone

Where:

Out on The Camino there are only the 3 Questions:

Q1: Where did you Start? Malpica 

Q2: Where did you Finish? Finisterre

Q3:  Read on, dear reader, read on … …

When: Monday 3^rd October to Tuesday 11^th October 2022

Who: The Lighthouse Lovelies

Jackie & Jeff, Jan & Mark, the Boy from t’ North - Roger, the novitiate - David & Ol’ Ric

With an age range of 61 to 75 and an average age of 67

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As always, The Reverend Susan’s Statistics tell what is a simple tale.

Total Walked:

Walked: 1,242 kilometres (771 miles)

like walking from Exeter, Devon to John O’Groats at the northern tip of mainland Scotland   

Ascent: 41,525 metres (136,236 feet)

like climbing Everest 4 ½ times

 

The C de F is a tough ol’ walk.

Including as compared with the Camino to Santiago back in 2017 and the Way of St Francis in 2019:

Kilometres per day: 23 - Santiago: 26, St Francis: 19

Metres of Ascent per day: 760 - Santiago: 180, St Francis: 620

But as well as the raw Stats on length and ascent, the walking surface of the C de F is hugely demanding.

The Boulder Fields - where progress can all too readily slow to barely a kilometre per hour - will be long, long be remembered !

And none of the Lighthouse Lovelies will ever forget the Leap of Death or the Wall of Death:

 

On the afternoon of Day 1 and on Day 2 even the most experienced walker had to dig deep !! 

Day 2: Praia de Ninons - via Corme - to Ponteceso started with Boots on the Ground at 09.15.

Almost 11 hours later – the longest day I have ever walked and with Fitbit reporting it was a 50,000+ steps day - we were scurrying up Avenue Eduardo Pondal to get back to the Royale TYM bar before it stopped serving food at 20.00 hours.

After a (second) well-deserved Estrella I went to the petrol station next door to buy some aqua con gaz.

 

The gentleman behind the counter asked me how the walk was going.

Challenging, I said. 

I shall long remember what he then told me:

God comes to Galicia for rest & relaxation !!

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But as we look back, what are the other Memories that won’t fade ?

The stunning Beaches:

Lives of great men all remind us

We can make our lives sublime

And, departing, leave behind us,

Footprints on the sands of time

Longfellow

And Bays:

The spectacular Landscapes, not least looking backwards:

 

Did we really walk down there ??!!

Of course, the Lighthouses:

And the Churches, where Pilgrims have visited for a thousand years:

The Camaraderie of the Lighthouse Lovelies:

 

The morning shop in Eroski for the communal picnic ingredients:

No one ever wasted their time watching Supermarket Sweep & the much-missed Dale Winton !

The always much looked forward to … Rest Day visit to the Lavanderia:

 

 

The Wise Pilgrim always has a clean shirt to hand

The well-deserved Estrella Galicia Grande:

And the truly delicious Galician food:

 

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And if I was to be allowed One Final Memory … …

 

The C de F is an incredibly isolated geography.

Communities are just about hanging on. You really do sense you are out on the Edge of the World.

Fellow Pilgrims are very, very few in number. I doubt if we saw even a dozen across the whole walk.

But … there is plenty of bird life.

 

A Siege of Herons

On the final day we had completed the climb up Monte Veladoiro and the descent down to the Praia de Mar de Fora.

As we were strolling across the dunes behind the beach, and with (just) the slog up Monte de Facho still to come, I was struggling.

It was a very hot afternoon; and I knew I had the beginnings of a Camino Cold.

I thought of what my Mum so often used to say to me:

Anxiety is the name for the distance between Ego and the Deep Self.

Meanwhile … … Toughen up, Richard !!

As the Lovelies turned on to the boardwalk that would take us to the village of A Insua, I looked across the bay to the hill beyond.

And there it was …

Long believed to have been extinct since the early 19^th century, but recently bred in captivity and released along the Costa da Morte …

A ( some say, allegorical ) Spanish Sea Eagle

 

As an only child, I’ve long admired Eagles – for they fly alone.

(It is Pigeons that flock together !)

The Eagle is the only bird that when a storm comes will fly towards it.

Storms wait for all of us: anxiety and fear come at us wave by wave, without warning.We can run and hide and wait for it to pass. Or, we can become the Eagle we all have in us. And face the fears head on … …

 

The Eagle was closely watching my travails.

Fortunately – and just like me – the Eagle was an avid Bible reader:

I pressed on and soon Journey's End - the Faro Fisterra -  came into view:

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Out on The Camino there are only the 3 Questions:

Q1: Where did you Start? Malpica

Q2: Where did you Finish? Finisterre

Q3:  So, Ol’ Ric: You’re now in (please; the early stages of) your 8th decade.

Why do you go on Pilgrimage ?

Well, I hope that the Blog will have provided some part of the Answer:

Walking with friends

The Challenge and Privilege of being outdoors for day after day

Meeting with Sea Eagles !!

But there is Another Reason … …

As you may know, the Wise Pilgrim should always carry a Memory of Home.

For me, it is a Pebble.

This time it was from the beach on the Western Esplanade out towards the Lagoon, down at Hove Actually. 

And the End Of Walk, the Pebble ceremony.

Throwing the Pebble down the cliff at the End of the World.

 

Take Them With You

 

If someone you love

did not make it on that trip

you can take it

for them 

with them.

 

If someone you love

did not witness that milestone

you can show them 

anytime you like.

 

If someone you love

did not get to do their living

you can finish those dreams 

on their behalf.

 

The beautiful thing about love

you see

is that death 

need not stop life.

 

If you carry someone

in your heart

you can take them with you

 

anywhere you like.

 

Loss by Donna Ashworth

 

The Toast was: To all those who walk with us in spirit only

There are two Caminos, one external and one internal

The external reaches its destination; the internal never does 

To live on in the hearts of others is not to die

So,

Until we meet again,

May God hold you

Safe in the palm of His hand.

 

See you soon!!

 

Adiós, Ol’ Ric

 

 PS

No End of Walk blog would ever be complete without a Thought from The King:

Elvis is absolutely right, isn’t he … …

If you are free in the first two weeks of October 2024, you might like to join Don Ricardo on

 

 A Walk back in the Old Country