These photos are not in any particular order.  Just pics I thought you might enjoy.  This will likely be the last entry in this blog.

If you zoom this, you will see that the Portuguese still have home delivery in the morning of baked goods, mainly breads, hung on their door every morning.  Tempting lol.

At the hostel previous to last evening Paula, our gracious hostess, told us that we must visit this old fort as it commands a wonderful view of the area.  Of course, you don't build a fort in a low area so you see that she was quite right.  It happened to be pretty much right on the Camino route so no problem.  Phil and I were always early starters, up at 6 and out the door by 7.  There were many times that we were in the dark but not this time.  We had the park all to ourselves with the exception of one dog walker.  The park included an aviary.  Enjoying the early morning effects of the sun, we took many photos and I have some video of the whole thing.  Thanks Paula.

 The colors are always amazing walking through this country.  Even thought this building is in disrepair, the colors attract the eye-as did many on this Camino.

 They love their tile!  It is everywhere and the colors vary greatly.  They also use the tiles as a photograph of a saint, a projection of the history of the town's heritage or just something they wanted to share with the public. 

Here is one that you did not expect - a cork tree.  They girdle the tree to remove the cork for crafts, artisans, whatever.  If memory serves, the first few harvests are quite curly and of limited use but subsequent harvests flatten out easier.  There are stores in the larger towns and cities that specialize in items made from cork.  Amazingly, there are even cork shoes and other outerwear that you would expect to get ruined in the rain.  This cork does not soak up water!  Go figure-cork anything can be found in these stores.

 Not a plant guy but thought this was a nice one to photograph.

 This is a typical water point that was put in for the Pilgrims.  Note the tile with a scene on it.  That is Phil walking by.  Many of the older water points had signs not to drink.  Regardless, Phil drank from one, me none, as we carried our water or resupplied at a local café if needed.

 One of my favorite pics.  Walking into a good sized city, Tomar, we encountered this mural.  Tomar is where the Templar Knights stationed themselves to complete their mission of protecting the Pilgrims.  The symbol of the Templar Knights is the Maltese Cross as shown on the tunic on the mural (google it) which, if you are a Civil War buff, you will know that the 20th Maine under Joshua Chamberlain from Maine also fought under the Maltese Cross.  I could go back to this town and get into its history more.

This is a look into the Knight's Chapel.  Many are buried in crypts in the floor.

 A typical café that offered free wifi, a coffee for Phil and augua-gas (seltzer water) for me along with Snickers.

 A typical "way" marker which we took to the bank.  All other marks, wooden signs, yellow painted arrows place anywhere were welcome but sometimes suspect.  Busy intersections and roundabouts were a challenge sometimes as they were so visually busy.

 Was impressed by this homeowners fondness for potted plants.  Not unusual.

 Orange trees, Olive trees and Apple trees are in abundance.

An example of the tiles I wrote about before.

 Many, many chapels.  The Camino route is designed to take you to, thru, or around chapels in all of the villages and towns.  If you look closely at this one it has one of the classic Camino signs on it.

 A café we ducked into on a rainy morning just before Phil was going to go into withdrawal.

 Nice home-note the cobblestones.  They are everywhere!

 Now that is a yellow house.

 Blue house

 These are in almost every town and village.  The local wash house for laundry. Note the angled stonework.  That was where the scrubbing took place.  Many of these has a trench like walkway so that the work could be done without bending over.  These are still in use in some towns and some towns have made them a source of water for folks that want it.

 More vegetation on the patio/deck.

 Church with home in tile next to it. Note the balls on the ground-prevents vehicles from getting in there.

 Some rather fancy rail work-believe it or not, these sorts of railings were quite commonplace.  I think it was a status symbol of sorts.

 Sign

 Vegetation

 A different sign

A tile picture and bright colors of tile.

Not many churches and chapels were open-it's a shame but a sign of the times.  This one was open.

 Shrines are everywhere

Cool bridge-probably Roman

Add caption

Add caption

A neat building and someone's entryway

Yes, they have palm trees-many are dead though-couldn't quite figure out why.  A whole lot of bamboo also.

 Gotta love that early morning sun on the horizon

Ditto

Ditto

The end game-Cathedral at Santiago Compostela-hope you enjoyed it.  I will be putting together a comprehensive presentation of my Camino for ALDHA, Appalachian Long Distance Hikers Association next Columbus Day weekend so maybe can share it locally sometime if there is any interest,  have lots of videos and Phil and I have agreed to exchange our photos.  

I have finsished the Camino

Hi All,


My apologies for not keeping the blog up but it was very difficult to do on the cell phone.  I finished on 18 November, exactly 30 days from the start.  There is one zero day off in there in Porto.  The entire length, not counting getting turned around or just plain lost lol, is 450 miles from Lisbon Portugal to Santiago Spain.
Last time we were sampling the Porto Port which was finer than we both expected.  Still in Porto on our one day off we wandered the street buying incidental necessities.

The next day Phil and I parted ways as he wished to go on the Coastal Route and I was taking the Central Route.  Phil, being a California guy was drawn to the coast even though it added 2 days to his Camino but from later emails, he had a ball doing it.

The day I left Porto I ended up at this lovely little café.  Just around the corner was the hostel that I would stay in that evening called Hostel Laura.  I was the only one there that evening and that was not unusual the entire time before Spain as it was certainly "low" season for this sort of thing.  The meals were Bolognaise, breakfast, soup and missing are the Super Bock beers I had.  Must stay hydrated lol.  Hot dogs show up in many meals and some pastries.  The hosts at the café were delightful and knew a fair amount of English.

As you can tell, local cuisine is a focal point of mine and I endeavor to try anything "Portuguese".  There were many times that I would tell the waitstaff, "anything Portuguese" or whatever I could get across to them.  I even did the trick of ordering what a neighbor was having as it looked intriguing.  Never a disappointment-just fun.
The story behind this, probably the best breakfast I had:  It was a dreary, coolish, rainy day and I was usually out of the hostel by 7AM.  I would grab a meal mid morning at whatever café I ran in to.  The guidebook mentioned one that I would encounter that day opened at 6 which was not the norm.  A grisly looking proprietor was behind the counter, a sort of rolly polly Ed Asner looking kind of guy.  I ordered his largest breakfast and this is what he served plus tea.  Most excellent.  The, as I was finishing he gave me a bowl of soup gratis.  What a guy.  Then, after I settled up, he poured me a shot of Port-again gratis.  He certainly was taking pity on this peregrino lol.  The whole thing about 6 Euros, maybe $7.

Some shots along the Way, a look into one of the few open chapels (as you can imagine, this walk/pilgrimage is ALL about chapels/churches-see at least a half-dozen every day).  Walking by many, many homes you encounter dogs a lot.  You have not lived until you are walking in the early morning darkness in your own thoughts and a guard dog explodes right next to your ear -- thankfully behind a fence or barricade.  Heart stopper! Lastly a sculpture depicting a pilgrim.

Ad hoc shrines like this abound.  They are everywhere--mostly in the frontier areas along old Roman roads and bridges.

 My last day in Portugal just across the river from Spain, I had this dish at a pair of French designed Forts in Valencia.  The name of the dish on the menu is the 3rd one down on the right edge of the menu.  This was one that I asked for "Portuguese".  It is a cod dish which that fish is very present in the Portuguese diet.  I found it bony but tasty.

Welcome to Spain, 100 miles to go!  Note the markings on the sign and ground in yellow arrows-that is the Way.  A nicely done mural in the middle of nowhere lol.

Scarecrow did scare me as it was still quite dark when I ran into him.  Flan, very popular dessert both in Spain and Portugal.  Very good.  This is a typical "low end" hostel.  15 bunk beds on each side, 30 beds total, mixed gender.  A very wide variety in the hostel world-only did one of these large open space hostels on the trip.  Last but not least, my savior Kwon from Korea.  That morning leaving the above hostel, again in the dark walking through a city, it is very difficult to pick out the signs and painted arrows to stay on the Way.  Also in cities there is so much visual pollution it is hard to lick out the marks. Well I took a wrong turn and did not realize/recognize it quick enough and ended up leaving town by a highway during rush hour still in the dark.  A woman driving by noticed my confusion and stopped to help.  Drew me a map and showed me how to get back on track.  (This, locals helping pilgrims, happened to me more than once).  I managed to get back on track with no idea where I was in the scheme of things as I didn't recognize anything on this part of the Way. I seemed to be heading back into the city but I hoped otherwise--that is until I passed the hostel lol.  I said a few choice words (boy we're having fun now--wasted a half hour of walking) and went to where I thought that I lost the Way.  Along comes a guy later named Kwon and he says/gestures follow me.  He got it into my head (not much English here but more than my Korean) that he has done this 10-12 times!  When we got out of town and the Way was "idiot proof" I said goodbye after a selfie with him.  Ran into him later that day as even though I was faster he was steady-hare and tortoise thing. 

My last day/night on the Way at a very nice hotel, supper was the one I described earlier as "I will have what he is having" lol.  Tuna pastry, and some grilled chicken and an excellent Spanish beer.  Almost as good as Super Bock.

 The cathedral Santiago de Compostela-the end.  I did not spend much time hanging around here as I am more of a "it's the journey, not the destination" kind of hiker.  Very crowded with tourists and throughout the journey found myself not liking populated areas like some of the larger towns and cities.  When I am done, I am done,  Located the office that issues the Compostela, walked around a bit then headed for the bus station. 

The cathedral
Sorry but I couldn't resist taking this at a bus station men's room-a advertising tv on top of the urinal lol
Pic at home
English translation of the Compostela
Latin version - as the church uses latin

If I get ambitious I will do one more post showing you the variety of surfaces walked on and some, hopefully, interesting shots of the Way. 
Thanks for your patience and following.