The tortoise and the pilgrim tourist
A tale of two days on Camino…
A walking day and a rest day.
The walking day… well… when looking at the elevation map for yesterday’s walk, you’ll notice two significant bumps… namely two significant uphills and downhills. My hope was that I could make it over and down at least one of the hilly sections, which I did. Then my stubbornness took over and I decided to keep going.
And I made it over and down the next hilly section too, which included what felt and looked like hiking up a rocky river bed.
All this was done at the pace of a tortoise 🐢, but it was DONE!! About 3 miles away from our hotel, once the hills were over, we called a taxi! My blistered foot and I had had enough!
A rest day… what joy! A leisurely morning, down to breakfast late, some laundry and then a gentle amble around Pontevedra. The whole of the “old town” is pedestrianized, which makes the wandering a pleasure. I visited four churches/chapels. Three would probably be considered the usual suspects - The Pilgrim Church, The St. Francis Church and The St. Mary Church (these are my poor translations of their official names).
And in the middle of these I found myself unexpectedly on the 2nd floor of what appeared to be an unobtrusive building on a narrow side street.
The Sanctuary of the Apparitions. I’m not sure what really drew me there. I am not a particular fan of apparitions, I am pretty skeptical of them. But I tried the door, and it opened. Inside I was greeted warmly by a nun who gave me a laminated explanation sheet in English and a couple of prayer cards and directed me to the elevator to the 2nd floor.
The elevator opened to a large, high, pitched ceiling room and at the far end was a section laid out as a chapel. So I walked over and sat down.
If you’re interested in learning more about the apparitions you can read about them here - https://www.casadelinmaculadocorazon.es/parasabermas.html#article07-16
It was a calm and peaceful time, up among the red rooftops of Pontevedra. I wasn’t sure how to direct my thoughts as I sat there. I’m going to write more about what I did think and pray about another day.
For now, as I hope for a good night’s sleep before we set out on the Spiritual Variant of the Camino tomorrow, I am so grateful for this rest day - which also included a delicious lunch, and multiple coffee shop stops and winning a game of cards!!
