At the train station, a tourist draw, the lobby walls are tiled with elegant blue and white scenes of laborers and Crusaders.  Outside the Se a talented violinist serenaded the passing throngs.  Inside we got the first stamp in our credencial before wandering around the cloister, nave sacristy and and treasure room.  The 12th-century cathedral got its start as a Romanesque and Gothic building but is now gilded galore and of course contains walls of blue and white tiles.

We must be nuts. This is not the first time I’ve said that, nor the first time I’ve said it in reference to the topic at hand:  walking to Santiago de Compostela.  When we finished our hike across Spain and arrived at the tomb of the apostle in October 2016 (500 miles, 44 days), I was done.  I’d had the pilgrim experience.  It was an adventure but it was hard, and I didn’t need to do that sort of thing again.  However, time has a way of blurring the pain and burnishing the good memories—the fun Maurice and I had hanging out together, walking with Jesus, eating well, losing weight, seeing new things in a rich culture and meeting interesting people, accomplishing our goal—and we have set our sights on another walk to Santiago.  Well, I thought it was a good idea; Maurice sighed and said he’d have to come along to keep an eye on me.  This time we are walking north to Santiago on the Camino Portugues.  We only have time for part of it, in conjunction with Maurice’s two-week art class which is meeting in Porto this year.  We have three weeks to walk before the artists gather.  There’s not the apprehension we felt before; we know we can do this!  With our shorter distance (only 160 miles) Maurice says we can move at a more leisurely pace.  He won’t be picking up his pack as I’m still chewing the last bite of my tortilla.