And we're off ..sort of!

Actually getting to your starting point on the Camino always seems to be more complicated than actually walking the Camino. A mass of different forms of transport seem to need to be involved as you walk to the bus to catch the train, ride the train to catch the bus, catch the bus to get the coach and get the coach to reach the plane!

I am, though, getting a little ahead of myself as we're waiting to catch the coach to the airport in the middle of London (well at Victoria station which is near enough to being the middle of London).

We started with the train at half nine.

I got a little sleep on the train and then got a bus through London for the first time. It was amazing to see just how busy the city is at midnight (and still is now at almost one)! The coach journey's an hour and a half and will be followed by the fun activity of trying to sleep on airport seats ..... the life of a Pilgrim hey!!

We should have plenty of time to explore Porto tomorrow though .... later today I mean!

Ultreia!

Comments

The Camino Primitivo

The Camino Primitivo (or the Original Way) is reportedly the very first Camino Way to Santiago in the 9 th century when most of Spain was under the control of the Moors and it runs from near the city of Ovideo in Asturias as it starts in Villavicosa (which also lies on the Camino Norte so many people follow this Way from Basque city of San Sebastian (Donosti in Basque) or in from the French border at Irun ( this route then hugs the Bay of Biscay passing through Guernica, Bilbao, Santander, Llanes before going under the Picos de Europa and then heads along the coast to Ovideo) before branching off onto the Primitivo which goes across the mountains and through the city of Lugo before joining the Frances at Melide. The route is 320km long. Image taken from https://viaalpina2013.wordpress.com/2013/04/14/camino-del-norte-camino-primitivo/

Symbols of the three main Christian Pilgrimages

The symbol of the Pilgrim to Santiago is the Scallop shell of which many can be found on the coast of Galicia and it is actually a symbol of the Pilgrimage (and has become a symbol of other Christian Pilgrimages too) partly because you could find the shell easily there and so could go back home and show it off as proof that you had done the Pilgrimage. It has also been included in carvings in some Churches.

Camino Mascot

Those who have walked the Camino will probably have seen one or more of the Camino mascots along the Way but do you know their names? http://m.elcorreogallego.es/xacobeo/ecg/xubi-jubila-pelegrin-mascota-xacobea/idEdicion-2010-06-08/idNoticia-555962/

On the Camino

Search This Blog