Category: 2023 Via Santiago (Portugal to Spain)
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A Spectacular Ending
Today is Sunday, October 15th, 2023. It is time to say farewell to the Camino and put this adventure in the history books. We decided to end this journey at the Cathedral where St. James ( Sant Iago) is burried. There was a pilgrim’s mass at 9:30 this morning, which allowed us to get a…
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Ode to an Ice Cube
Some people ask me what do you think about while walking everyday? Last year I thought about olive trees and wrote a song about them. This year, the unseasonably hot weather had me dreaming of ice cubes, so I wrote a little poem while walking. Ode to an Ice Cube As the sun beats down…
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A Day For Ryan
Today, I walked 14.5 miles from Pontevedra to Caldas de Reis, Spain. We are now only 30 miles from our goal of Santiago de Compostela. And while the countryside was beautiful and the air was cool, I had only one thing on my mind – my son, Ryan Carter Poston. Ryan was killed on this…
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Le Maniche Dell’amore
Today we crossed the 200 km mark as we hiked the 14.5 miles from Redondela to Pontevedra, Spain. The trail today was very pretty as we walked in the woods and skirted two inlets of the Atlantic Ocean (as you can see on the map). But I have to say that we couldn’t really enjoy…
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The Hardest Day
Today we hiked 12 miles from Ponte de Lima to Rubiaes, Portugal. The distance wasn’t so bad, but the elevation was challenging. It took us over 5 hours to climb 533 meters in elevation (about 1/3 of a mile in altitude). The good news was that the trail was mostly dirt paths and farm roads…
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The Short Day
Given that none of us got much sleep last night, we were all happy that today’s journey would be short and flat. only 9 miles from Casa Fernanda to Ponte de Lima. The weather was sunny and cool this morning, which made the trek away from hell very enjoyable. The scenery was lush and green…
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A Night in Hell
Just when things were looking up at Casa Fernanda, the late evening brought me back to the depths of hell. As everyone started getting ready for bed, the two Danish ladies (who JP called the “Danish monsters” for their extremely unpleasant appearance) decided to take off their blouses and don their sleepwear in the middle…
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What’s below a 1 Star Hotel … Casa Fernanda
Ok, I retired 2 years ago and can now claim to be on a “fixed income”. As a result, Stephen decided that I needed to live like the unwashed masses and stay at a hostel. (My family is laughing right now.) The guy who thinks that a 3 star hotel is “roughing it” is staying…
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Good Things Come in Small Packages
I started the day with my favorite weekly activity…bringing doughnuts to my 3-year old grandson Benny. (This is a tradition started by my late father-in-law, Jim Finke.) Benny get’s so excited when he sees the doughnut box. He jumps up and down and starts screaming “Nonno has do-dos”! His favorite “do-do” is chocolate with sprinkles.…
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The Road to Santiago
Call me crazy, but I’ve decided to attempt another 2-week hike, this time from Porto Portugal to Santiago de Compostela, Spain. I’ll be joined by my 2 hiking buddies (Sir Stephen Squire and Juan Pablo Cavelier) as well as an intrepid new recruit ( Joe Blenkinsopp). Our route will take us 253km (157 miles) over…
Walking Across Italy 