A Pilgrims Blog

I think this will be my final post. Thanks for all the prayers and words of encouragement. I’ve been faithfully praying for all those who asked for my prayers and many more who need them, especially today as I’ve had a lot of time for reflection.  I heard today that my friend Chris died  suddenly yesterday. An old soldier and a lovely kind man who was one of only a few SAS soldiers to get their faces published in the newspaper at the Iranian Embassy Siege. His widow Gill was pleased when I text her to say I was going to say prayers for him at the shrine of Our Lady of Fatima.  I also lit a candle for him and one for all those I’ve been praying for, both of which were quickly consumed by the towering inferno that was the votive candle stand. Honestly, it was like one of my barbecues but ten times worse.  The modern concrete space ship style basilica of the Holy Trinity really is an incredible space. It holds the silence in a way that makes you want to stay just a...

I arrived in Fatima. There are statues of Mary for sale everywhere, even in the bus station. I walked past endless tat shops full of these things but none of them have the same look as the one in the church in Azambuja. I could have sworn she was looking at me, like really looking at me. It was a bit surreal and I spent ages in there.   I wandered up to the basilica, a huge modern building that looks more like a Jedi Temple than a cathedral. At first glance it looks like a circular concrete monstrosity but then as I walked around it and went inside I realised that there are no pillars holding the roof up, it’s just one massive church inside filled with seating. It must seat thousands of people. It’s the biggest building of its kind that I’ve ever seen. It’s so simple it could be a modern Protestant church yet it has a feel about it that suggests otherwise.  I walked across a massive open air area that could contain tens of thousands of pilgrims and joined in with Angelus ...

I had a good think about things last night and decided that I should stop walking. I booked a bus to Fatima, 10.45 in the morning and I also managed to book another night in the same hotel. It’s close to the basilica so I can easily join in with whatever services they have.  I’m a bit disappointed but walking on my own on mountain roads with cars travelling at 60mph isn’t very safe. I suppose it will be more of a Walsingham type of pilgrimage from now on. Good food, private en-suite room and all of that. I will have to wait and see.  I had imagined that I would have met other pilgrims and walked with them but it just wasn’t to be. In some ways though this has been the most spiritual pilgrimage I’ve ever been on. I’ve had a lot of time to think and pray. I’ve been more intentional about the things people have asked me to pray for. And it’s not over yet.

I managed to get a taxi from the train station to Decathlon, bought new shoes and walked out of the nice suburbs into the countryside. I’m glad to be walking again even if it’s only 5km to the next Albergue. I’m just happy to be away from the train line and all the filthy rubbish that’s everywhere. I think fly tipping is just normal in Portugal. Even out of the cities, every picnic area is full of rubbish. The sun is shining now and it’s about 17 degrees. The only negative thing is that I’m constantly walking on the side of the road and it’s not that safe.  I got to the Albergue at 3. It’s some kind of community centre. Nobody there but a notice on the door gave a number to call. The guy told me i have to wait until 6pm to get in so I went back down the hill to sit in the sunshine outside the locked church in the village. The restaurant in the village stopped serving at 3 and won’t start up again until 8 so as it started to cool down I managed to find a cafe where I killed time rea...

My right foot had become very painful yesterday as I waited for the Albergue to open. Once in and showered I examined the blister to find it much larger than yesterday and surrounded by bruising. I could hardly walk and it began to swell and ache.  I was alone last night in a 16 bed hostel. I even managed to get a pilgrim menu in the local restaurant. It’s the camino experience without any other pilgrims. I decided to make some contingency plans as there was no way I would walk 32km on this foot. I am going to take a train to Santarem, get myself to a Decathlon Sports shop and buy new shoes. I might ignore the booking I made in Santarem and walk a short 5km to another municipal Albergue in a village. This will give me a much reduced walk tomorrow and might make finishing possible even though I have to take a train.  I went into a pharmacy and bought some compeed to put over the blisters. Ive always avoided using this stuff as once it’s in place you can’t remove it. My feet do ...

My room last night looked down on a railway crossing. A bell rang every 15 minutes or so as each train approached. Some through trains added a blast on their horns to make sure everyone knew they were coming. Despite this distraction I slept quite well.  After a bit of road walking I ended up on a trail that ran alongside the railway line. It was a sand and gravel trail softened by overnight rain. In places it was a bit muddy but preferable to a hard road surface. I was clearly the only one on the trail as there were no other footprints on the path I spotted quite a few small birds that I’ve never seen before along with some storks that I did recognise. The trail went on and on for almost 20km. I stopped for a 5 minute break about half way and sat on some concrete railway sleepers. There was the option to divert into a small village but I didn’t want to walk extra on the road in the hope that the only cafe there would be open.   The only other event was passing a sewage ...

I walked out of the city just after 7am. The Camino used to head inland and behind the suburbs but recently a wide wooden walkway has been constructed that crosses the marshy wetlands that border the estuary. It was about 6km long and popular with joggers and cyclists out for their weekend exercise. Signs promised flamingos but it was mostly seagulls and egrets. The camino then alternated between industrial areas, new, old and totally derelict and more waterfront paths full of sweaty Portuguese joggers. There are quite a lot of square cobblestone paths which I recall from previous Camino’s in the north of the country. I find them hard to walk on.  Twice today I have passed shelters for homeless cats. The second one had accommodation for eight cats plus cardboard boxes for latecomers.  I’ve suffered a bit with my feet today. They’re still sore from yesterday and i have a couple of deeper blisters. I wore two pairs of socks today but that’s just set off my heat rash.  ...

After almost 3 hours wedged between 2 other men on a Ryanair flight to Lisbon, we landed at about 12:30pm. I then jumped on the tube for the 45 minute ride to the Cathedral. You don’t see much from a tube train window but at least there was plenty of space on the tube and it was very cheap.  I found the Cathedral and purchased my credential (pilgrim passport). I expected a special one for Fátima, after all it is their national shrine but they just gave me a Portuguese Camino de Santiago one.  I set off down to the Tagus estuary at about 2.20pm and walked out of the old part of the city into a run down stretch of the bank with little communities of homeless people living in tents under underpasses and beside the railway tracks. One little group of tents outside a derelict shop had 2 Christmas trees set up, fully decorated with tinsel and baubles.  Eventually I found myself in a more modern riverside development that stretched on for miles into much nicer suburbs with parks...

Well I’m as ready as I will ever be. Woefully under prepared, I just packed my backpack today and haven’t done any walking with it. I’m hoping it will just feel natural and I can get on with it without any problems. I checked all my accommodation bookings and it looks like I prepared that side of things as well as possible. There are just 2 hostels that you can’t book in advance and that’s fine by me. Other hostels had already been fully booked by the time I got round to it so I have a few private rooms in shoddy 1 star hotels to look forward to. It’s going to be a luxury trip.