Camino Day 2 Morgade to Portomarin

Please be aware that I am writing this on my iPhone and any spelling errors are as a result of the the platform being used not necessarily of the operator.

So today was day 2 of our Camino and the day did not start too auspiciously because I had the start of a migraine as well as bit of an upset tummy.  I had a shower and took something for my head and we headed down for breakfast bringing our luggage.  I asked the receptionist to call a taxi, but he said that it would be there in 2 minutes so we might want to wait.  We went in and had breakfast; afterwards we went back to the room for a health break and to get our packs and walking sticks.  We went back to the lobby and the receptionist called the taxi.  Surprise it was actually there in about 2 minutes.

We got in and fastened our seat belts.  Thank goodness!?!?!?!?!!  The driver was some kind of kamikaze even though he looked to be in his 60s.  He drove fast and whipped around the corners like he was racing in the Monaco Grand Pr ix.  He took out a flock of birds, narrowly missed both dogs and pilgrims,  We finally arrived in Morgade and it was a beautiful, crisp clear and cool morning.

I got my iphone out and set up the pedometer and got my music queued up.  As I walked the kinks slowly were being worked out and I was enjoying the peace and quiet.  We were alone on the path for a long time and  it was all farmland with winding dirt paths.  Now the farms are really small--in that they would be more like what a large back yard would look like.  In some patches there was corn or wheat and in others there were cows.  The little hamlets that dotted the paths were made up of may 4 to 5 houses with outbuildings for cars and farm equipment.  You had to keep your eyes on the path because it was often littered with cow droppings (not only the paths but as you walked through "town" too).

Today I spent a lot of time walking by myself, either because I was ahead of Carleana (very rarely) or I was behind her.  I just walked along, listening to my playlist with one headphone and the sounds of nature with my free ear (there were birds singing everywhere and the wind was rustling the leaves of the trees).  Whereas yesterday it was mostly uphill and bubbling brooks, today it was a lot of downhill with steep declines over rock outcroppings (it reminded me a lot of northern Ontario).  There was a lot less habitation and more wooded areas and farmland.  There were a lot of steep declines where you had to walk carefully so as not to fall or slip, some of it was over rocks.  I was extremely grateful for having my walking stick.
I found walking today much more peaceful.  Maybe because there wasn´t as much traffic with pilgrims.  I had a good day walking.  During the earlier part of the walk there was an old man taking his cows to pasture.  I was actually walking with Carleana and I said to her that I it was like watching a tradition that hadn´t changed in hundreds of years.  When I thought all the cows had passed, I started walking and another cow came along followed by a little old lady who was probably the old man's wife.  The cow was right beside me; if I had held out my hand I would have been able to touch a cow.

The whole time I was walking through that oak forest it all seemed surreal; there was an otherworld feeling as I thought about how those same trees and rocks had been there for hundreds, if not thousands of years and what tales they could tell about what they had seen.  There was something that was both primal and progressive; a kind of ying and yang.  It was almost a shock to have to leave the cool peacefulness of the woods and start walking along the gravel road.

The rest of the day's walk went well, but at one point while walking downhill I couldn´t help but wonder when I would have to pay for it by going uphill again.  Eventually we reached the bridge heading into Portomarin.  This bridge had been the subject of some discussion because Carleana is afraid of bridges.  We stopped and took pictures before crossing and Carleana videoed herself as she crossed.  She managed it with grace.  Then we continued onward looking for our hotel.  Eventually we found the Church of St. Nicholas and while we were getting our stamp I asked the girl for directions.  Within a few minutes of leaving the church we were checking into our hotel.
The hotel had no air conditioning and we had to go downstairs to use the computer to connect to wifi.  The first thing we did was open the windows as wide as possible to let some air in.  Fortunately, the lounge was much cooler that our room.  We slept with at least one of the windows wide open the two days we stayed.  After getting refreshed and organized we headed down to the cafe in the hotel and grabbed a bite to eat.  This is for my family:  DON´T FALL OVER!!!!!!  I had a pizza and it was yummy.  Then we headed over to the lounge and spent the hotter part of the day there.  I worked on my journal and zentangle.

From the time we left Morgade to the time we arrived in Portomarin  I took 14176 steps for a total of 10.648 km in 272.11 minutes.  What kept me going was the artists on my Italian pop playlist:  Antonello Venditti, Povia, Anna Tantangelo, Eros Ramazzotti among others.

Then when we knew that the shops were open we headed into town to pick up a few souvenirs and look around.  Then we headed back to the hotel and had dinner.  After dinner, we worked on our blogs and then I left Carleana on the computer and went to work on my journal and zentangle.