God has many ways… A calm attitude makes a difference!New direction: Dallas-London-Lisbon. My nephew trill, we will see the Big Ben.

It is an adventure to pack! Just the necessary items, under 20 lbs.: @ shirts, 2 short with underwear liner, 2 pair of socks, toiletries, light towel, bottle of water, head light, Vaseline, ammoniac, light sleeping bag, and no more…

All other things will be getting out of my head as I walk, and that is the good thing!

I am blessed that I am taking my nephew with me as his HS graduation present. Two Trinity HS students (my Godsons), and dad will be walking with me too. It will be truly a spiritual sacrifice. We will be visiting the Fatima Sanctuary on our first day, and we will end at the Cathedral of St. James in Compostela…

It is fascinating to prepare again for a new Camino. This time a Camino, from Porto to Santiago.I will be leaving this Sunday evening . I am sure it will be an adventure. Since 2018 mu memories of El Camino have been very vivid in my mind. This time I am taking my nephew, Annunciation Parish, and Lourdes, my new parish. It will be amazing days ahead for meditation, reflection, and healing.

Become one sponsor for my new “Caminho” to Santiago. I will be walking this July from Porto, Portugal to Santiago, Spain. You can send your donations to: The Church of the Annunciation (El Camino/ Sound System) 105 Main St. Shelbyville, KY 40065. Visit our church website: www.annunciationky.org, under online giving you can pledge.

After been gone for a while, it is time to let you know WHERSPADRE. I will start blogging again on January 11, 2022. It is my 27 years Anniversary in the continental USA. Remember arriving to Kentucky in shorts, a tshirt, and sandals. I was confronted with the reality of 16 inches of snow on the ground.

Muxía

I was not conformed to finish el Camino at Fisterra. Something in my heart was telling me that I must go to Muxía.

Friday, I woke up around noon. Something in my head said: Go!

I really got prepared in 10 minutes, and headed to the bus station in Santiago. There was a bus to Fisterra at 1pm. A bus!!! Oh no! But in my conscience I had walked from Santiago to Fisterra already. It would take me three days. Therefore with clean conscience I took the bus to Fisterra. We arrived in one hour. As I told you, you never know what route the driver will take.

I started walking at 2pm from Fisterra to Muxía. By 5:00, I was in Lires, the middle point. I decided to stay there for the night. It was a beautiful trail. Eucalyptus trees, pines, and ocean were enchanted. There was one or two pelegrinos coming in opposite direction, I was the only one toward going there.

On the trail, before arriving to Lires, I met Jesus working in the corn fields. I like to talk to everyone in the fields. When we finished talking, he asked me where I was going to spend the night. I told him that I did not make reservations, when he said: stay at my house, we have an albergue, and restaurant in the village. I asked for the name, and he said so proud: Casa Jesús!

I look for his restaurant in the village. It was a new modern facility super clean. I decided to eat first before going up to the albergue. Jesus’ son in law run the restaurant. I was not very impressed in how he treated the pelegrinos. I asked him: are you from this village? He said: No.

I ordered from the menu. It was very diverse. I sat outside, but the sun was in its high; therefore I moved inside. My table had the best view of the kitchen. The chef, Vicente, was and artist in the kitchen. I enjoyed watching all his hands and body movements as he season, and cooked the food.

The food arrived at my table, but something was going on. I ordered a minestrone soup, and many basic ingredients were missing. Later, as a second plate, I order “Raxo”, but all the flavor was in the onions. I said to myself, for second time, what is going on?

The chef kept cooking in the kitchen preparing other dishes, and I was fascinated with his culinary skills. Vicente’s wife was his assistance. She was from Venezuela. At one point a great smell was coming from the kitchen, when suddenly small empanadas were served in small plates as tapas. The owner of the restaurant took two, and brought them to his friends at the bar. As I was ignored, I requested one from my table. I put it in my mouth, and a explosion of flavors came out of it. I said to myself: I need to talk to the chef. As the chef and his wife took a break, they came out of the kitchen. It was my moment to ask him what had happened with my dishes. The confession of the century came! I apologize, but my boss do not want that I use the spices and ingredients necessary to prepare the dishes. The explosion came later when he said: we are departing the next week. I told him how much I had enjoyed seen him cooking from my table, and as he was returning home, he should open his own restaurant. He thanked me for my comments. Today we are friends on this blog.

I went to the albergue and fall asleep. Jesus had a beautiful house, and the rooms were adorable. I had a room for myself with private bathroom.

Next morning, I went to Muxía early in the morning. It was going to be difficult from this point on. I had to hike 300 meters up. It was a very foggy morning. Visibility was almost 0.

Many other pelegrinos were coming out from other albergues. The fog was mysterious, but beautiful. It looked like a mystery movie. I passed a women selling bananas, and other fruits in the middle of nowhere. I asked myself: how she got here. There was not a car or house close by. It was the last easy point to walk. From there on I had to hike up on a difficult terrain, but I enjoyed it. This was my last hike of el Camino. I knew I was like 5km from Muxía and it was going to be the last climb. At the 3km, I reached the highest point, and from there it was my heaven. I had to run the last 2km going down. It was paradise for me. It really was going down, down, down, and down. I passed over 30 pelegrinos that were coming in opposite direction. It was not easy for them. I stopped running as I entered the Lourido Beach. Here I walked straight to the village. I could not see the village the fog was dense. Entering the village, my noise sense was challenge by many kitchens preparing lunch. I entered a small restaurant to eat cold grilled fish with bread. Delicious! It was around 11:00am. I asked the owner at what time was mass. She told me at noon, because Saturday was the feast of Saint Michael, and they will have a great procession. I went to the church, and it was closed. A man in the cementary told me that the mass would be at the Sanctuary of Our Lady of the Barca. It was at the 0km. I hit there, because I needed the last stamp to get the “Muxíana”. I went to the sanctuary’s sacristy to meet the pastor, Fr. Manolo. He is 89 years old, and he has been in the village 33 years.

I introduced myself to him, and with a big welcoming smile in his face, he said: God has sent you, you will preside and preach today! OMG, I have heard that before, when I was a young man in Puerto Rico. My old priest at my village will ask me to help him during his preachings, because he has trout problems. Fr. Manolo touched his throat as Fr. Alberto frequented. I have flash backs of memory. Here is how El Camino will end, just as it begun…

St. Michael’s readings of the day spoke about how God spoke from the clouds or fog. Nathaniel ate from the fig tree, and early that day, I was eating figs on the trail. I am always mesmerized in how God speak to us. There were so many people at church locals and Pelegrinos. The echo of the Church was powerful. I did not need a microphone. I let the spirit to guide me. When I finished many people was crying. I just told them that even when we have so much dust on our feet from our daily walk in life, God keeps calling us from the clouds to be his holy people. We can be at the fig tree or at the house or work, he always calls us to be holly.

The procession from the sanctuary was solemn with a local band of young men and women playing the “gaitas”. We processed to the port. We could heard explosions at the distance. When we arrived to the port the fireworks started, but we only heard them. The day remain foggy. We could not see the sky or the sea. And the festivities started…

My Birthday

Yes, it was September 25…

I took Kathy and Rita, parishioners, to Fisterra. They wanted to walk part of el Camino. I have to give them a taste of the last 3km in Fisterra. We woke earlier, and went to the Bus station. You never know what route the driver is going to take or if it will be a direct ride or it will stop in different villages. We were lucky. It took all the beach coast, and only stopped three times.

They kept good spirit going up to the light house, but I was sured that they drink water from the water spring at the middle of the hill. It was cold as ice. I think they really enjoyed to make the sacrifice.

Returning to the village I met all my local old friends. Maruja greeting people on the streets, and the other Maruja at the coffee shop invited us for a drink. Two amazing ladies that welcome the strangers with open hearts.

We had a great lunch. Rita and Kathy were tested by the flavors, and the risk to try something new in their diet. It was fun, and they tried all.

We arrived to Santiago around 20:00pm. My birthday party would start 20:30pm. I told the ladies to take it easy. It was my birthday and I needed to take a shower after the long day. We arrived to the restaurant around 21:00pm. It was a lovely dinner, and the cake was delicious. We bought it on our way to the restaurant. Other friends joined us later. We eat and celebrate until they closed.

We plan to go to León the next day, but we cancelled in the morning. Reason: too much fun night before, lol! I made it to the lobby at 6:30am, but ladies stayed in bed. It was good, I went back to bed! A good day to rest.

The next day we went to Vigo. It is the largest city in the Galicia region. It is a city in a hill. We claim to the heights point. It has a beautiful park with heavenly views of the bay. We ate there some tapa, and went down to the bay to visit the “ostreras”. I am a lover of oysters, but they were not cold enough for me, and I needed horse radish. I am spoiled eating oysters. After visiting the city port, we returned to Santiago. That night we ate rabbit. We three agreed, it was deliciously grilled.

Rita and Kathy returned to Louisville.

It took me five days to reflect on the arrival to Santiago. It was a very emotional end. I run the last 100 meters with my peregrinos friends. Tears of joy came out of my eyes. I could not believed it after 1515 km! I remember screaming 59 days, and embracing my group of friends.

We celebrated day and night. We stayed in a great apartment in the historical distric. It was a colorful day. Many dancers and music groups wearing area costumes and mask of Galicia came to celebrate to Santiago the Nativity of the Blessed Mother.

Santiago is a city of arrivals and returnings, but a city of eternal friends. It is what Christ is about! A human family reaching out all the strangers on the road. All peoples come together as one! For two days, I looked for friends that stayed behind, and those who arrived earlier where looking for me. It was an encounter every second.

I met a man at the Compostela’s office that was so glad to meet me, because he heard so many stories about Padre in the Camino. I was so blessed to be part of so many peoples lives, and they were part of my life. I felt refreshed! We all cared for each other.

The time to say good bye (aka. We will see each other again…) to Mario, Alejandro, Gonzalo, Lola y Marcos came. I may go to Madrid this weekend. I hope to see many friends there.

Only Dani, Ana, and me continue the three days journey to Finisterra. The espectacular sea views from the hills inspired me to continue. There were 90 more kilometers to discover. We departed earlier under a dense fog. Arriving to Negreira, we entered a new dimension of reality. From the middle of nowhere two single line of people (around 25) possed by what kind of spirits? we don’t know, passed by us. It was the most spooky moment of El Camiño. Now we were on the Pagans Way. It is how is called by the locals. As they passed by the three of us we felt chills in the bones. Their faces, their clothes, there way of walking was, the way they looked to us, scared us so much that we walked almost 10km in one hour. We still talking today… what was that?

Vilaserio was supposed to be our salvation. When we arrived to the municipal albergue, it was an abandoned place with mattresses on the floor, and not water, but was cleaned. There was not a person in charge. An Australian young woman was coming out of the building, when we arrived. We walked back to the village and stayed in a nice place, where we ate good.

Ana decided to teach yoga, and she had three students. I watched from the distance.

The next morning was so dark. It was like we passsed hundreds of times by the same place in circles. Currents of warm and cold air hit our faces that we could not understand what was happening with nature. Dani and the Australian girl stayed behind, and Ana lead the way. I just followed. Entering in a small village a dog came from no where and surprised us with his barking. We pull up our sticks, and kept walking.

It was a beautiful sunrise by the corn fields. It was not in the map. It looked that it will be all flat, but we found many high mountains to hike. There were not a place to eat till Lagos. There we were received in a wonderful tinny restaurant, and we ate everything.

Few minutes later Dani arrived with a face… We laughed for ever, after listening to his story. He walked into the house next to the restaurant with all the restaurant signs. There he asked for the menu, when a man coming out from a room told him that it was not a restaurant, but his house. He was already in the kitchen table.

It was a long day. After 25 km, I stopped at St. Peter the martyr for fresh water. It was at the top of the mountain before Cee. There I found forest workers sleeping on the grass, and two German ladies filling their bottles. The water was so cold that I drink a bottle there.

We met a great character on the way. His name was Chris, from England. He is in his 70-80’s. He loves to walk on El Camino. He walks with his hands crossed, but his legs go in turbo position. He was fast. I only passed him, when I was running down the hills. He wanted to walk with us as a group, but that was impossible at his speed. He will be waiting for us at some points. I arrived to Cee before him, it was 3km down hill. I run it all! We lost him the next morning. By now we think he is by Paris.

Our day at Cee was out of this world. I waited more of half hour for Ana and Dani at a local bar with the best chicken wings in Spain. No like Spring Street Bar, but almost there. There was a group of young people at a table not too far from me. I was mesmerized by their conversation. It was all about their devotions to God and the Blessed Mother. When to bring flowers to church, and how much money they should give as a donation. I could not believed it. They knew all the feast days and local church celebrations in the area. They talked about the parishes picnics. And they all knew very well the Senegalese priest with 10 parishes in the area.

Ana, and Dani arrived, and we ordered more tapas. When… Adrian arrived! He was the best host of town. He is running for mayor, for a party that does not exist. But he got our votes! He made us buy an octopus from the local fishermen. He took it to a local restaurant that prepared it for us. We had a great dinner that evening. As the octopus was prepared, he took us to the beach. The water was cold, but he warmed us with his great personality and humor. I took a long nap on the sand.

Fisterra was our last destination. KM 0 was waiting for us. I enjoyed the long runs, and the beach breeze. I took the coast road. At some point I got out of the walkers path. I asked information to an old couple walking on the road. They told me that the trail was up by the other side, but they told me to stay on the road, because it will take me to the same place. I hit the trail again. It was like going down a straight cliff. I could not run it. It cannot describe how difficult it was. Reaching the end, the beach smile to us, and invited us to take a bath. I paused to enjoy the beauty. You can walk next to the beach or continue the path. I stayed on the path by the shade. Arriving to Fenisterra, I contacted Dani and Ana. They were behind. I wanted to be sure if they want to reach with me KM 0 or they wanted to do it alone. I stopped at KM 2. They wanted to walk together. It was a very powerful moment. I have no words! We embraced each other. The tourists clap their hands and congratulated us. They started to ask so many questions about our journey. It was 1605 Km behind, and so many ahead! We walked to the cliff, where one more step could not be taken. I found a place to cry. I stayed there for so long. We later sat together to laugh and cry.

It was time to come down and find a place to spend the night. We got the Finesterra note, and had lunch in an amazing restaurant run by locals with fresh fish. Next door was a small grocery store where we bought pasta and clams for dinner.

Praia Mar de Fóra, was the beach west of Finisterra. It was behind our albergue. We went there to see the sunset. It was the best act created by God that I have witnessed. Because there were not so many people there, we jumped in God’s creation! After sunset, we returned to prepared dinner. It was delicious. We bought three bottles of white wine for 4.50! The best wine ever!!! It was about 11pm, when we finished dinner, and decided to visit town at night. We had a great time with other pelegrinos that we have met before.

We returned in the morning to Santiago. Dani had to jump into a taxi as soon as he got out of the bus to go to the airport. Ana and me went to the center to get an albergue for the night. Next day, I had to go to train station at 5am.

I am in Madrid now. The past few days here have been very emotional. The people, the places, the memories. Reflecting back El Camino is not an easy experience.

I thank Mario who opened his house for me here. Tomorrow I go to Murcia to visit Ana, and Thursday to Cartagena to visit Lola.

Arzúa: Party Time

It was all going to Melide to eat the best octopus. It was! Our great group left Palas de Rei around 7:30am, because we wanted to be in Melide for lunch. The octopus man was on his spot by the window. He would pull the octopus out of the hot water and give you a sample. Your reaction is, stop and order a larger plate! We stayed there 3 hours eating, talking, singing, and testing good white wine: Ribeiro.

On these three hours, we have an encounter we all the peregrinos of the past. It was a time to share our joys and sorrows of el Camiño. The time there was precious.

After Melide, I went to Arzúa. Danny from Mallorca followed me. At some point he disappeared. Later, I discovered that he jumped in the river, when he walked to the albergue with wet cloths. It was ridiculous funny. Gonzalo, Alex, and Mario arrived later according to their particular joys of life. These trio of friends is amazing!!! I am so glad to be a new friend in their life. Where is Marcos and Lola? We did not have a clue until later. Lola found the way, but Marcos could not find his phone charger and went back to Melide. He arrived after I have started the Puerto Rican dinner of the night: Arroz con habichuelas y lomo. All of them had been singing the song: La Gozadera. Where it says: the rice and beans dish is a gift from Puerto Rico.

We were 12 at the table. The seven of us, and 5 Italians that have kept our steps. It was a miracle that all tasted like in Puerto Rico without the ingredients. Thanks God I find great spices at the local grocery store. My satisfaction, they ate it all!!!

It was a night that I will never forget. We are at one day from Santiago, but we’re going to divide it in two. Our rival is going to be Sept 8 on the Feast of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary.