Day 4 (19th September) - Sarria to Portomain

Day 4 Sarria to Portomarin - 19th September
CAFOD questions for this day were:
What do you notice about the environment around you as you walk?
How often do you really appreciate the wonders of creation?

We set off with the group very early this morning, in the dark, strolling through the streets of Sarria lit by the streetlights and we all walked up to the Convent still resplendently illuminated. The others (Christine, Nick Angela and Martin) carried on in the dark and I settled down outside the Convent to await it's opening at 8:30am. The sun was yet to rise and as I approached the Convent and stopped it was most apparent that the morning was quite cool. So for the first and only time on the trip I took out my rain jacket and put it on and sat by one of the bright lights for a little more warmth. It was not long after this that I noticed a young lady stopped and waiting by the convent too and so I went across to say hello (Ola). This was the lovely Hana Sparkle - from the Czech Republic and it so happened to be her first day of the Camino and so she needed to get her passport stamped at the Convent before commencing her pilgrimage. So we stayed and shred breakfast cereal bars together before the convent opened it's doors.

I needed to catch up with the others who were at least an hour ahead of us, however I was taken with Hanna and walked much further than I planned - she was extremely  interesting and a vwery courageous young lady (same age group as Lisa my daughter). She had originally planned to do this with a friend, but her friend shyed off. Hana bravely decided to do the Comino on her own, not withstanding her own health problems. She had a huge travel pack - it seemed almost as big as her and it was clearly weighting her down as she walked and she was very pessimistic of completing the trip. I encouraged Hana to stand up straight as she walked and the load whilst not being any lighter, would be easier for her to bear. We walked together and met up with an Irishman Damian, Davit, Jane and Darren where we exchanged pleasantries and leaned a little of each-others camino expeiences and intets. I continued with the group through to Leiman, where they stopped for breakfast. I said goodbye to Hana and she promised to text me if/when she made it to Santiago do Compostela.

I pushed ahead and to my surprise I had caught up with the CAFOD group much quicker than expected. Nick was the closest and I past him as he was sending his daily picture to his colleague who was up-dating his twitter and just giving sites. Then Christine, and then the Wills. I pressed ahead and said I'd wait for them at the next church however I go there much quicker that I expected and there was a lovely Cafe - Casa Cruceiro - at Ferrerios where I was tempted for an early break. It was there I met up with the runners from Brazil who'd passed us the previous day, but this time they said they walked with their wives from Sarria to Santiago; they joked that they dare not leave them with the credit cards any longer :-) but in truth is the more sensible way to do the Camino.

Having ordered a beer I sat down to write up my reflections for the day, and within a few minutes was joined by the Wills , Nick and Christine. But even more surprising, Hana arrived a minute or so later too. Hana said she'd done enough for the day and would stop at the Albergue there for the night.

The others didn't say long and pressed ahead to look at the Church. I finished my drink and soon cought up. Nick an I went ahead and we met up with a group of American's from San Fransico and Hawaii who we walked and talked with for a whileas we began the rapid decent from Memiontos. They kindly took Nick and my photo just above Parocha looking toward Portomarin.
The bridge crossing the reserviour to Portomarin was spectacular, and not for those who suffer vertigo!

It was in Portomarin that we expedienced the large 120 bed hostel, that has excellent facilities, but felt as if you were sleeping in a very cramped hospital ward of bunks lined side by side. The others quite enjoyed this experience, I felt it was just too clinical for me and would have preferred something a tad more homely.

Portomarin is a lovely town too, with a wonderfull cobbled main street with colonnades either side which lead to the main square where a castle type structure of the church of San Nicolas XII (sometimes refered to as San Juan/Xoan). I guess the structure is castle like as there are strong links to the Knights of St John. We attended mass again and surprisingly the inside of this structure is very much church is both plain but enchanting with some of the statues
with interesting poises.

Oddly I didn't reflect on creation this day, but on the wonders of God's greatest creation and their works.