The day started with some relationship moments. Both of us didn’t get the best sleep last night. In fact, as it neared early morning, around 5.40am, I could see Joon raise her head and looked at me. That was un-expected and gave a rush to my adrenalin system. Joon on her part was startled to see my head so near her, and she wanted to take a closer look (to verify its me?). We had a small laugh over it as we discussed this later in the morning.
The story about Guido, our Airbnb guest who gave us each a hug and those artistic drawn pebbles happened at breakfast this morning. I wrote about that in Day 3 post just for memory justaposition. Here’s a picture of the stones again.
Joon and I will keep two of these for memories and Guido’s blessings, and we will pass on 4 of these to other Camino pilgrims.
I love art. And the Airbnb house that we stayed in last night was a treasure trove of various art pieces. Even the furniture pieces i the bedroom was antique-ish. Here is a small collection.
This caught my eye, when we were first shown to our bedroom. In landing alcove, early morning, with diffused spot lamp lighting.
One of the many wall hung plate pieces.
If you read my piece on Porto, you will know about my purchase from Livraria Lello, a book by Paulo Coelho. Well, Joanna, the house owner had walked the Camino, and placed this book in the guest bathroom. Co-incidences or a sign for me to look for the English version of this book?
Diary of a Pilgrim.
How can a wonderful Portuguese house like this not have some decorative beautiful tiles? 🙂
We left about 10am, intending to do the inland route, rather than the coastal route, as it was 2 km shorter and we had seen enough of the coastline. Today’s route was 27 km, a bit more than Day 3. But without as many ups and downs. Discounting the dinner prior to checking in, we would reach our accommodation at 8.00pm. According to Joon’s Fitbit, we would have walked 31 km (19.5 miles).
As with anything, plans get disrupted. And by the seismometer standards, ours was a minor blip. But it created some serendipitous moments and memories.
We had anticipated getting our stamps when we start walking at 9am. However, we find that while churches might be open at that hour in the morning, there’s no one around or self service stamp set aside (with one exception that didn’t achieve its self service as the stamp ink was dry). Daniele from Casulu, which is a non-profit for homeless explained that the Camino support was still in its infancy. We decided to adjust and get stamps when we can.
Daniele in front of Casulu premises. They have a FB page and web site if you are interested in supporting their homeless program. Latter is known as Metamorphsis, an expression of the change they wish to bring about for their clientele.
At Casulu, we also met two lovely dogs, mixed Labrador and a huge German breed, one white and one black. They were brothers and named Ying and Yang respectively. See their pics below.
Guido’s gesture that morning was the seed for today’s contemplation. I settled on the concept of giving. Initially, it was how could we give more after the Camino. But along the way, it slowly metamorphasize
There were many scenic and not the usual sights along the way. Here’s a compilation.
One of the hills we climbed today, looking down onto coastline. There was one occassion when the Yellow Arrowed Road led us down to a tap and then up again in a residential area, when there was an option to just walk on level ground above the tap. Other times, we wondered why we walked down and then up, is it because there were houses blocking a more direct route, or is it to build “Pilgrim strength”?
A row of majestic ancient-ish trees. There were other rows that lined the pathway on the other side. Unleashing one’s creative mind, it’s almost as if they were soldiers of the Earth, saluting you as you passed by.
Coming out of the trail across a small stone bridge, we came across this bubbling stream. If I was a home owner in the vicinity, I would have short picnics in the mornings or evenings here.
Quite under-exposed (to rectify post Camino). A forested trail.
Journey Within 