What are the names of the Portuguese Routes?

I just completed my first Camino, and walked all three of the Portuguese routes. At least that's what I call them. They were clearly marked in Brierly's book, but for the life of me if I try to discuss what I walked with someone or try to find them on the Internet, no luck.

I walked the Coastal route to Aguarda, early on walking on and off the route that's just inland from the Coastal route, too, and the main route from Tui to Santiago.

Can someone please tell me how I easily share that with others? I don't know how to say the three routes I walked. I believe Brierly's book (which I tossed pages of as I went) referred to as a "North" route, but that doesn't fit with anything I've read.

Surely someone in the know knows what I did?

Thanks for your help.

Laurie B.

By the way, it was the most indescribably wonderful experience of my life - to date. There will be more of those to come!

mikevasey said:

Hi Laurie congratulations! Caminos can be addictive so get ready to know Europe by foot.

I think the route that goes along the coast and goes to Tui is the traditional Coastal route, the way that stays on the coast after AGuarda is known as the Camino Monacal, but it is starting to be called the coastal route. The way from Tui is known as the Central/Medieval Camino. Not sure what the other way that was back from the coast. Were the arrows yellow? there is additional routes running parallel to the coast taking in other places of historical interest and places of beauty and less asphalt, I think these have red and green arrows. But if it had yellow arrows, list the places you went through that you can remember. Another possibility is that you walked part of the Caminho Lahneses, which in the early stages goes to and back between the coastal and central ways.

Mike

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Hello Mike. You are totally correct! Thanks for the quick & accurate response. I was able to find a bit about the Caminho Lahneses, and it is what I ventured onto, both because of rain at the coast at times and also because I got lost. And it was wonderful! I'm so happy I explored different routes, even if not intentionally.

Interestingly enough there was one time (well, actually more than one, but one in particular) I really got "lost" (as lost as you can get with the Atlantic at your left!) After leaving a cafe on the coast the arrows stopped (and I looked long and hard, retracing my steps) at a woodsy area. So I walked in and thru it for a while, following the white & red stripes on the trees. I was familiar with these because I had walked the Costa Brava the year before. Anyway, I eventually turned around and came back out because I was intimidated by not seeing yellow arrows! Thing is, even if that had taken me through a beautiful forest along the coast - or wherever!), I totally regret not sticking with the stripes. Damn the yellow arrows, I should have said!

The only things on my first Camino I regret are the things I DIDN'T do. I learned a big lesson from that, a very big lesson. It's so true - we will only regret the things we didn't do. Time has a way of healing the mistakes we made, the people we hurt, the hurts and losses we've experienced, at least to the degree that we can continue loving life. But regret for not doing the things I shied away from on the Camino - I will always regret them.

Until my next Camino! Because honestly, regret is not a useful tool in my toolbox. So I will let go of judging myself for those things and simply know that the next time I'm faced with doing something or not doing something, fear or any other negative emotion (unless it's warranted) will not rule me. I will push on to see what's around the corner, what's on the other side, what's waiting for me around the bend!

And yes, you are correct about the Camino being addictive. I think for me it's a combination of the walking, which was like meditation for me, and the solitude (I went alone), being in nature, and facing fears. Yes, that's very analytical. Believe me, the Camino went much deeper for me. Much, and in ways I cannot and do not try to express. Except that I'm a writer! That's been tough, because I'm not finding words many times when I write, and I simply accept that I may not be able to put words on some of these things; they may just have to reside in the recesses of my soul and heart with me and other pilgrim souls who came before.

I will be back, I'm not sure when or which route. The French way seems to beckon me, but the circumstances would have to be "right". I do not want to do it when everyone else is. And the idea of exploring other routes is enticing to me! Plus, I did not finish the Portuguese route via the coast and that alone might be fun. No matter what, I'm guessing I won't follow the beaten path, and that is more enticing to me than anything!

What's your Camino story?

Bom Caminho, Mike, wherever your life journeys take you!

Cheers,
Laurie

vicrev said:

What made it wonderful,Laurie ?....love to know !....................Vicrev

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Hello "Vicrev". Where to being? Thanks for asking.

Unfortunately, I am an analytical type, and yet the Camino taught me to reach beyond that, to experience beyond that. So...I have found it extremely challenging to put words to my experience. Soon I'm having a gathering - at my friends' suggestion - to share with my friends my experience. I'm having trouble deciding what to do, what to say, how to present it in a way that comes from my heart.

I distinctly recall experiencing something akin to this when my father died a few years ago. I offered up myself as the one who 'guided' the planning and execution of the service. I was to speak eloquently, and yet I spent night after night tearing up pages and pages of what I wrote. I just could not find the right words. I finally gave up and simply released it into the universe, a bit exasperated but believing that if I had to wing-it, it would all be okay. The words would come.

The night before his service as I lay down on a roll-out cot in a hotel room with my siblings, the words came. They poured forth, spilling out of me and onto paper, with depth and humor and warmth and playfulness. I only needed to let go and trust.

So...my Camino? What made it wonderful? Walking, which was much-needed meditation for this left-brained/analytical mind. Nature, which was experienced in rain, wind, and sun. Solitude, which allowed me to be with me, a person I'm learning to truly love and enjoy being with. Sights & sounds, like the chirping of various birds all day and the smell of the grapes ripening on the vines.

I think what makes this, my first Camino, the most wonderful is that I made it happen. (To digress...I believe it's different for everyone. No matter what we experience in a general sense [perhaps things I mentioned in my previous paragraph], the Camino is personal to each individual, because we are all on a slightly different path in our lives.) I made the Camino happen, from start to finish. I didn't realize until I was well into my Camino that at home I had learned to paralyze myself in life with indecision. I want a different job? Internally whine about it. I want to move to a different city? Complain about Seattle. I want a deep intimate love relationship in my life? Feel sorry for myself for all the mistakes that led me to being single, etc., ad nauseum.

On the Camino, about the 4th day in, I got it! The light bulb came on! I'm like the Energizer Bunny in the corner, don't you know? Wound up and perpetually banging myself into the corner. Once I saw this, once it became clear, I began to change. I began - immediately - to make different choices.

That was just a month ago, and I'm home now, in charge of my life, in charge of my destiny. I've applied and interviewed for jobs. I've begun research on the Internet and with friends & family about places I'm considering moving to. I'm working with a realtor to sell my condo first thing in 2014, before the interest rates go up. I've dived back into my volunteer work with determination and more heart than ever. I've spring-cleaned (even tho it's fall) and have simply removed many things from my life that no longer are needed or wanted. I re-joined eHarmony and am no longer feeling I have to find someone AND I'm staying open to men I wouldn't have before.

Most importantly, I changed my attitude. I'm happy. I'm content. More than I've ever been. I'm kind, much more frequently than before. I'm opening my heart more. I'm engaging more. I've been waking up in the morning and setting my intention for the day. I've been expressing gratitude more. I've been listening more.

On the Camino, I never quite knew what was around the corner, literally. No matter how many guidebooks I read (and I didn't follow them much, anyway), nothing prepared me for what was around each corner, turn, bend, tree, village, river, mountain, road. That was perhaps my most important lesson of all - to learn to anxiously (in a good way) anticipate what was coming, trusting it was good, knowing it was an adventure I didn't want to miss.

I've never felt more free in all my life.

What's your Camino story?

Thank you for asking about my journey. I wish you many life journeys which bring you what your hearts' desires as well!

Bom Caminho!

Laurie

nwlaurieb said:

I just completed my first Camino, and walked all three of the Portuguese routes. At least that's what I call them. They were clearly marked in Brierly's book, but for the life of me if I try to discuss what I walked with someone or try to find them on the Internet, no luck.

I walked the Coastal route to Aguarda, early on walking on and off the route that's just inland from the Coastal route, too, and the main route from Tui to Santiago.

Can someone please tell me how I easily share that with others? I don't know how to say the three routes I walked. I believe Brierly's book (which I tossed pages of as I went) referred to as a "North" route, but that doesn't fit with anything I've read.

Surely someone in the know knows what I did?

Thanks for your help.

Laurie B.

By the way, it was the most indescribably wonderful experience of my life - to date. There will be more of those to come!

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__________________________________________________________________

One more important thing to share. I'm changing my name. First, middle, last - the whole name. The Camino is not the reason but rather the final impetus in this regard. I've long been thinking that my name no longer expresses who I am, whom I have unraveled myself to become in recent years. I'm so excited for this to happen I could burst!!

I understand that a name is simply words, and it does not define who I am. My approach to this is the opposite. My name doesn't define me; I'm defining it! I'm defining who I am! I'm outwardly expressing my inward self! The Camino gave me the push to know that I'm on the right track with this change. The Camino taught me that I am truly evolving each and every moment. There is no such thing as standing still or even being in balance - a state I kept trying unsuccessfully to achieve before the Camino. We are moving forward into life or we are falling behind. Nothing is static in the universe - and for that I'm truly grateful!

Bom Caminho!

Signed,
Anna Grace Emerson (soon-to-be)

vicrev said:

Thank you Anna for your inspirational posts,I'm so glad I asked the question,you certainly have changed everything in your life for the better.......a lesson for us all...................keep smiling........Vicrev

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Thank you. Those are very kind & thoughtful words! I wish you lots of smiles, too.

22 Oct 13

The Camino. It’s in my soul, permeating the very edges of my being. How did this happen? How did I get from being who I was just a few short weeks ago to who I am today?

Tonight I decided to put away my Camino clothes that were hanging on the drying rack, dry but left there for days while I busied myself with other pressing matters.

Tonight I touched my Camino clothes for the first time since I returned from Portugal. Tonight I picked up my socks, and the tears began to flow.

This happens to me, unexpectedly, catching me off guard. One moment I’m putting away laundry; the next I’m in tears, missing the Camino, longing for the Camino, grateful for the Camino.

My mind flashed back to the airport in Lisbon just a couple of weeks ago. I was in the terminal area, waiting anxiously to see if I would get on the plane for Newark. I was flying standby. My backpack was perched on the seat next to me, as it had been for many, many days, a constant companion.

I was overcome with emotion; tears streaked down my cheeks. I gently lay my head on top of my backpack and wept silently. I thanked it for carrying me. I didn’t carry it, I thought; it carried me.

How can that be? I’m not sure. I just know that’s what made sense. My backpack carried me on the Camino.

Just as, when I pulled my socks off the drying rack tonight and held them in my hands, I thought, “They carried me on the Camino.”

I turned to see my backpack on the floor next to me. I fell down on my knees, hugged the pack close to me, and sobbed.

When I could cry no more, I opened my eyes and looked around the room. I saw my possessions – some that I’ve had for many years – and realized they no longer hold meaning for me. Furniture, candles, Seahawks memorabilia, clothes. They seemed to have lost whatever hold they had on me. Now it’s only my backpack.

My backpack knows my journey; my backpack took that journey with me! My pack carried everything I needed every day. Everything. Every day. Cinched to my body tightly, it went where I went. It covered the same ground I covered. Yet, I didn’t carry it; it carried me.

I stepped onto the path and joined thousands of others who walked before me. I joined their journeys. Some hard journeys. Some journeys filled with fun & laughter, others with sorrow and pain. Most with all of these!

I joined countless other pilgrim souls as they unknowingly walked into a new life for themselves. None of us really know why we walk the Camino until it’s done. Then, the unfolding process begins, at unsuspecting moments and in unusual ways.

That’s the blessing of the Camino.

The journey began before Portugal, before my feet touched the path, before I spotted and was guided by the first yellow arrow.

I’m beginning to understand the saying, “You do not walk the Camino; the Camino walks you.”

And when you think your journey has ended, you know in your heart it’s only just begun.

And you are grateful.

by Anna Grace Emerson

swessin1 said:

Thanks Anna! I try to express why I am going to walk Sept. 2014 and my family looks at me oddly (and I think secretly believes I won't go through with it). I feel called... my heart is aching to go. This forum keeps me taking the next steps to make the walk from Porto to Santiago a reality!

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Hi "Swessin1"! You will go. You will make this happen for you. Your family can relate; they just haven't connected it to something in their own lives which is similar. Everyone has a journey, a path, a longing. Perhaps they haven't yet realized that they have this, too!

Bom Caminho!
Anna Grace

nwlaurieb said:

22 Oct 13

The Camino. It’s in my soul, permeating the very edges of my being. How did this happen? How did I get from being who I was just a few short weeks ago to who I am today?

Tonight I decided to put away my Camino clothes that were hanging on the drying rack, dry but left there for days while I busied myself with other pressing matters.

Tonight I touched my Camino clothes for the first time since I returned from Portugal. Tonight I picked up my socks, and the tears began to flow.

This happens to me, unexpectedly, catching me off guard. One moment I’m putting away laundry; the next I’m in tears, missing the Camino, longing for the Camino, grateful for the Camino.

My mind flashed back to the airport in Lisbon just a couple of weeks ago. I was in the terminal area, waiting anxiously to see if I would get on the plane for Newark. I was flying standby. My backpack was perched on the seat next to me, as it had been for many, many days, a constant companion.

I was overcome with emotion; tears streaked down my cheeks. I gently lay my head on top of my backpack and wept silently. I thanked it for carrying me. I didn’t carry it, I thought; it carried me.

How can that be? I’m not sure. I just know that’s what made sense. My backpack carried me on the Camino.

Just as, when I pulled my socks off the drying rack tonight and held them in my hands, I thought, “They carried me on the Camino.”

I turned to see my backpack on the floor next to me. I fell down on my knees, hugged the pack close to me, and sobbed.

When I could cry no more, I opened my eyes and looked around the room. I saw my possessions – some that I’ve had for many years – and realized they no longer hold meaning for me. Furniture, candles, Seahawks memorabilia, clothes. They seemed to have lost whatever hold they had on me. Now it’s only my backpack.

My backpack knows my journey; my backpack took that journey with me! My pack carried everything I needed every day. Everything. Every day. Cinched to my body tightly, it went where I went. It covered the same ground I covered. Yet, I didn’t carry it; it carried me.

I stepped onto the path and joined thousands of others who walked before me. I joined their journeys. Some hard journeys. Some journeys filled with fun & laughter, others with sorrow and pain. Most with all of these!

I joined countless other pilgrim souls as they unknowingly walked into a new life for themselves. None of us really know why we walk the Camino until it’s done. Then, the unfolding process begins, at unsuspecting moments and in unusual ways.

That’s the blessing of the Camino.

The journey began before Portugal, before my feet touched the path, before I spotted and was guided by the first yellow arrow.

I’m beginning to understand the saying, “You do not walk the Camino; the Camino walks you.”

And when you think your journey has ended, you know in your heart it’s only just begun.

And you are grateful.

by Anna Grace Emerson

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stevenjarvis said:

Dear Anna Grace , thank you for sharing your experiences, it's been very moving .

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Thank you, Steven. You are kind to say so!

Anna Grace

PEI_Heather said:

Anna, you are awesome; I loved reading about your Camino experience. Congratulations on finishing your Camino! And for telling us about it in such a Graceful manner!
I just finished (was it really only 12 days ago?) walking the Portuguese (the inland part) with two friends I met last year on the Camino Frances, and even though it is still so fresh in time, can't wait to get back. This one was a challenging walk for me but I know I got so much more from it and would do it again in a heartbeat. Perhaps I'll see you on the Camino some time, when we both return!
All the best!
Heather

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Thank you Heather - and best to you for completing a new Camino. I know what you mean about having just finished. I would do any Camino in a heartbeat. I plan to return next spring with my two twin 11-year-old nieces. I cannot wait to tell them what I have planned for them!

Blessings - and Bom Caminho!

Anna G.