Internet is scarce and survival (shelter and warmth) have been our top priorities. In addition, by the end of the day I am so tired that I can't think or see well. I drop when I get my sleeping bag out and never know what or where. I wake up in the morning often wondering where we landed. If it weren't for Eric and his outstanding sense of direction, language skills (fluent Spanish) and loving care for me, I would be lost. Not to worry, we are warm and dry every night and have had no mishaps at all. But I can't take any credit for that at all.
I haven't been able to get my Google blog to work, so I have decided to email you all day by day when I find an internet. The spelling corrector on this Portuguese computer says that every word I write is spelled wrong, so sorry for my misspellings. I have always depended on it to be understood on the net. I don't want to overwhelm your inbox, so I will start at the beginning and send a couple of entries each time. My brain is so full of Portuguese that I am misspelling English a lot and can't remember certain words. I don't know how a multi-lingual person keeps track of it all. I am beginning to understand what I read a little, and can say a few things, but mostly the languages around me are like music or the song of birds, pleasant but meaningless.
Because of the terrible snowstorm in the Newark Airport we were rerouted through Chicago
Lufthansa was very friendly
The food was pretty good!
Chicago Grid
then through Frankfurt, Germany
with a three hour layover during which we had plenty of time to admire the ceiling art
and on to Lisbon. 28 hrs. in all.
We arrived in Lisboa (Lisbon) to terrible weather. We found a pensionias (rooms older people rent to have a pension).
Once we slept for 11 hrs, we went out into the cold to explore the narrow "pedistrian only" old town. It was during something called "Carnival" which is a boustrous, late into the night, funny costumes, children in costume all day sort of secular celibration. There were live bands on the street below our window both nights we were there. Lots of dancing is the only way the people can keep warm during carnival.
Lisbon is the city paved in small marble black and white squares in beautiful patterns. And I mean paved. It is hard to find any dirt. You all know that I collect dirt, so this is of special concern to me. Since I am carrying everything on my back, I have decided to collect only dirt from places we will not visit on our way back to Lisbon at the end of our journey, so I will face the dirt shortage in Lisbon when I come back through to come home.
Many of the houses have tiled facades, remarkably no two the same. Across the street from our room were ancient buildings with businesses on the ground floors and narrow stacks of living quarters up to six stories high above us. Each had wrought iron balconies in curlicue designs. All are tiled in pink tiles.
However, since they are not used to this cold weather, they do not have heat. We have used every piece of clothing, both jackets and all our socks-hat-gloves in our sleeping bags to keep warm at night.
Then, we were fortunate to get a SERVAS hostess named Delphina. We stayed the usual two days, and then it snowed in Lisbon. It was only the second snow in 50 years. It is very unusual weather this year, everyone says so. So Delphina couldn't put us out in the snow, so we stayed on for two more days earning our keep by attaching light fixtures in her bedrooms and painting her bedroom a lovely shade of lavender. I think I still have lavender stains on my feet.
We found our way to the Church of the Martyrs to get our pilgrim passports for the Camino. We got our first stamp at the Cathedral of Saint Domingos. These two churches were the most magnificently decorated, each looking like a intricate wedding cake on the outside and hushed and reverent on the inside. I have never seen so much religious paintings, ceilings, stained glass windows, arrangements of icons in little nooks lining every wall. Each nook having it's own theme and like a little church often with it's own seats and adorned with unbelievable golden boxes of relics and amazing statues.
There are women represented in the Cathedrals. Besides Mary, there are countless women who have been declared Saints for miracles they have performed. I never knew this bout the Catholic Church. They receive prayers too. Many people have a favorite one and come quietly during the day to kneel and pray to her. This is new to me. I find it refreshing. However, few people here know about the pilgrimage. It is rare to start from this route, and we have to explain what we are doing to everyone we meet.
Our walking is endless. This place is huge. We are very grateful to Napolian for helping us with skills and tips. I have one word for anyone planning to walk a lot, Mole skin!
Delphine was very kind and let us put some things that were now plain to us that we would not need, in her attic. When we left, we took a train because of the biting cold to Santarem, the next town on the path. And here I will end until I find the next internet.
I love you all more than ever before. I think of you often. My layers are already peeling away, I am not who I used to be already. What the immediate future holds, I do not know. Only one thing I know, there will be lots of walking and walking. Why did I think this was going to be fun? Remind me, will you?
Love, Debra / Mom / Auntie Debbie
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