Centenary of Fatima – Papal Visit – Friday 12 th May and more rain in Galicia.

​Pope Francis and pilgrims from around the world are flocking to a Catholic shrine town in Portugal to honour two poor, illiterate shepherd children whose claims of visions of the Virgin Mary 100 years ago marked one of the most important events of the 20th-century Catholic Church.Francis arrives Friday to celebrate the centenary of the apparitions and canonize the children. He is hoping the message of peace that they reported 100 years ago, when Europe was in the throes of World War I, will resonate with the Catholic faithful today.For days now, church groups, families and individuals have made their way to Fatima, about 150 kilometres north of Lisbon, some on their knees in prayer. Carrying candles, rosaries and roses, they have made their way to the statue dedicated to Our Lady of Fatima or tossed wax body parts — ears, hearts, limbs — into a huge fire to pray for healing.

I am  thinking of changing the name of my ” ensuitepilgrim” website , to something more lucrative, as I came across this news item on the BBC News:

“A Portuguese man called Carlos Gil is known as “rent-a-pilgrim”, AFP news agency reports. He charges €2,500 (£2,110; $2,717) to walk to Fatima and worship there on behalf of a Catholic who cannot make the trip.” 

So, if there is anyone out there, who is prevented from walking to Santiago de Compostela, I will light a candle for you in the Cathedral, for a donation, payable to :“RENT – A – CANDLE ” Paypal accepted.

As for today, well it began disappointingly, after a night of strong winds and heavy rain. Our host was adamant that the Camino would be treacherous in places and that we should take the way by road….on looking out of the Casa Rural windows, the view was severely limited by fog and rain. 

Fortunately, I had lit a fire in the lounge, and we were all able to dry out our boots and other unmentionables and during breakfast, two other pelegrinos wanted to share a short taxi ride to La Gudina, which we took,together.

Any hope for an improvement in conditions was dashed , as we left the Province of Zamora, to enter Galicia, into the Province of Ourense, as fog and rain dominated the skyline.

Looking at the above map, we entered by the south east. Our hotel is superb, which is some consolation and very good value. It provides both a restaurant and cafeteria , which serves the nearby A- 52 motorway. Lunch was an enormous slice of Tortilla, stuffed with Pulpo and fresh bread, plus a beer -€ 3.50 a head; beats  Watford Gap, everytime.

Found ourselves sat next to a guy from Southport, whose job was to collect caravans from Portugal  and deliver them to the UK, on the back of a transporter, via Bilbao. Like me, he finds driving in Spain and Portugal a breeze,  compared to 3rd World UK.
Today’s track has to be ” Have You Ever Seen the Rain?” + complimentary Spanish subtitles…