Back on the Way of Saint James
Portugal & Spain, Europe, 2009
If you can find a path with no obstacles,
it probably doesn’t lead anywhere.
— Frank A. Clark
When Moses dropped me a message that Dave and Ulla would be walking the Camino to Santiago again, and that Dave would celebrate his birthday on the Way of Saint James, he added ‘and you have to be there too’. It was a statement rather than a question.
Surely it was no coincidence that I was at that time planning a trip to Portugal to go diving and exploring the country. The thought of walking the Camino Portuguese from Porto to Santiago de Compostela had already crossed my mind. Now I just had to time it a bit, so I could meet Dave, Ulla and Moses somewhere along the Camino Frances on May 13th.
On 26 April I arrive in Porto and head to the cathedral. In my guidebook it says that this is the place where I can get a pilgrim’s passport. Locals manage to send me to two other churches before I finally arrive at the cathedral.
The sacristan looks at me in surprise. Not having a clue what I ask for he calls in the help from a colleague, who refers me again to someone else. The latter sets out in search for the needed document and returns to me with the message that there are no more official pilgrims’ passports.
