walking back

[Robert Spenger]

When I made a pilgrimage from Lisbon to Santiago in 2001, I made a stop
at Fatima, which was near my route and required just a short side trip
for the visit. I wasn't aware at the time that I was about 2 1/2 weeks
ahead of the main day for visiting Fatima. As I continued to the north,
I met crowds of pilgrims heading south and waving to me that I was
going the wrong way. For the most part, we were on opposite sides of
the road, i.e. we were all facing traffic. If it was quiet enough, I
could usually call out, "Santiago," and that would bring nods of
understanding. On a couple of occasions I crossed over and chatted a
bit in my extremely limited Portuguese. I tried to explain that I had
been in Fatima just a days before. It wasn't until much later that I
came to realize that most people went there on May 13th, the major
anniversary of the visions. I had stayed there on the night of April
26. Incidentally, the people walking to Fatima were the only pilgrims I
saw on the whole trip, until I was well within the view of the
cathedral in Santiago. By that time I had reached an outdoor cafe,
where some Santiago pilgrims were relaxing after the completion of
their walks on the camino Francés.

regards,

Bob Spenger


On Mar 7, 2004, at 2:55 PM, Kathy Gower wrote:

>  I asked her about gong the "wrong" way and she stated
> that the only thing not so fun was people who thought she was going the
> "wrong way".
>
>