walking back

[Erin Murphy 05]

You mentioned that those pilgrims going to Fatima were the only ones you saw on your journey to Santiago. Do you think the numbers of pilgrims will be larger on the Portuguese route this year going to SAntiago since it is a holy year?

        -----Original Message-----
        From: Road to Santiago Pilgrimage on behalf of Robert Spenger
        Sent: Sun 3/7/2004 11:13 PM
        To: GOCAMINOaPETE.URI.EDU
        Cc:
        Subject: Re: walking back



        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".
        >
        >