“I will sing to the Lord all my life; I will sing praise to my God as long as I live” (Psalm 104:33).
Psalm 104:3
But when will we be able to sing again in church?
I have long sung lustily and croakily and in the wrong place and always find that the service is less uplifting when the organist or the choir are off.
But that is what we’ll have to put up with when our churches reopen, initially for private prayer and funerals.
There is a gravitas to the singing as the botafumeiro swings from side to side in St James’s Cathedral during the Pilgrims’ Mass at the end of your Camino Ways walk http://www.caminoways.com.
But the real stirring stuff comes from the black gospel singers on the other side of the Atlantic.
And yes, I know we have them over here but they’re not in the same number.
I’d been chasing the choirs unsuccessfully on my travels and was disappointed to have to miss the Southern choir in Jackson, Mississippi https://www.deep-south-usa.com and The Promised Land because our flights back through Texas clashed with the choir.
Our forebears in the Middle Ages believed that Finisterre at the outpost of Galicia in north-west Spain was the end of the world.
And they would carry their penitential pilgrimage, the 87kms to Santiago de Compostella on to Finisterre.
Well, if this is the end of the world I’m jumping right off. Gladly!
Here’s your ‘cut-out and keep’ guide to everything you want to know about Finisterre and the Camino…
I need a rest… after that coach ride!
Piper at the gates of heaven
Santiago to Finisterre, 87kms: What else would you expect at the Edge of the World? A Galician piper belts out a Celtic tune by the lighthouse at Finisterre, the westernmost post of their world.
A sign with the Camino shell, marks 0,00kms.
Many pilgrims continue on by foot from Santiago to Finisterre.
Wendy, my fellow peregrinos, take a three-hour coach ride from Santiago (€26 return) on our last day, Wednesday.
Any trip to the Edge of the World should not be rushed, there is much to see, from quiet coves to golden beaches and coastal villages.
With azure and terracotta-washed cottages.
As I look out on the horizon from atop the cliff on the clearest of clear days I can see why my Celtic predecessors refused to countenance that there could be anything beyond or above this.
Wear light clothes
The legend of the Camino
Santiago de Compostella, or ‘St James of the Field of Stars’, the name derives from the belief that the bones of St James the Greater were taken here from the Middle East to Spain.
Where he is reported to have preached earlier in his mission.
In 814AD Bishop Theodoric of Aria Flavia, is said to have been guided there by a shepherd who had been led to the bones by a star.
A church was built over the bones and later replaced with the Catedral de Santiago.
Pilgrims have been walking the Camino, originally from their own homes as a starting point. ever since, as a penance and to gain indulgence.
The Scallop Shell
When St James’s disciples were shipping his body to the Iberian Peninsula a storm is said to have hit the boat and his body was thought lost to the sea.
However, it washed ashore undamaged, coated by scallop shells.
Pilgrims display their shells for identification and are rewarded still with charity from locals.
Medieval pilgrims would also use them to scoop up drinking water: pilgrims take them home as keepsakes.
When to go
April-June, September-October: Galicia is at its most colourful with spring and autumn hues and the temperature is warm without being baking (late teens to early 20sC).
Winter is quieter and temperatures can dip to the early double figures.
Galicia is so verdant because of the rain so be prepared.
A hat and a rucksack… and you’re ready to go
What to bring
Walking boots and socks, picking trousers (convertible with zip to make them shorts).
No jeans, they’re restrictive and will weigh you down in the rain and mark you out as a newbie.
Shirts (long-sleeved and t-shirts).
Walking stick (depending on agility and age).
Light rain jacket and polar fleece.
Sun hat, sunglasses, sun cream.
Water bottle, first aid (Paracetamol, competed blister plasters and anti-inflammatory cream).
How to prepare
Caminoways.com hold training walks throughout the year for different levels of walker.
Alternatively avail of the many walkways around the country which can be similar to the Galician terrain.
And do your basic stretching exercises before and after walks.
Some Halloween spirit
Where to eat/drink
Breakfasts in designated Caminoways.com hotels are buffet style. The large range of fruit is healthy and refreshing, bacon and sausages are thinner than Irish tastes while scrambled eggs are constantly light, fresh and tasty.
Cafe/bars on the Camino are well priced, a range of filled baguettes are around a fiver.
And wine and lager range from around @1-1.50 and while the costs increase the nearer to Santiago you get they are not prohibitive.
Hamlets and towns are well served for eating places.
And if you do stumble across a Queimada (a Galician ritual involving stirring a brew in a fiery cauldron) as I did at the Mandala restaurant in Rua Cima Do Lugar, Arzua then that’s a bonus.
I had their equivalent of an early bird of skag bol and wine which filled the plate, all for €6.
I always seize on calamari where I find it, but it’s pulp (octopus) which is Galicia’s speciality.
Sit on a stool and eat with fingers, mopping up the tomato sauce from the bowl with bread and swirling it down with a large red (at La Puerta, Santiago, €6.50).
Santiago is noted for Padron peppers, usually green where the random one is very hot…. Galician Roulette. I chickened out.
Where to stay
Alfonso IX, Rua Do Peregrino 29, 27600, Sarria (close to the river) Good starting point, good hotel sundries.
Pousada de Portomarin, 27170, Avda de Sarria, Portomarin. A welcome archway after the first day. A cosy stay, and ah, a bidet!
Complejo la Cabana C/Dr Pardo Ouro, 27200.
Palasd de Rei: A bit of a hike up town so a walk to restaurants if you choose not to eat at the hotel. There was a wedding on when I tased which was good of them to arrange for our evening entertainment.
Teodora, Avda de Lugo, 38 Arzua: Centrally located, comfortable and friendly.
Amenal 12, O Pino: One-horse hamlet but that’s OK after a 30km trek, and the stew is filling.
Santiago: HOtel Geimirez, Horreo 92, 15702: Ideally located close to the historic old town. A welcome and deserved bottomless tube at the end of your Camino.
Walk this way
The different ways
The French Way: Saint Jean to Santiago, 770km. Las leg: Sarria to Santiago, 116kms.
Caminoway organise guided and self-guided tours on the many routes across Spain, Portugal and France.
Prices start at €560pp sharing for a six-night Camino trip, walking the Camino Frances from Sarria to Santiago, including half-board, luggage transfers from hotel to hole and holiday pack with pilgrim passport and route information.
Airport transfers, hotel upgrades and bike rental are also available.
This year is a Holy Year for Pilgrims as declared by the Pope The Holy Door of the Cathedral will be open for the Year of Mercy.
And, of course everyone’s Camino is their Camino… This was mine A pilgrim’s prayer.
You’ll see them, clad in their green cassocks enjoying the craic, with St Paddy’s vital accessories, his crook or crozier staff… and a pint of Guinness.
It’s the St Paddy’s Day procession only, in fairness, there is very little proceeding… unless it’s to the next pub.
St Paddy’s staff, or crook with cross on top, is a symbol of his high status but probably not the best walking aid.
It’ll turn your beer green
I’ll get onto walks around Ireland with IrelandWays www.IrelandWays.com but first a walk around the houses.
My Dear Old Dad, a doctor, and perhaps a sainted figure himself by now would always advise people use walking sticks.
Nothing much got past my Dad… he had rows of the Western Catholic Calendar in his bookcase to check when I was missing Mass.
Which I did today… and I’m only hoping that he’s not telling The BIg Man although He sees everything anyway, a bit like my Dad.
I did get up for 10am Mass today, albeit I cut it a bit fine… the trouble was I got lost. Obviously.
I’m still getting used to my new town, North Berwick, near Edinburgh.
North Berwick RC church
And I can find it if I set out from my Outlaws where we were living when we first turfed up here a fortnight ago.
But not from my new demesne, near the North Berwick sign on the main road.
I also missed Mass last week in the Czech Republic.
But my Dear Old Mum who is still alive and kicking, going to Mass, and telling everyone what they’re doing wrong, says: ‘You don’t have to go when you’re on holiday.’
It’s just that I do… my mantra is go to where the locals pray and play.
Candles… in cartons for the night-time vigil, in the shops, giant ones at €60, and ones inscribed by everyone in the village in which they were carved.
The helpers wheeling the disabled, pilgrims quietly queuing in front of the baths.
St Bernadette hiding in the gardens around the model villages in Lourdes Castle and the interdit sign which a disobedient Scot will always ignore.
Follow peaceful paths through ancient forests and open mountain trails to Glenmalure, Ireland’s longest glacier valley… and finish in Dublin. 
