The world around me has changed so dramatically in the past few months. COVID-19 has changed everything. Instead of exploring and hiking, I sit watching the news, wishing the world well. During this time of reflection I’ve been drawn back to the camino. My heart goes out to Spain, in particular. It astounds me how much a simple trail and a country has helped me. I have plans to return to hike the Camino Norte as soon as I can - partly for me, and partly to show solidarity and support for the Spanish people. For now, however, my mind drifts to my last camino along the Portuguese way.
I arrived in Lisbon after a long flight from San Francisco. It was hot and sunny as I walked out the airport doors and caught the Aerobus for $4 to downtown. Behind me, on the bus, two elderly British couples chatted about shrubbery, when they were last in Lisbon, their house, and medicine they needed from the pharmacy. I looked down at my pack and nodded. I’m attached to this pack. We’ve been through so much. This is my home, my life, my normality. Conversations like the British couple are engaged in, are not for me. Another’s normal is not mine. I accept that now. It look me a long time to come to this realization. One I did, the struggle in my mind subsided. I leaned back in the chair, at peace.
The bus wound it’s way off the freeway, entering the cities center. Beautiful promenades, crowded with people, were lined towering eucalyptus, casting welcome shadows. I exited the bus, walking the streets and city square to stretch my legs after an international flight. I walked to the waterfront in a square of undulating tiles of white and black. It reminded me of the ocean, foaming waves cresting against the shore. A stone fountain, carved by a master craftsman looked like a flower in bloom.
Terra-cotta roofed building framed the square, cafes were packed with patrons laughing, enjoying the afternoon light. I took it all in. The last time I was in Lisbon, I had just finished the Camino Frances after beginning a journey across the Eurasian continent from Beijing, via land. I had been gone for months, I treated Lisbon as nothing more than a jumping off point; the final leg before I got home. This time, it was a beginning and I drunk it all in.
