Parsons Pilgrimage

So the Nor' Easter that delayed our trip is here and is pretty annoying.  So the first thing is that it rained nonstop today.  We hiked 7 miles in the same time it took us to hike twice that.  So we stopped from time to time to take shelter.  It was 100% precipitation 100% of the time.  It is actually raining as I type this. Now I get to the title.  It was hailing yesterday and today.  Today it started around lunch and hailed so much it looked like it had snowed an inch.  We thankfully had stopped and got video and pictures of the pebble sized hail.  Honestly I think that it is going to be interesting trying to hike after getting used to hiking through the storm.

We have been going for four days now and have put a lot of kilometers under our belts.  The weather has been all over the place, and it seems like we have been underestimating the distances at the start of each day.  We've been kicking serious butt and taking names. As the days go on, it has been fun to try and figure out the local customs in terms of navigating the city and the various ways we interact with other pilgrims and locals too.  For instance, which side of the sidewalk do spanish folks use when they pass each other?  In the states, everyone tends to pass on the right, but here?  I'm not so sure..... Cars drive on the right side of the road, steering wheels are on the left side, so there's some familiarity there, although we are not doing ANY driving.  When we get to a city, the siesta is obvious.  More about that later. What's the term you usually use when greeting someone?  Here, because of the language difference (and trying to ...

I think that it was a bit harder to start hiking in the first two days than it was today.  I believe that it was because we have gotten used to getting up and packing now.  As well as the fact that I am very sore.  I think that we are getting better at packing light.  Also we are feeling better because we have the largest  hikes behind us.  That in my opinion is pretty relieving.  I am kind of amazed that we have hiked through the forest as well as cities. I have seen cathedrals and forts and had  some good food.  One thing that has been hard is the distance.  I have not ever hiked above 8 miles before so this has been a bit different.  I think that my sister is doing a good job keeping up and is doing well overall.  One thing I have found easy is falling asleep.  Although usually we don't before 9.  I think it is hard to get to  sleep early when dinner is later than we are  used to.  Overall  I ...

My preparation for this trip included hiking ALONE at Cooper's Rock State Forest, the Profile Trail at Grandfather Mountain, Montreat Conference center  trails, and the Urban Wilderness Trail in Knoxville, Tennessee .  It was part of the spiritual discipline of the sabbatical -- time of silence, listening, and waiting.  I can say three days into walking as a family -- IT IS A LOT EASIER TO WALK ALONE.  Today made me think a lot about the church.  It is not only a discipline to spend time alone listening and waiting for God, but it is also a spiritual discipline to conform your ways to a community.  When I walked alone, it was my pace, my desires, and my needs met.  I did not worry about schedules, the pains of others, or the personal needs of anyone else.  I could walk 12.5 miles with 1000 foot elevation change in 4.5 hours.  As we walk together (young and not as young ;) ) . . . well, we have not seen a 4-hour hike day. This pilgrimage walk ...

We had a momentous first two days on the Camino. In true Parsons fashion, the mileage was high because, you know, we needed a challenge! The first day, instead of just doing what the guidebook said and starting in Tui, where our hotel was, and the traditional start of this leg of the Camino, we decided to backtrack to Valenca, across the border in Portugal, because it would be cooler if we would say we went from Portugal into Spain. So that added something like three miles to our trip. In total, the first day was around 16 miles. Day two was like day one, but wet. We tried to get up and go, and pretty much were able to do it, cramming breakfast in and enjoying a hot cafe and pastries as we thought about the days plan. From O Porrino to Arcade ended up being close to 15 miles, and we did most of it in the rain. Long days, back to back.  If all this seems pretty bleak, it was intentional. Imagine the worst day in the rain and then think about taking your kids. This is wh...

Ellie Grace and Harrison have been taking the own pictures.  Hopefully, internet speed allowing, I will create separate google photo albums for their pictures, because they give a glimpse of what interested them and helped them bide their time along the Way.  Here are some glimpses of the last three days.

So how do you pass the time with an 8 and 12 year old while walking hours on end?  First, with a lot of patience.  They still ask -- are we there yet and how much farther. We started day one walking with an agreement that anyone could call a break at anytime with no questions asked.  We are a prideful family and no one would be the first on day one, so when things were falling apart quickly and jet lag was getting the best of them, I called the break, spread a blanket and they took a nap. When we get to the end of the day, we have deep theological conversations about Marvel and Harry Potter.  Yesterday this included what our Patronesses would be (after seeing a picture of an otter).  Extended conversation was had about where Thor Ragnarok fits in the Marvel movie history and whether Thor's hammer was made of the same material as Captain America's shield currently available Wakanda. Today's conversation included favorite movies and songs.  We also adde...

We are on a pilgrimage tracing the steps of other faithful who have sought to visit the cathedral which is home to St. James' remains.  The path is marked by shells and yellow arrows. The early estimates of walking were about 115 kilometers (71.45 miles).  In order to try to push ourselves into the new time zones, we worked hard to stay awake on Monday and headed to Portugal.   We were staying in Tui, Spain which is just across the Minho River from Valenca Portugal. We walked along the walls of the Valenca do Minho Fortress and enjoyed some gelato in the town inside the fortress trying to bide our time to the Spanish dinner hour.  We enjoyed a late dinner of Spanish sausages, cheeses, croquettes, and roasted pork.  We began our hike on Tuesday and in our enthusiasm decided it was a good idea to walk back to Valenca and start there (this added a few kilometers to the trip).  We carry pilgrim passports that are stamped along the way to show we...

So our original plans had us starting the trip a week ago on Wed. March 21.  A couple of days before, Chet came home and mentioned concerns about the weather.  I had been so busy packing that I had missed the memo that another Nor'easter was on the way.  We made calls Monday and Tuesday trying to rebook the flights.  At that time, our airlines were not rebooking for free and the change fees were more than our tickets.  After lunch on Tuesday, the first of our airlines (PIT-BOS) cancelled our Wednesday flight.  The second (BOS-LSB-VGO) had not been cancelled by the other airline.  So, we in all hope and ignorance thought that flight was still a go.  About 6 pm on Tuesday, we drove into the storm to get to Boston so we would not miss our flights from Boston to Spain.  Only at 4 am on Wednesday morning did that flight get cancelled after we valiantly drove all the way to Danbury, CT to get to our flights in time.  Because of the weather, th...

We are here in Tui, Spain.  We arrived Monday, March 26.  We will post more later when we find decent internet.  Here is a link to pictures from our trip:   https://photos.app.goo.gl/0y37vf6hX6Q0UKW42 You can see in the pics some of our adventures getting here including the Nor'easter that delayed the trip four days.  Which gave us an opportunity to take a couple of trips to the doctor to treat various illnesses that popped up before leaving.  Currently at 8:30 am the kids are still asleep.  We did our best to keep them up late, but they're bodies probably still think its 2:30 am EST.

Here is information about the El Camino de Santiago, The Way of Saint James : https://www.followthecamino.com/trip/camino-portugues-5-5 http://www.americanpilgrims.org/history https://www.csj.org.uk/the-present-day-pilgrimage/ https://oficinadelperegrino.com/en/ We will be walking during Holy Week: https://www.followthecamino.com/blog/easter-on-the-camino http://caminotravelcenter.com/holy-week-in-galicia-camino-de-santiago/ http://www.turismo.gal/que-facer/promocions-para-gozar-agora/semana-santa-en-galicia?langId=en_US

Here is the basic itinerary of our trip:

This is a blog to follow along with us (Chet, Shelly, Harrison, Ellie Grace) as we travel on our hike/pilgrimage on the Camino Portugues from Tui, Spain to Santiago de Compostela in Spain.  We will be leaving March 25 from Pittsburgh (Boston, Lisbon, Vigo) and returning April 4 -5 (Vigo, Lisbon, Boston, Portugal).  We fly Jet Blue and Portugal Air (TAP). This is a private blog.  Invite only.  If you think someone else should see this, please send us an email and we will invite them.