It is just over a year ago, it seems since I wrote a Blog! It’s not that nothing has been happening in my life, far from it. Life is treating me kindly. There have been some small adventures. The majority have involved me and my ebike. But by far the happiest and most satisfying for my soul has been my little patchwork family. I find myself the grandfather to two single mothers each with a son. Being around these boys and watching them grow and learn is wonderful, and I am establishing a good relationship with them. Their mother’s don’t know yet, but I shall be using my bad influence to have many small adventures with these boys.
Be that as it may once my knee recovered from the operation I felt a need and a desire to walk one more Camino. From Lisbon to Santiago and the End of the World was my desire.
I started my training by buying new hiking shoes and not boots. Initially this was a disaster because I had some prescription insoles made by a firm in Willich called IOS! They just crippled my feet. Three times I had them remade, but to no avail! The initial shoe too proved to be too wide at the heel and I had to tie them so tight it hurt! I took them back after four weeks and got a different pair. As a Gold customer with Sport Check, they took them back without a murmur.
I also worked hard to reduce the weight I had to carry by weighing every item and choosing what to take on weight alone. I also invested in a new lighter (under one kilo) rucksack and so imagine how pleased I was when I got the weight done to just over nine kilos!
I think though I need a new set of baggage scales as the airport scales showed me even lighter!
One of my “daughters” took me to the airport where my adventure began! The boarding pass on my phone did not have the Gate number on it but said that the safety check in was to be in area C! Went through there. Interestingly my artificial knee did not show on the scan!
Once through the security check I went on through passport control which was on the left, but should have gone to the right before it! I now learned that my flight was leaving from Gate A39 and had no means of getting there but to return through passport control as if I was arriving from abroad and go out into the arrivals hall and start all over again!
By the time I got to the gate there was no time to do any shopping which was probably a good thing!
Then they changed the gate to gate A49 where we were able to see our plane arrive.
And watch my Rucksack being loaded. It’s the yellow bundle on the conveyor belt!
My seat was 5D, but stupidly I sat in 6D. When the owner of my seat came I found a woman now sitting in my seat so went sit in her’s which should have been 4D! Apart from these musical chairs the flight was uneventful. We were served with a dry bread roll which contained plastic cheese and ham.
The good part was the leg room on the flight, there was plenty of it. So well done TAP Portugal.
On arrival it was a long walk to collect the baggage and then a long wait to get a taxi!
Our hostel is on the eighth floor of a high rise building which we are sharing with some chaps from Brazil. Thanks to Google translator we are able to communicate with each other.
Initially we were allocated a top bunk, but I played the artificial knee card and they changed the bunks! The Bears are now happy.
I took a quick walk round the block and ended up getting wet as it rained. It is windy and colder than when I left good old Germany, but otherwise I have no complaints!
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