Chapter 29
Coldplay were one of my niece Hannah’s, favourite bands.
She and her mum had seen them live in Cardiff and Vienna.
At her funeral, her coffin was carried out of the church to the Coldplay tune of ‘Everglow’.
Her 6 brothers and sisters carried her coffin on that day, back in July 2025.
How they did it, I don’t quite know.
It was a real ‘lump in your throat’ moment.
Maria, Sarah, Bethan, Dan, Frankie and Paddy did their sister proud that day.
Sunflowers were everywhere.
It was the ‘best,’ most life-celebrating funeral I have ever attended.
I’d been asked to take some photos.
I tried to take them subtly:
After all, photography isn’t a usual thing at funerals.
I needed to be respectful and not draw attention to myself.
It was quite a tough gig, but actually a ‘nothing’ on that day’s ‘toughness scale.’
Lizzie and her family wanted me to provide a visual send off for their girl, most especially for her long term boyfriend, Jacques, who was in an induced coma suffering from life threatening injuries.
Their car had been hit head-on by another vehicle driven by a driver who was significantly over the drink drive limit.
The other driver had forced the ‘peage’ (pay toll) barrier open and then driven down the wrong side of the motorway for over 30 kilometres, before smashing into Hannah and Jacques.
Thankfully, nearly a year on, Jacques is recovering.
Make no mistake though: he too faces the trauma of tragic loss.
He lost his long term girlfriend, possibly his future wife, possibly his future kids and grandkids.
That’s a lot to digest at the age of 27.
Let’s not beat around the bush.
That man’s decision to drive those 30 km down the wrong side of a motorway, after drinking way too much alcohol, has had absolutely devastating consequences for the Jones and for Cinotti families.
In line with French custom, Hannah’s funeral took place only a week after her death.
Jacques was actually fighting for his life, having no knowledge that his girlfriend had failed to survive.
Hannah was vibrant and beautiful, kind and fun.
She deserved better.
I walk this trail to support her family and the charity they have established in her name.
£2,500 has already been pledged.
Which is absolutely fantastic.
That’s nearly 3,000 Euros.
It will make a massive difference.
I’d love your help to raise a bit more.
If you are interested, you can sponsor me via the link below.
Thank you, so much, if you do.
Sunflowers were the dominant flower at that funeral.
So it was kind of appropriate, that 10 months later, as she tries to process her grief and move forward with her family, her mum Lizzie, should turn up on this ‘Camino Portuguese’ with the brightest and gawdiest yellow crocs that I have ever seen!
Lizzie carries this yellow fused glass of a sunflower.
Lizzie carries it everywhere.
It reminds her of Hannah who loved sunflowers.
It has become the emblem of Hannah’s charity.
Lizzie makes them. She is a glassmaker and has started selling them on behalf of the charity, to friends and family..
A number of my friends and family have asked about them.
They are for sale for £15.
This is no hard sell.
But if you do want one ordering please let me know.My nephew
Paddy is coming to the UK in June.
I’m hoping to use up his baggage allowance with a stash of these.
Please send me a direct message.W
We have one.
It is beautiful:
And very poignant.
Let’s call them sunflower yellow and I’ll move on from the canary yellow tagline that has bugged me ever since the English football league results on Saturday.
Let’s just say, that after a 4-2 loss for my team Bristol City, I’m not a great fan of Norwich City FC and their canary yellow team colours! 🫣
My Norwich supporting friend has been quite magnanimous in his messages.
Bless me father for I have sinned:
‘You only sing when you’re winning!’
If and when we do attempt a night hike on this trip, I’ll just get Lizzie to wear those Crocs and walk at the front.
“Get yourself seen girl!’”
No other high viz is needed!
We will present no problems to Portugal and Spain’s motorists.
Blimey!
Those Crocs cannot in anyway, be called a ‘Mellow Yellow! 🎵
4 weeks and one day ago, I started walking the height of Portugal from its south westerly tip at Cap St. Vincent, to the city of Santiago de Compostella on the north western tip of Spain.I
Predicted it to be around 600 miles long: that’s 1000 km.
Give or take!
Some of my Camino stats as I type are below for your perusal.
1,093,942 steps walked.
Yep: that’s over a million!
530 miles walked.
“1 will walk 500 miles!” 🎵
And counting.
852 km: not long till the big 1,000 then.
Enjoyment level?
Unimaginable!
I walked initially with my ‘C’Amigo’, ‘Camino Steve’ for 23 days, before breaking off and pressing forward on my own, with 2 big 42+ km walking shifts, so that I could meet my wife Nicky, for a ‘City Break’ in Porto.
Nicky and I had a brilliant time.
All too soon, Nicky had to fly home.
Don’t feel too sorry for her though.
She’s currently enjoying a 2 night luxury spa break with her best friend Julie, who we both met and befriended at university, 43 years ago!
Looking good girls!
‘61?’
You are having a laugh!
Hope you both had a great time.
During this month of walking I’ve met up with lots of superb peregrinos (pilgrims) from all over the world.
Peregrinos from Tanzania, Brazil, Holland, , Italy, France? Australia, USA, Puerto Rica, Canada and the UK.
On Tuesday evening Lizzie and I enjoyed dinner with Anna from Ukraine: more on her later.
She really was a lovely girl.
Politicians like Trump, Putin and their like, appear to enjoy succour by promoting the differences in people across the world.
I would suggest that the Camino emphasises our similarities.
It’s a truly remarkable, integrated experience where kindness and encouragement are the daily currency of choice for everyone.
We are united.
This ‘League of Nations’ always enthralls.
As Nicky left Porto on the Sunday morning, so Lizzie arrived on Monday afternoon, 21 April.
4 hours later she had walked 17 km of ‘killer cobbles’, to arrive at our hostel in Vilo do Conde.
That was an impressive debut!
On Tuesday she bagged another 17 miles /28 km.
Impressive!
But at some cost.
As I type at 17.18 on Tuesday 21 April, Lizzie sleeps.
And she has “at least 3 blisters,”which both hurt and frustrate.
She had been so hopeful that she could avoid them.
Most peregrinos don’t.
That’s ‘Camino Life!’
Honestly!
‘Nobody said it was easy!’ 🎵
The best treatment for blisters in my opinion, has now changed?P
Previously it was sheep wool. 🐑
Now?
A ‘CrocSwap’:
Shed the trail shoes and wear your Crocs.
So for 28 km that’s what Lizzie did.
Bedazzling all in her wake.
Gosh they are bright,
But they go rather well with pink.
We enjoyed a tasty meal with 3 other pilgrims on Monday night.
Tobias from Germany, Inga who is Dutch but now lives in Australia and Michael ‘The Yank with the Tank’.
Lizzie and I chose steak and wild mushrooms for 13 euros.
So tasty! What a great price too.
Once you leave the higher costs of Porto, prices in the hospitality industry settle down quickly: especially further up the trail.
Hospitality costs in Portugal are generally very reasonable.
Some examples below:
Hostel €15-25 per night with a courtesy towel and cotton bed sheets, dinner €15, coffee with milk €1.20, beer €1.30, scrambled eggs on sourdough toast €4.50.
We left the hostel at 06.45 with a 24 km walk ahead of us.
Michael joined us.
His “reduced weight” pack absolutely dwarfed Lizzie’s 5.15kg (🤬).
In fairness to Mike, he carries his load with joy.
He never complains.
But make no mistake, the ‘GoogleMeister’ is clearly nuts!
That makes 3 of us.
“Summertime, and the livin’ is easy”. 🎵
It was so easy.
The elevation was spirit level:
LEVEL!
It was virtually cobble free too.
We love the Litoral Way!
Lizzie’s daughter Sarah posted our route on the ‘Les Histoires d’Hannah’, social media pages.
Boardwalks prevailed.
So nice for sore feet.
I now think every UK beach should be boardwalked.
The boardwalk timbers, lightly spring as you walk along them, making the impact on your feet feel far less dramatic and painful.
“Walking on sunshine”. 🎵
We were!
The flowers returned.
Sunflower yellow this time mixed with ‘pretty flamingo’ 🎵 pinks.
Lizzie’s Crocs perfectly graced those boards.
We passed beautiful old windmills.
Their position making them the perfect Airbnb romantic hideaway.
‘Croc Girl continued to clomp her way along the coast.
The Litoral Way is literally lovely!
Familiar words greeted us on the edge of town.
A false dawn though, as our hostel was still 4 km away, right at the top of town.
Frustrating as we both wanted to stop there and then.
Camino daily end stages often feature a brutal finale.
‘So near, yet so far’.Y
Ou just have to suck it up and do the hard years.E
Eventually…..
This too shall pass!’ (LOTR)
It did.
The hostel was excellent.
Comfortable, clean and well equipped and maintained.
It had a pool.
I foot dipped for 45 minutes to soothe those ‘sole stingers’.
Poor Lizzie feels the foot pain too.
Her pain is emotional as well as physical of course.I
Wish I could carry it for her.
Sadly it is her cross to bear.
It hurts her.
Seeing that pain is hard. I feel helpless.
Her feet are blistered and her left knee swollen.
These Camino trails pack a hard punch.
Given that context, she walked really well.
Especially as it was a 17.5 mile / 28 km day.
After a shower, blogging and sorting out gear, we walked back down to the coast: 400 metres away.
We ate at a brilliant burger restaurant.
The food was tasty, plentiful and beautifully presented.
We enjoyed the company of the beautiful Anna from Lviv, in eastern Ukraine.
Anna is a 25 year old surgeon with one year left of her training before she becomes a fully licensed doctor in her country .
We talked about the war in Ukraine for a bit, but mostly about life, our families and our futures.
As well as the Camino of course.
Anna was such good company. Her English is exceptional. A highly intelligent young woman, she had come onto the Camino after hearing about it from a friend.
She saw it as a personal reflection opportunity, especially as she starts to ponder her future post training.
She showed us photographs of her parents .
Her dad was typically ‘Eastern European’ in his pose.
Looking straight at the camera, with a quiet air of contentment about him.N
Unsmiling: except with his eyes.
His lovely wife and beautiful daughter were sat with him.
He looked very satisfied with his life.C
Content with his lot, even though that brutal war ravished his country.
His eyes conveyed a clear message:
Family Matters!
Lizzie, Anna’s dad and I have a lot in common.
Anna was pressing on the next day, so I’m not likely to see her again on this trip.
A shame as I found her company very engaging.
However, I hope that she knows, that like countless other Peregrinos that I have met on this trip, there will always be a warm welcome for her, should she ever come to North Yorkshire.
As we left the restaurant, I saw the sun staring to dip!
Missed it by a whisker!
C’est la vie, yet again!
Tonight I am contemplating just how long I can continue with the ‘Silver Fox’ look?
To shave or not to shave?
That is the question.
The trouble is I’m always knackered when I get to the hostel! 🙄
Maybe tomorrow? 🤷🏻♂️
Thanks again for the read and encouragement.
Buen Camino.
Martin x
Martin Moorman is a 61 year old retired Headteacher who lives with his wife Nicky, daughter and her family in North Yorkshire, UK.
Happily married for 36 years, Martin and Nicky have 3 grown up children, all happily married too. In his spare time Martin loves walking, photography, football, renovating cooking and talking rubbish to anyone who will listen!
Martin Moorman 