Cow farming and Home Made Yoghurt
An American couple Paul and Amy knocked on our door. They were so happy to see our sign Home Made Yoghurt so they wanted to have some.
“Please sit down”, I said.
“No, we like to take it with us. Not hungry yet.”
It was for their breakfast. They told us they were cow farmers, and just sold their business, so no more home made yoghurt for them last few weeks. I think their yoghurt was even better because they always used their fresh milk. Here in Portugal we buy sterilised milk. Sometimes they have a package fresh in the fridge but not all supermarkets have that.
How to take it with you? I had two big jars left unopened, so I gave the whole thing. The jars are recycled glass jars, so I have more of them. They were heading to Rabaçal where they like to try the Rabaçal cheese too!
We received a e-mail with their appreciation!
“We ate the entire jar at a rest stop along the trail the next morning! The minimercado in Rabaçal was closed by the time we arrived but thankfully the Camino provided figos. We very much enjoyed meeting you, and the yogurt was the best we’ve had!”
Sounds like it is true, although the supermarket was closed, they had their healthy yoghurt breakfast with fruits:The Caminho provides!
A Few Steps too Much
A Dutch pilgrim arrived very early and she was devastated. She had a taxi ride for a small part of the day, and now she couldn’t walk anymore, it was too much. She started to cry, it was very emotional. She sat down, I gave her some soup, we talked, and she calmed down. Later she enjoyed our place, the nice view. Since she couldn’t walk anymore she wanted to stay another day to rest. That was possible. She was quite relaxed about getting her plane back to Amsterdam. No rush at all… We find out, she worked her whole life at KLM. She could always fly with a discount when there is place one day ahead. She already knew the details of her flight.
I think she will return to Casa da Lima to start another caminho or to finish the last part.
Three Military Pilgrims
Three pilgrims wanted to stay and booked one day upfront. There was already one woman staying, not a pilgrim. She came to Casa da Lima for a 3-day mindful walking retreat.
We had dinner and I proposed to tell who we were and why we are here. Just to make her feel comfortable too, with three pilgrims she didn’t know yet.
After I started, the female pilgrim told us that she and her friend were walking to support her husband. Then her husband started to talk slowly. I felt it was a heavy story, and this was the reason that I said quickly that if they were not comfortable sharing it, it would be okay.
“No”, he said, “I am good I like to share it.”
They were all in the military for their whole life and now they retired. They witnessed the war in Afghanistan, and when they returned home he couldn’t cope with what he saw and had serious problems. Many years later a friend advised him to walk the caminho. And that is what they did. First the caminho Frances, with the three of them, and now the Portuguese one. After this emotional story he stood up and limped away to the pilgrims house… left us in silence until his wife said: “Every thing all right? Where are you going?”
He replied: “To the loo”.
Jaap-Willem walking a caminho to Fatima in August 2025
