(20.5.08) After walking 800kms across Spain in 31 days, we finally arrived into Santiago for the midday pilgrim mass which was held in the beautiful Santiago cathedral.
What a journey!
This is without a doubt the most incredible experience I´ve had to date. When I spotted Santiago city/Cathedral, tears of joy, gratitude, happiness, accomplishment overwhelmed me... I couldn´t believe I´d finally made it! Seriously, words cannot explain how I felt at that moment. Thank god, I made it!
Monique you were right, I don´t think I´ve lost any weight whatsoever! I´ve been eating it up BIG time, and enjoying ever mouth full...lol...Atleast this is the fittest I've ever been. My biggest walking day was 47kms (the 2nd last day) to arrive into the village and be told the hotel was full...what the? lol Luckily the Universe was on our side and a room at a Casa Rural was available....
We have been living it up for the past couple of nights staying in hotels and eating great food which makes a drastic change from the refugios/municipals we´ve been staying in for most of the Camino. Although to experience the essence of the Camino it lies largely in these places (refugios/albergues). Plus staying in these basic lodging accommodation makes you appreciate the comforts we have in our own lives.
Last night, David and I hit the town! We ate Tapas and drank our way around Santiago, to end up sitting in front of Santiago cathedral chatting about our Camino experiences and then dance with the locals to beautiful Spanish music. This day will go down as one of the best days I´ve had on my Camino.
Today (Wednesday) I went to the midday pilgrim mass again to greet the other pilgrims I met along the road. It was sooo nice to see them walking towards the church. We embraced and congratulated eachother for the massive accomplishment we had all been through. It´s definitely a unique experience... I think it´ll hit me when I get back to Oz just how much land we covered...Crazy stuff hey?
Rod just to let you know, I laid your scallop shell to rest in Santiago. I sent out a wish that one day soon, you will complete your Camino and experience these magical feelings. It brings tears to my eyes as I type this. Thank you my friend for your support and belief in me and my Camino.
With this, I´ve decided to walk to Finnisterre (as 800kms isn´t enough...lol) which should take no more than 3 to 4 days max.. It´s roughly 89kms. Back in the day, they called Finnisterre the end of the world. Only a small percentage of pilgrims walk to Finnisterre, it´s more common to jump on a bus from Santiago to Finisterre.
It´s symbolic to continue onto Finnisterre as pilgrims burn an item which rids themselves of the old/past and makes way for the new. We met this crazy Brazilian guy who walked a bit of the way with David and I the other day, he gave me a great idea.... Make a list of all the negativity, doubts, fears etc etc and burn it.... So that´s what I´m going to do!. Thanks Eddie! Eddie relayed what Spaniards believe the Camino de Santiago is, a mental institution for Spain....LOL.. Ohh, I can see why? I believe you gotta be half nuts to wanna walk under 900kms...lol
Wow, I can finally tick off another lifelong experience from my bucket list. I'd be happy to walk this route again...
Wednesday, May 21, 2008
Friday, May 9, 2008
Albergues (hostels)
Since Eduardo left the family, we´ve stayed in some amazing albergues (both on detour routes)
On Monday night (5th May), we stayed in the peregrinos albergue located in Besciano del Real Camino.That night, I experienced the essence of what I believe the Camino life is all about.
The albergue runs off donations and the warm greeting was next to none. One of the hospitalerios (volunteer workers) was named none other than, Jesus! Can you believe it? He definitely had a twinkle in his eyes, that´s for sure.
On that night, I even dreamt he was God and the look he gave me in my dream was of love, support, faith and re-assurance. It was a very strange dream but man did it feel real. I seem to be dreaming alot on the road (but then again that's nothing new). One night I dreamt a man and lady were doing Reiki on me and I could actually feel it in my dream. As some of you know, all this hippy dippy stuff isn´t at all weird for me...lol
Anyways back to the albergue, it slept roughly 40 people, all the pilgrims helped with the dinner preparations and washing up. We then sang songs in our native languages, we watched the sunset, followed by a candlelit meditation expressing the reason why each one of us are walking this road...It was an amazing evening with so many amazing people (approx 25 of us). This is what I feel the Camino life is all about, the spirit of sharing, friendship, reflection, giving thanks for the many many luxuries we have in our own lives...The Camino life is a very simple one, it shows you you don´t need much to be happy. My Camino family have shown me this time and time again and for that I´m truly grateful. All you need is love! :)
Last night we stayed in Leon (Santa Maria convent) this is the 2nd time we´ve stayed in a convent (Eric wasn´t allowed to move his bed close to Gitta´s...lol...Inside joke). We went to the 6pm Mass at Leon´s Cathedral which was lovely, although Burgos Cathedral is sooo much nicer and alot more detailed than Leon. Truth be told I was very disappointed with Leon's cathedal there wasn´t any substance to it. All in all, atleast the outside of the Cathedral was lovely. At the convent the nuns held a 9:30pm pilgrim Mass in their church which was very nice.
Tonight we´re staying in another awesome albergue (alternate route) called Jesus albergue (Jesus is everywhere...lol) and it´s donation based as well. You can write on the walls like naughty school kids...lol..The albergue has a backyard and hammock (what luxury) you should have seen our faces when we scoped out the joint, we thought we were in heaven...lol
Tomorrow we´re off to Astorga which is a 30km clicker...Wish us luck, cause we´re sooo going to need it...lol
Love, light and smiles to you all
On Monday night (5th May), we stayed in the peregrinos albergue located in Besciano del Real Camino.That night, I experienced the essence of what I believe the Camino life is all about.
The albergue runs off donations and the warm greeting was next to none. One of the hospitalerios (volunteer workers) was named none other than, Jesus! Can you believe it? He definitely had a twinkle in his eyes, that´s for sure.
On that night, I even dreamt he was God and the look he gave me in my dream was of love, support, faith and re-assurance. It was a very strange dream but man did it feel real. I seem to be dreaming alot on the road (but then again that's nothing new). One night I dreamt a man and lady were doing Reiki on me and I could actually feel it in my dream. As some of you know, all this hippy dippy stuff isn´t at all weird for me...lol
Anyways back to the albergue, it slept roughly 40 people, all the pilgrims helped with the dinner preparations and washing up. We then sang songs in our native languages, we watched the sunset, followed by a candlelit meditation expressing the reason why each one of us are walking this road...It was an amazing evening with so many amazing people (approx 25 of us). This is what I feel the Camino life is all about, the spirit of sharing, friendship, reflection, giving thanks for the many many luxuries we have in our own lives...The Camino life is a very simple one, it shows you you don´t need much to be happy. My Camino family have shown me this time and time again and for that I´m truly grateful. All you need is love! :)
Last night we stayed in Leon (Santa Maria convent) this is the 2nd time we´ve stayed in a convent (Eric wasn´t allowed to move his bed close to Gitta´s...lol...Inside joke). We went to the 6pm Mass at Leon´s Cathedral which was lovely, although Burgos Cathedral is sooo much nicer and alot more detailed than Leon. Truth be told I was very disappointed with Leon's cathedal there wasn´t any substance to it. All in all, atleast the outside of the Cathedral was lovely. At the convent the nuns held a 9:30pm pilgrim Mass in their church which was very nice.
Tonight we´re staying in another awesome albergue (alternate route) called Jesus albergue (Jesus is everywhere...lol) and it´s donation based as well. You can write on the walls like naughty school kids...lol..The albergue has a backyard and hammock (what luxury) you should have seen our faces when we scoped out the joint, we thought we were in heaven...lol
Tomorrow we´re off to Astorga which is a 30km clicker...Wish us luck, cause we´re sooo going to need it...lol
Love, light and smiles to you all
Wednesday, May 7, 2008
Thank you for your support
Thought I´d write up a quick entry as I´m overwhelmed with so many upflifting, loving and encouraging comments and emails. I just wanted to say a BIG thank you to you all!
Monique and Nancy, you ladies would understand what it feels like to recieve encouragement especially on those hard days. I had another hard day yesterday and today. The 3 of us (Gitta, Eric and I) have come down with a cold and walking isn´t making it any easier. I´ve also obtained 2 new blisters (total of 5) and very slight pain in my heel. God, I hope it´s not tendinitous.
They are predicting rain, thunderstorms, lighting and hail tonight (3rd time it´s rained on the Camino) and for the next few days, with a maximum temperature of 9 degrees. Talk about the Universe throwing curve balls. Let the game begin! lol
So the moral of this entry is, thank you all for your kind words, thoughts, prayers and love. You have no idea how much they have helped me along the road. Thinking of you all and once again, I'm placing little stones along the way filled with good wishes for you all.
xxx
Monique and Nancy, you ladies would understand what it feels like to recieve encouragement especially on those hard days. I had another hard day yesterday and today. The 3 of us (Gitta, Eric and I) have come down with a cold and walking isn´t making it any easier. I´ve also obtained 2 new blisters (total of 5) and very slight pain in my heel. God, I hope it´s not tendinitous.
They are predicting rain, thunderstorms, lighting and hail tonight (3rd time it´s rained on the Camino) and for the next few days, with a maximum temperature of 9 degrees. Talk about the Universe throwing curve balls. Let the game begin! lol
So the moral of this entry is, thank you all for your kind words, thoughts, prayers and love. You have no idea how much they have helped me along the road. Thinking of you all and once again, I'm placing little stones along the way filled with good wishes for you all.
xxx
Monday, May 5, 2008
Halfway (according to my guidebook)
Well, we made it to the halfway mark (according to John Brierley´s guidebook). The place is called Terradillos de los Templarios and last night we stayed in a new albergue which turned out to be luxurious by Camino standards. Gitta, Eric and I decided to shared a room. I was so excited because it had an ensuite. Ahhh, how we take for granted our everyday luxuries. This place has turned out to be the best albergue we´ve stayed at so far.
Yesterday was a sad day. Due to a knee injury and a limited time frame, Eduardo decided to leave the group (and then there were 3) and continue forth from Ledigos to Sahagun by taxi and then by train to Leon. From Leon, he will continue his walk to Santiago.
Good luck my Camino friend. Remember, ´piano piano arriviamo´! Thank you for everything. You have been one of my Camino angels on this grand adventure. I will miss you. Ciao and buen Camino bello.
Eduardo was our motivator and alarm clock. Every morning, like clock work he would wake us up. But this morning was different. Man, we are sooo lazy without him! We started our Camino at 9:30am! Usually we start around 6:30am! Eduardo, where are you? lol... Ok, I'm taking responsibility. I'm happy to step up and be the next time keeper. Once we arrive in Leon, I think I'll purchase an alarm...lol
Anyways my friends, it's time to hit the road now. I´ll try and jump on later, but for now, it´s time to walk, walk, walk...
Yesterday was a sad day. Due to a knee injury and a limited time frame, Eduardo decided to leave the group (and then there were 3) and continue forth from Ledigos to Sahagun by taxi and then by train to Leon. From Leon, he will continue his walk to Santiago.
Good luck my Camino friend. Remember, ´piano piano arriviamo´! Thank you for everything. You have been one of my Camino angels on this grand adventure. I will miss you. Ciao and buen Camino bello.
Eduardo was our motivator and alarm clock. Every morning, like clock work he would wake us up. But this morning was different. Man, we are sooo lazy without him! We started our Camino at 9:30am! Usually we start around 6:30am! Eduardo, where are you? lol... Ok, I'm taking responsibility. I'm happy to step up and be the next time keeper. Once we arrive in Leon, I think I'll purchase an alarm...lol
Anyways my friends, it's time to hit the road now. I´ll try and jump on later, but for now, it´s time to walk, walk, walk...
Saturday, May 3, 2008
Nearly half way
My Camino family has shrunk yet again. This is the way of life on the road.
Today Eduardo and I left Gitta and Eric in Bodarilla (or something like that) and we continued on to Fromista after 34kms of walking. We were greeted to the last 2 beds in the village. Thank the Lord...lol
This time we´re sleeping in the corridor, it´s the funniest thing to witness...lol There are people even sleeping under the breakfast table! Man this is what one calls an adventure..lol.. So far we´ve been rejected from 6 refugios due to overcrowding... Once we settled into the refugio we had a look around the village where Eduardo and I were fortunate enough not to pay to enter the church, talk about the Universe looking after us... Thank you God...lol
At the moment we´re making excellent ground, more that I thought... In 13 days we´ve walked approx 330kms and most of the people we met at the beginning of the walk are well behind us, which is a little sad. The quickier we walk means we bump into new groups of people, which has a toally different feel. Although there´s 2 young fit German guys we keep bumping into and I think they´re trying to race us...lol. As I say to Eduardo ´slowly but surely wins the race´.
Another guy we met at the beginning of the walk couldn´t believe how much ground we covered. He had to jump on a bus as his boots we´re hurting him. When I told him we walked all this way, he honestly thought I was kidding. That´s when I realised, damn, we´re firing ahead.
Tomorrow will be another massive walk, roughly 36kms in 28 degree heat. We´re planning on getting up around 5:30am to avoid the heat as there´s not much shade throughout this part (Meseta).
Our plan is to get to Leon in 4 days.Eduardo needs to complete the walk in 29 days (total) I´ve decided to hang in Leon until Gitta and Eric arrive, which should be a day or 2 after I arrive.
Burgos is a lovely city. The cathedral was absolutely stunning. I just can´t believe we had to pay 2.50 euros to go in, but hey, it was worth it.
The weather has been out of control. From the blazing sun to freezing winds and rainy conditions. It honestly felt at times it was about to snow. We´ve walked in them all! It´s crazy, but we´re having sooo much fun laughing like lunatics...lol. Walking an average of 7-10 hours a day, you need to entertain yourselves, so you end up playing different kinds of games just to pass the time. Man it's funny!
It´s been sad to have people from our group drop off one by one. At the same time, I´m grateful to have met and exchanged many memorable moments with these gorgeous souls. I can´t wait to upload my pics when I get home for you all to see the beauty of this place and people. Spain is different in Spring compared to to the Summer time. There's nothing like walking across a country, one truly experiences the essence of the culture. Beautiful!
I´ve taken to drinking vino tinto (red wine) every night (No, I'm not an alcho? lol). I'm enjoying the different types of wines from the different provinces.
Anyways my friends, I best be off as the bar closes shortly and I have to prepare our beds for the night in the corridor of the hostel (the owner is soooo lovely, another one of God's angels). I´ll write more when I get to Leon.
Take care, hope you're all well. Thinking of you and placing little stones along the way with good wishes for you all.
Lots of love and hugs
Sonia
Today Eduardo and I left Gitta and Eric in Bodarilla (or something like that) and we continued on to Fromista after 34kms of walking. We were greeted to the last 2 beds in the village. Thank the Lord...lol
This time we´re sleeping in the corridor, it´s the funniest thing to witness...lol There are people even sleeping under the breakfast table! Man this is what one calls an adventure..lol.. So far we´ve been rejected from 6 refugios due to overcrowding... Once we settled into the refugio we had a look around the village where Eduardo and I were fortunate enough not to pay to enter the church, talk about the Universe looking after us... Thank you God...lol
At the moment we´re making excellent ground, more that I thought... In 13 days we´ve walked approx 330kms and most of the people we met at the beginning of the walk are well behind us, which is a little sad. The quickier we walk means we bump into new groups of people, which has a toally different feel. Although there´s 2 young fit German guys we keep bumping into and I think they´re trying to race us...lol. As I say to Eduardo ´slowly but surely wins the race´.
Another guy we met at the beginning of the walk couldn´t believe how much ground we covered. He had to jump on a bus as his boots we´re hurting him. When I told him we walked all this way, he honestly thought I was kidding. That´s when I realised, damn, we´re firing ahead.
Tomorrow will be another massive walk, roughly 36kms in 28 degree heat. We´re planning on getting up around 5:30am to avoid the heat as there´s not much shade throughout this part (Meseta).
Our plan is to get to Leon in 4 days.Eduardo needs to complete the walk in 29 days (total) I´ve decided to hang in Leon until Gitta and Eric arrive, which should be a day or 2 after I arrive.
Burgos is a lovely city. The cathedral was absolutely stunning. I just can´t believe we had to pay 2.50 euros to go in, but hey, it was worth it.
The weather has been out of control. From the blazing sun to freezing winds and rainy conditions. It honestly felt at times it was about to snow. We´ve walked in them all! It´s crazy, but we´re having sooo much fun laughing like lunatics...lol. Walking an average of 7-10 hours a day, you need to entertain yourselves, so you end up playing different kinds of games just to pass the time. Man it's funny!
It´s been sad to have people from our group drop off one by one. At the same time, I´m grateful to have met and exchanged many memorable moments with these gorgeous souls. I can´t wait to upload my pics when I get home for you all to see the beauty of this place and people. Spain is different in Spring compared to to the Summer time. There's nothing like walking across a country, one truly experiences the essence of the culture. Beautiful!
I´ve taken to drinking vino tinto (red wine) every night (No, I'm not an alcho? lol). I'm enjoying the different types of wines from the different provinces.
Anyways my friends, I best be off as the bar closes shortly and I have to prepare our beds for the night in the corridor of the hostel (the owner is soooo lovely, another one of God's angels). I´ll write more when I get to Leon.
Take care, hope you're all well. Thinking of you and placing little stones along the way with good wishes for you all.
Lots of love and hugs
Sonia
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