I finally got up the will to go through the pictures and post some online after being home for 5 days. Sometimes we just need some time to decompress after our relaxation. Not that I'm ready to reenter civilization or anything. Anyway, if anyone is interested, you can see some pictures at the following links:
http://usc.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2154943&l=e87f0&id=3401409
http://usc.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2154973&l=3c49b&id=3401409
http://usc.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2155026&l=15935&id=3401409
http://usc.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2155046&l=4867f&id=3401409
If anyone is interested in seeing more than this... That will probably require a private lesson, since I simply haven't the energy to do any more photo uploading for a while.
Sunday, July 29, 2007
Tuesday, July 24, 2007
Back Home
I was informed that my 10 day absence might have been worrisome to some of my more devoted followers, so I thought I would add a short post letting everyone know that I am safe and sound at home in America. Kate and I spent the last week and a half bumming around Santiago, punctuated most notably by several unfortunate run-ins with an old Spanish woman who was not at all happy about our freeloading. Thankfully, it never came to blows and we were able to escape on Monday relatively unscathed.
I literally just got out of the car and am practically falling asleep, so I'll post another reflective kind of entry sometime soon before I decide whether I'm going to continue posting on here in general or not. I guess it matters whether or not I'm doing anything marginally interesting.
I literally just got out of the car and am practically falling asleep, so I'll post another reflective kind of entry sometime soon before I decide whether I'm going to continue posting on here in general or not. I guess it matters whether or not I'm doing anything marginally interesting.
Saturday, July 14, 2007
The End of the World
We made it! We are currently sitting in an internet cafe in the beach town of Finisterre - traditionally known as the end of the world because it is the westernmost point in this region of Spain. We arrived in Santiago on the 9th, but I was too busy celebrating to find any internet. On the 11th we resumed our walk - intensely - and covered the last 90 kilometers in only 3 days, arriving here at the beach yesterday.
The walk was pretty rough - long days and lots of hills - but nothing we couldn't handle. It was also really, really hot, which is unusual for this region of Spain - the european equivalent of Seattle. Of course when we finally arrived in Finisterre the weather went back to normal and it has been cloudy and raining the whole time we have been here. This, we have learned, is the typical way of the Camino. And yes, we think of the Camino as an entity.
At the end of the experience we walked at least 854 kilometers, not including detours, backtracks, alternate routes, and strolls around town, in 41 days and entirely by foot. We spent an entire 24 hours in a single town only twice in this entire time. We ran (or walked) upon 3 different village fiestas and made lots of new friends. As soon as I am done here, we are walking the final 3 kilometers down to the lighthouse at the very tip of the peninsula, where we will set fire to our most disgusting clothing and celebrate with a bottle of Spanish champagne.
Since the weather is so unpleasant we are going to retreat to Santiago - by bus this time - and stay with one of our camino friends who is studying there until we are forced to return to the real world. It will be strange to travel by any means other than foot - and strange to travel a distance that took us 3 days to walk in only an hour or so. It will also be strange to: have clean clothes, take a real shower (possibly with an actual scrubbing device of some kind), and have to find real ways to entertain ourselves.
Now that we are at the end of our journey it is interesting to see the other pilgrims reflect on their caminos. It seems that they appear to be plit into two different groups - those who are in love with it and plan to do it again and those who have more of a "it was great, but never again" kind of attitude. Those in the latter group describe the camino as a very emotionally trying experience, whereas perhaps those in the first group just didn't experience that same challenge. Either way, Kate and I are solidly in the "plan to do it again" group. Kate is already making plans to walk from Paris next year, although she will have to overcome her aversion to rain.
The walk was pretty rough - long days and lots of hills - but nothing we couldn't handle. It was also really, really hot, which is unusual for this region of Spain - the european equivalent of Seattle. Of course when we finally arrived in Finisterre the weather went back to normal and it has been cloudy and raining the whole time we have been here. This, we have learned, is the typical way of the Camino. And yes, we think of the Camino as an entity.
At the end of the experience we walked at least 854 kilometers, not including detours, backtracks, alternate routes, and strolls around town, in 41 days and entirely by foot. We spent an entire 24 hours in a single town only twice in this entire time. We ran (or walked) upon 3 different village fiestas and made lots of new friends. As soon as I am done here, we are walking the final 3 kilometers down to the lighthouse at the very tip of the peninsula, where we will set fire to our most disgusting clothing and celebrate with a bottle of Spanish champagne.
Since the weather is so unpleasant we are going to retreat to Santiago - by bus this time - and stay with one of our camino friends who is studying there until we are forced to return to the real world. It will be strange to travel by any means other than foot - and strange to travel a distance that took us 3 days to walk in only an hour or so. It will also be strange to: have clean clothes, take a real shower (possibly with an actual scrubbing device of some kind), and have to find real ways to entertain ourselves.
Now that we are at the end of our journey it is interesting to see the other pilgrims reflect on their caminos. It seems that they appear to be plit into two different groups - those who are in love with it and plan to do it again and those who have more of a "it was great, but never again" kind of attitude. Those in the latter group describe the camino as a very emotionally trying experience, whereas perhaps those in the first group just didn't experience that same challenge. Either way, Kate and I are solidly in the "plan to do it again" group. Kate is already making plans to walk from Paris next year, although she will have to overcome her aversion to rain.
Friday, July 6, 2007
Hardcore
We are in Melide, a town about 50 kilometers outside of Santiago, for the night. To us it seems like a huge city - it even has a supermarket (possibly more than one) with an actual variety of foods, something truly rare on the camino - and we spent an hour or so earlier in a cool bar that played some really good music. Since we don't have any music of our own, we are suckers for music at bars and restaurants and will actually stay places far longer than we initially intended just because we want to hear the next song.
Today was a short day of walking - only about 16 km - because we really wanted to stop here in Melide for what is promised to be the best Galician octopus around. Unlike most Spanish food, Galician octopus is not breaded before it is fried. It also does not include any pork products. Nonetheless, we have been hearing about the amazingness of this particular octopus from this one particular restaurant for weeks and are determined to try it. This means, of course, that the octopus will be subpar, because that is usually the way things like this go. It should be fun anyway, especially since we were also promised that we would be served by a mutant family, although I suspect that part may have been an exaggeration.
We only have 3 more days of walking before we reach Santiago - meaning it will have taken us 38 days to walk the Camino, and that is with the equivalent of 3 or 4 rest days. After that it will be another 3 or 4 days to the beach city of Finisterre, where we are supposed to burn our nasty, pilgrim-smelling clothes in celebration.
Recently we have been joined by a new breed of pilgrim - the short-term, cop-out, just-doing-the-bare-minimum type of pilgrim. This is because it is only required that you walk the last 100 km into Santiago in order to receive the special certificate of completion. Apparently there are many, many, many people who choose this option, particularly younger people and those with children, or people who are just in it for the sport (like the cyclists - a particularly interesting breed). The refuges are generally packed - and since we entered Galicia they are all donativo, or run on donations (we have learned this also means that the showers are cold). The camino itself is also much more crowded, which is less of a problem for us since we never manage to leave at a functional hour (meaning pre-7 a.m.) time anyway, giving us some distance from the hordes.
It is a shame that this is the most touristy and crowded part of the camino, since it is also very beautiful. We have had some great (although hot) weather recently and the walk, although undulating, has been very pleasant. The benefit of the new pilgrims, though, is that we get to seem that much more hardcore. Before joining the newbies, a fairly decent percentage of the pilgrim population began in France (or at least in eastern Spain) and our trek was not at all unique or different. Now we get to boast to the small-timers (you can tell them - they walk like they are in pain, they don't know how to heal their blisters, and they don't smell nearly as ripe) about how we started in St. Jean when they innocently inquire. They are usually genuinely awed, and although it may be somewhat egotistical, it is genuinely cool for us.
It is still hard to accept that our journey is almost over, so much so that I must admit I have been trying to figure out how I could possibly fanangle a way to avoid returning to reality. So far it is proving elusive.
Today was a short day of walking - only about 16 km - because we really wanted to stop here in Melide for what is promised to be the best Galician octopus around. Unlike most Spanish food, Galician octopus is not breaded before it is fried. It also does not include any pork products. Nonetheless, we have been hearing about the amazingness of this particular octopus from this one particular restaurant for weeks and are determined to try it. This means, of course, that the octopus will be subpar, because that is usually the way things like this go. It should be fun anyway, especially since we were also promised that we would be served by a mutant family, although I suspect that part may have been an exaggeration.
We only have 3 more days of walking before we reach Santiago - meaning it will have taken us 38 days to walk the Camino, and that is with the equivalent of 3 or 4 rest days. After that it will be another 3 or 4 days to the beach city of Finisterre, where we are supposed to burn our nasty, pilgrim-smelling clothes in celebration.
Recently we have been joined by a new breed of pilgrim - the short-term, cop-out, just-doing-the-bare-minimum type of pilgrim. This is because it is only required that you walk the last 100 km into Santiago in order to receive the special certificate of completion. Apparently there are many, many, many people who choose this option, particularly younger people and those with children, or people who are just in it for the sport (like the cyclists - a particularly interesting breed). The refuges are generally packed - and since we entered Galicia they are all donativo, or run on donations (we have learned this also means that the showers are cold). The camino itself is also much more crowded, which is less of a problem for us since we never manage to leave at a functional hour (meaning pre-7 a.m.) time anyway, giving us some distance from the hordes.
It is a shame that this is the most touristy and crowded part of the camino, since it is also very beautiful. We have had some great (although hot) weather recently and the walk, although undulating, has been very pleasant. The benefit of the new pilgrims, though, is that we get to seem that much more hardcore. Before joining the newbies, a fairly decent percentage of the pilgrim population began in France (or at least in eastern Spain) and our trek was not at all unique or different. Now we get to boast to the small-timers (you can tell them - they walk like they are in pain, they don't know how to heal their blisters, and they don't smell nearly as ripe) about how we started in St. Jean when they innocently inquire. They are usually genuinely awed, and although it may be somewhat egotistical, it is genuinely cool for us.
It is still hard to accept that our journey is almost over, so much so that I must admit I have been trying to figure out how I could possibly fanangle a way to avoid returning to reality. So far it is proving elusive.
Tuesday, July 3, 2007
Too close
Sorry it's been so long since my last post - the internet has been eluding my grasp lately. This may have something to do with the fact that we have been taking it entirely too easy the past few days and usually roll into our destination city at around 8 or 9 - leaving little time for finding internet.
Today Kate and I arrived in the town of Sarria, which is in the Spanish region of Galicia, and are staying only 111.5 kilometers from Santiago! We are having a hard time believing how we can already be so close. I speak for both of us when I say that we are disappointed, but we have resolved not to dwell on the fact that we should be in Santiago - having covered approximately 770 kilometers (depending on who you talk to) - in a week or less!
The last time I wrote from the Spanish meseta - the agricultural plains. We spent quite a bit of time trudging through what was less that spectacular scenery, although I actually didn't realize how boring it was until a few days ago, when we climbed back into the mountains. The views have been gorgeous, which I suppose makes up for the fact that I have to climb a lot more hills. And don't let the fact that I am walking 800 km deceive you - I am NOT a fan of the hills.
Kate and I are spending our first night alone in many weeks - which is kind of a strange experience. We got really lazy and fell a day behind one group and yesterday another friend had to leave in order to make it back to his graduation in Liverpool by tomorrow. It turns out that it takes a lot more effort to entertain ourselves - hence the quest for internet.
We have been doing our best to savor the culinary delights Spain and Galicia have to offer. The night before last we had a wonderful Galician meal - a delicious Galician soup (the tastyness is surprising considering that the primary ingredients are potatoes and cabbage), a pot-roast type meat, and a almond-y cake - that was brought out to us on huge family style plates. Mmmm. Needless to say, I may be the first person ever to walk this far and end up gaining weight.
Today Kate and I arrived in the town of Sarria, which is in the Spanish region of Galicia, and are staying only 111.5 kilometers from Santiago! We are having a hard time believing how we can already be so close. I speak for both of us when I say that we are disappointed, but we have resolved not to dwell on the fact that we should be in Santiago - having covered approximately 770 kilometers (depending on who you talk to) - in a week or less!
The last time I wrote from the Spanish meseta - the agricultural plains. We spent quite a bit of time trudging through what was less that spectacular scenery, although I actually didn't realize how boring it was until a few days ago, when we climbed back into the mountains. The views have been gorgeous, which I suppose makes up for the fact that I have to climb a lot more hills. And don't let the fact that I am walking 800 km deceive you - I am NOT a fan of the hills.
Kate and I are spending our first night alone in many weeks - which is kind of a strange experience. We got really lazy and fell a day behind one group and yesterday another friend had to leave in order to make it back to his graduation in Liverpool by tomorrow. It turns out that it takes a lot more effort to entertain ourselves - hence the quest for internet.
We have been doing our best to savor the culinary delights Spain and Galicia have to offer. The night before last we had a wonderful Galician meal - a delicious Galician soup (the tastyness is surprising considering that the primary ingredients are potatoes and cabbage), a pot-roast type meat, and a almond-y cake - that was brought out to us on huge family style plates. Mmmm. Needless to say, I may be the first person ever to walk this far and end up gaining weight.
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