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Yo
who is this guy?Hola, bonjour and hello!
I apologize for the lack of posts and updates over the past few weeks but I am glad to report that I have reached my destination of Santiago de Compostela and finished the long walk through southern France and northern Spain. I am now back in Geneva taking a little break before heading out on my next journey to liverpool for some help exchange work.
Now for the Camino... what to say? There is sooooo much to tell about it but i think that I can sum it up by saying that choosing to walk was the best decision I have made up to this point in my life. The whole experience has been everything you could imagine. Amazing, difficult, happy, beautiful, breathless, unbelievable, scary, fatiguing, social, lonely, all of it rapped up in a simple package of walking day to day with a backpack from town to town.
Now this is considered a religious pilgrimage of the christian faith but it is in no way mutually exclusive to religious people. there are many people who walk the way for sport, a challenge, bets, being social, nature or food. Everyone walks their own way
and it is one of the best things about the camino. Now you cannot escape the spiritual associations and religious history and no matter your beliefs it is an exceptional element of the camino.
(For information on the history and about the way http://www.caminodesantiago.me.uk/)
I can describe a single day as waking up around five or six in the morning, packing your bag quietly with no lights (as not to disturb others who sleep later) and heading out into the morning darkness. Walking as the sun rises with the smell of morning dew and cool crisp air blowing by. Taking a stop at a local bakery or pastry shop to grab a little grub for breakfast and lunch, check the book to see where I am going today, find the yellow arrow that marks the way and hit the road. The day then brings what it may with hills, streams, rivers, highways, dirt roads, trees, people... the works and after about 6 or 7 hours you arrive at your destination. Its then time to find albergue (pilgrim hostel) which is home for the night. I would check in with my pilgrim passport, get my stamp and find my
Monte do Gozo
This is the pilgrim monument in memory of the pops visit in 1993 on the last high point before descending into Santiago bunk. Then its time to unpack make the bed and find the showers. After you take a shower you get your clothes that you wore that day and find where you can do some hand washing. (with only two sets of cloths you have to make sure you get it washed for the next day). Hang your cloths out to dry and then its time to find dinner. A lot of the times the town that you stay in has a restaurant that has a pilgrim menu for 6 to 10 euro. It is usually really nice with 3 or 4 courses (a starter, main course, cheese dish, and desert!). Other times there is a kitchen in the hostel and you can cook something yourself (much cheaper, haha). Then you have a little time to socialize, write in a journal, read or just reflect on the days events. Then its lights out and time for sleep (on the camino some call it sleep and others call it sitting at the symphony of snoring haha). Then the alarm goes off and its time to do it all over again!
Now this simple process is varied each day due to the
The group in Santiago
These are some of the people that i had been traveling with the last week or so. completely different paths you take, the people around you and each new environment so there is no telling what is going to happen. After a while though you stop worrying about where you are going, how your getting there and what lies ahead and you just walk and you trust the camino. When you can do this then everything works out beautifully and many of my best experiences came from abandoning my itinerary and just walking.
Now you can imagine all of the experiences of cafe's, little restaurants, shops, markets, churches, local people, fountains, parks... and realize that as you walk you can just stop whenever you want and have a look around. Maybe eat some pastries on a park bench and watch the local people in the market or on their way to the shops. These are common past times of the pilgrim on the way. (actually one of my favorite!)
which brings me to another one of my favorite elements of the camino. FOOD! i mentioned the pilgrim menu that is offered in the towns and that was usually spectacular. Fresh salads, pastas, meat and cheese dish for starters. Fallowed by fish, pork, beef, chicken and
The cathedral
This cathedral is so big and spectacular it is hard to get good pictures of it with such a simple camera fresh vegetables and a rice or potatoes. Then either the cheese dish or a desert (ice cream, fruit, maybe cake or pie, yogurt... it's all there). One of my favorite deserts is the Torta de Santiago, which is a kinda of cake with powder sugar that is made in Galicia (home made of course). Oh and all the bread a red wine you can handle! (Wine after a long days walk never tasted so good, haha). The other thing that is great is that you can find fresh baked bread and pastries all day long. Everything is made from day to day and it is so good! You really can eat like royalty for so cheep on the camino, its great!
Now although one walks by themselves you are never really alone. The people you meet along the way become your instant family. Everyone is a pilgrim brother and sister and everyone looks after one another even if you have not met and cant speak the same language. So many times someone gets injured or sick or has a problem with blisters or muscle strains (myself included) and there is someone there to offer their supplies, knowledge or just
The Entry
This is an archway and stairs leading down to the cathedral square simple comfort and support, It really is a magical thing. It is a really beautiful thing all of the people you meet. I was so lucky to fall into the company that I did. I met and walked and ate and drank with such great people that I will always remember and hopefully be able to keep in contact with. So many people, from the ones you hang out with in the evenings and walk with to the random one chance meetings that help at just the right moment. It really is unbelievable the openness and love that is available from people. EVERYDAY! haha (this will be my one proclamation of the blog haha and I don't care what anyone says but PEOPLE ARE GOOD!)
I cant forget to mention that the scenery is just spectacular. Walking through some of the most beautiful areas France and Spain have to offer is something special. From dense forrest paths to open valleys, through grape vineyards and across wheat fields. Spreads of poppy fields and wild flowers, orchards and farm lands. Crossing the Pyrenees on foot and moving from one country to another is an unbelievable experience in itself. I tried to
inside the cathedral
during a mid day service with the hanging botafumerio (large incense burner) This is swung on special occasions across the cathedral and i actually got to see them do it at the pilgrim mass i went to. It was freaking awesome! haha take pictures of these sights but what turns up on the screen just cannot describe the complete view of what you see. The smell and temperature of the air, the light of the sun at certain times and the cloud cover all play important roles in the overall experience of the view and those are the elements that just cannot be captured by the camera. I wish i could show everyone exactly what I was seeing but for now the pictures will have to suffice. (maybe i can convince some of you to walk to camino yourself, haha)
After all of that it sounds great and I am still trying to digest all that I have been through over the last 35 days. I will say that all of it is so amazing because of the simplicity of the way but also because it is not easy, it definitely tests you mentally and physically. Some days the sun is just so hot and there is no shade for miles, or you have to walk up that steep incline and around every turn it just keeps going up and your legs burn for the flat ground and it just wont
waiting for the albergue to open
the pilgrim hostels usually open around 1p.m. come. Sometimes you don't have any water because you are between towns and there is nothing but fields and you are so thirsty and hungry. Then sometimes it is all of it in one package climbing that hill, going up and up, legs screaming, The midday sun melting your sole with no water for salvation and you are starving! HAHA! sounds like a great time right. Well it is... it is another great part of the camino because everyone else is feeling the same thing and there is no need for words everyone is focused and knows that we have to keep going and we will make it. When you finally do get to the top or find water or shade or something to eat it makes those little things sooooooooo amazing. That water never tasted so good or the shade felt so fresh and after a few minutes of that bliss you are ready to take on the world again and get right back out into it. This is probably the most important thing that I have taken away from the camino and it is the appreciation for the simple things that are available in life and how powerful
all the packs
everyone claims their spot in line with their pack while waiting for the albergue to open. they can be. It is kinda funny because the whole way when times get tough the same cliche sayings come to mind. "don't give up, just keep going", "its the simple things in life" "you can achieve anything you put your mind to" "live your dreams" etc. and so many times you dismiss those sayings as nonsense. Now I see those are some of the most important truths in life and should be given a little more value.
Ok well I think that I have rambled on enough in this blog and described as much as I can. Hopefully you have a general idea of what life is like day to day for a pilgrim on the way of St. James. Now its time for pictures!!! haha they are kinda in reverse order, so the first ones are of me in Santiago and then it goes backwards in time back to when I crossed over the Pyrenees but I think they still make sense, enjoy!
I love and miss everyone and hope that your minds are at peace, your hearts are strong and your lives well.
Brian
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steve
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YOUR AMAZING EXPERIENCE
Hey Brian........Just read your latest blog and viewed the beautiful photos. One can sense your joy and warmth with each and every word you write. Your soul is being enriched daily as you grow. Keep noticing the little things on your journey, for it's those aspects of life that most of us ignore. I believe The Universe is kindest to those who appreciate her supporting cast. Peace and love from Kansas City, Steve