Advertisement
Published: December 15th 2009
DSCN6361
Let the games begin!It was really hard to believe my summer study abroad finished so soon-not without one more hoorah filled with new towns, new sights, and a new experience all together.
I finished my finals on Friday, July 31st and the very next day flew from Granada to Madrid. That was THE WORST goodbye I have ever had. It was not easy boarding that plane-but knowing I had some special people on the other side of that flight helped me through.
I had an interesting flight to Madrid. In the middle of the trip I heard a sound similar to a lawnmower backfire-and the flight attendants all ran to the back of the plane. I am hear to tell the tale-meaning we DID land safely, however the heart rate was increased. When we did land, the whole cabin bursted out cheering and clapping--quite odd.
There is where I met Steph and Andy who took me back to a hotel where we were going to be storing our luggage and meet the 3 (turned out to be 2) other camino-ers-Odin and Christine.
We had just a little time to pack a change of clothes and the barest of necessities into our backpacks and catch
DSCN6385
Cathedral of Leon the train. We had a 4.5 hour ride to northern Spain-Leon.
A beautiful trip through mountainous green land. We made it safely, and it really did not take long to find our hostel for the night-with expert Andrew Beckstrom behind the map. Exhausted from the day of travel, we all mustered up energy to walk downtown and see the cathedral of Leon. It was a cute little town with their own style of architecture and energy. Bedtime came real early that night.
The next day-Sunday, was a crucial day of travel for the group. We boarded a bus that took us to Sarria. Sarria is where we would receive our "credentials," which signifies you are an official walker in the Camino de Santiago, usually obtained from a church. Easy enough....well not without a little adventure. From the bus, we took a taxi into the town of Sarria. This was not your typical taxi either-a mini-van, similar to the delivery truck in Toy Story with a driver that reminded me of my brother Joe. He put the lead in lead-foot. So here we are, piled into this "taxi" literally speeding around 90 degree turns in the rode without guard rails!! We
DSCN6402
credentials obtained! made it-tears rolling down our faces from laughter (kinda like a roller-coaster) The driver was not quite sure where to drop us off, so he pulled over to ask a precious little old man for directions. They conversed back and forth-pointing and shaking their fingers, and the conversation ended with them both nodding and the little man crawls into the passenger seat! We still to this day, are not sure if the little old man knew where he was taking us, or just wanted a ride up the steep hill for free....
After a little more wondering, we got our credentials and began the trek:
Day 1 Sarria--> Portomarin.
Day 2 Portomarin --> Melide
Day 3 Melide --> Arca
Day 4 Arca --> Santiago!
This experience was like nothing else I have ever done. Each day-our only objective was to walk. We over all lucked out with the weather (although it is hard not to in Spain-sunny and warm 100% of the time!)
Each town, each rest stop, each day was complete with different sights equally as beautiful as the last.
When we arrived in Santiago, we weaved through the town and ended at the massive Cathedral of Santiago!!!! What
DSCN6439
....only in Spain? a remarkable structure.
We received our last stamp on our credential card and relaxed, feeling accomplished and changed.
It was a wonderful way to end the summer of a lifetime.
Besos
Advertisement
Tot: 0.112s; Tpl: 0.013s; cc: 7; qc: 45; dbt: 0.0718s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.1mb
SJ
non-member comment
AHHHHH!
Sounds so nice sitting here looking at the snow..... the best part being the old man hopping in our car!