some pictures

here are some pictures from our adventure… more to come hopefully soon…

the first part of our camino… we climbed the stairs.

our guide throughout our journey… we were seeing yellow arrows in our sleep… but they were definitely nice to have!

the holy year guy at the little fountain sitting/rest area.

another guide post.

the cows talking to us!

mom heading over the bridge out of Portomarin on day 2…

hiking with mom’s poles on the day it rained… hence the backpack cover!

with the Santiago sign just outside the city… but we were still like 2 hours from the cathedral!

our first official meal in santiago! olive oil chips, sangria, and fanta!

favorites list…

favorite lists from the trip thus far…

favorite Mass- not that the all arent beautiful
1) first friday Mass and adoration in arzua
2) pilgrims Mass in santiago
3) Mass in fatima- i mean its fatima!

favorite churches
1) cathedral in santiago
2) monestary in batalha portugal
3) cathedral in madrid

favorite hotel- pensions
1) casa do peregrino- santiago
2) pension blue bic- arca
3) pension rua- arzua

favorite meal
1) pasta with 3 sauces- santiago
2) lasagna- arzua
3) vegetable omlette- santiago

favorite new friends
1) german couple
2) brazilians
3) english couple

best transportation
1) the car- when we are not about to die
2) bus to lugo
3) walking!

favorite place to shop
1) santiago
2) fatima
3) portomarin

santiago and the pilgrims Mass…

havent updated in a couple days- sorry! so our experience in santiago was a little wet… ok so alot wet! the monday morning we woke up to rain- after a nice morning of sleeping in! and it pretty much rained the rest of the time we were there. we first went to hug st. james- a tradition upon arriving in santiago! then we went to the post office to retrieve our boxes we mailed ahead… both of which arrived no problem which was nice. after that we went to the pilgrims Mass- and it was quite the Mass!
we got there like 30 min early and had to wait in the pouring rain to get in- it wad so full we didnt get a seat! little did we know one of the heads of one of the political parties in spain was at the Mass… he even spoke during the homily- talk about no separation of church and state! and we got to see the censor- it was pretty cool- it almost hit the ceiling! we ran into oyr brazilian friends at Mass and they invited us to go to a local place for lunch- it was really good and lots of fun! after that we just did some shopping!
it was a good couple days minus the rain!
now we are in fatima- more to come on fatima and the trip here tomorrow! keep praying!

untold stories of the camino…

story 1: “the swedish ladies”
there were 2 ladies that we met on about the second day of walking who we saw all the time these past few days. one of them had flags on her backpack many of which were english speaking countries- so wr had to ask where they were from. turns out they were swedish and the one was just very well traveled! we saw them at all of our stops and had a few conversations with them- its always nice to see familiar faces along the way!

story 2: “the british couple”
last night at Mass in arca we ran into a couple from england- again heard the english and had to ask. they turned out to be really nice people who have been walking for 3 weeks and plan to arrive in santiago tomorrow for her 40th birthday. they invited us to have drinks wirh them last night and we had an awesome time! we saw them again today at mount gozo and plan to see them at the noon pilgrims Mass tomorrow.

story 3: “the cafe owner”
while we were having drinks with “the british couple” last night we were joined by the cafe owner who happened to have lived in england for 35 year- so she spoke very good english. she told us all about her life adventures and everything shes done- she was a very fascinating lady- its so cool to hear about peoples adventures!

story 4: “the crazy swedish lady”
yesterday we ran into a lady from sweden who had been walking since july! i think that is what made her crazy! she had nothing except the clothes on her back and a small grocery store bag of food. she was trying to talk to us in her broken spanglish- it was quite the experience. i have to say she was a very happy person though.

story 5: “the spanish slackpacking ladies”
on about the 3rd day there were 2 spanish ladies that of course werent carrying anything passed us amd offered mom pain medicine everyday since then we seem to see them multiple times a day and they always make sure we are ok. the humor in this story is they knew like absolutely no english haha. we saw them in the cathedral this evening and they were excited to see we made it and hugged us! they were such nice ladies!

i am sure there are many more- i will add them as we remember them!

adventure to santiago…

so we made it! we left this morning at about 730 from arca. i think it was the coldest morning we had! we went on our merry way for awhile and then somehow met up with a group of brazilians. they were very interesting people- they all had multiple degrees and have studied all over the world- it was really interesting to talk to them.
after meeting them we were on our own again until the first of the californians caught us. we talked to one of the women for a long time until they “had” to stop for lunch- she was very nice- cant say so much for some of the rest of the group!
we walked with her to the top of mount gozo or mount joy, where in the old days pilgrims got their first glimpse of the cathedral- it cannot be seen from there any longer too many trees and tall buildings. we sat there for awile and talked to the californians tour guide- turns out he grew up really close to allisons school. then we decided we needed to start our treck into santiago.
we started down the massive hill thinking we would make it to the cathedral in less than an hour- haha well almost 2 hours later there we were in the square. the longest part of the journey i think was walking through santiago to get to the cathedral! it also took us awhile to find the pilgrims office to get our compostela! but we eventually found it and only had to wait in line about half an hour which was great. then we are at a great cafe on the squareand drank sangria and people watched until Mass. it has been a great day!

we’re walking… and we’re there!

we made it! we are safely in santiago with compostela in hand! more about today in awhile… shower- food- and Mass first!

we´re walking… we´re almost there… and we´re walking

we made it to arca! we have come to realize just how not accurate the guide books are! it told us it was going to be at marker 20.5 but it ended up being about 17.5- the good thing about that is less tomorrow! because of not knowing exactly what we did because of the markers and the books being off we are not sure exactly how many miles we did today- but it had to be at least 11 or maybe even 12. mom has decided that she is going to write a book for other pilgrims with the right marker numbers!

we left at about 740 this morning… we were quickly caught by our german friends- we walked with them for about an hour or so i guess… we didnt really keep track. it is always nice to have people to talk to it makes the time go so much faster! there were quite  few ups and downs in the first half this morning… but we survived. we ended up stopping at a bar- cafe for a rest and the germans continued so we lost them.

after them we ran into the californians who were in a couple of separate groups. we talked to the last of the groups for awhile- they seemed tired again today- i´m telling you these hills are killers! they had to stop for lunch so we lost them too. then we met an irish woman. she was really nice she walked with us for awhile too and told us about volunteering in kenya and about ireland- it was pretty cool! she was moving faster than us too- so she eventually passed us too.

we got into arca at about 3. this is not a big pilgrim stopping place like all of the other places we have seen. we have seen some but nothing like the crowds in other places.

we are so excited to be in santiago tomorrow- God willing! we have 17.5 km or something like 10-11 miles to go! hopefully tomorrow will be easy!

off to Mass… hopefully will add more “forgotten stories” later!

forgotten stories…

as i walk- since we have been doing just a little of that i remember things that i forgot to write about…

story 1: the “sweater family” as we have named them… when we were at Mass in palas de rei there was a family that walked in- they were all dressed very nicely… guys with oxford shirts and sweaters around the shoulders or waist and women nice and all clean… we ran into them again later in one of the shops, i think they were spanish- we were debating who they were… locals, tourists, pilgrims, we couldn´t quite figure it out. well, yesterday on the walk from palas de rei to melide a large tour group on horses passed us and they were none other than the sweater family. they too, like the californians, are doing the camino “in style” no bags to carry, dressing very nicely, and on horseback! no sign of them again, but i would guess they are farther on since they are on horseback!

story 2: my pinky toes are both big blisters- on top, on the side, on the bottom, one big blister- end of story

story 3: if we hear poco a poco one more time we might hurt the person that says it! and if we hear 8 km from a town piccolo! piccolo! when it is still over an hour we might have to hurt that person too!

that is all i can think of for now, but i am sure there will be more to come!

and we´re walking… and we´re talking…

so we made it to arzua! it was quite the short walk today… only 8.8ish miles or 14 km, but don´t let that fool you it was not easy! many ups and downs into and out of river valleys! we saw some of the steepest inclines we have seen yet.

the morning started out not so great- as neither of us were feeling too well- i blame it on the french fries and fried jamon we ate last night… even though it was good! but once we started going we were fine. we left our hostal at about 750 this morning and were greeted by a large hill we had to climb. the first few hours were quite uneventful- except for the ups and downs. about an hour out of arzua we met a german couple who spoke very good english. and we walked the rest of the way into the town with them- it was great to speak english with other people! and we learned alot about them. they are one of the first people we have met who are here- or at least tell you they are here for the religious part of the pilgrimage. there seem to be not that many here because of the religious aspect of the pilgrimage- most seem to be here for the sport of the hike, but oh well.

so i walked with the german lady and mom walked with the german man and we learned alot about them and their families and it was really cool! when we got into town at about 1 we stopped at the first pension and they had room! we went to our room and there was a drying rack right outside the window! all of the clothes we washed are now dry! first time this has happened since we started walking! its great to have the heat of the day and an actual drying rack to use! we definately took advantage of this and washed anything and everything that needed washed- all 2 sets of clothes that we have that aren´t on our backs!

as we were walking around town we saw part of our californian friends- they looked exhausted… i guess the ups and downs took a toll on them too!

i don´t think we are as exhausted or sore as we have been the past few days, dunno if that is because we are used to it or just because we have done less walking- either way i´ll take it!

tomorrow the plan is to get to arca, its a little farther- like 16 km, but it won´t be our worst day! now off to dinner- there is a great looking place next door- then on for some shopping and Mass! maybe more to come if the wifi works later!

and we´re walking… and we´re alive… and we´re walking…

we made it to melide today!! we passed our half way point 55.5. we are now at 50! it was a much shorter walk today- we only went about 9ish miles or 15 km. we made it out of the pension this morning by714… our earliest start yet! we were out before sunrise in the damp and mist with all the other crazy pilgrims… the morning consited of mostly being passed by other pilgrims as we tried to make our way up and down the many hills… it was quite the day with hills! but it was so nice to be able to take our time and just walk instead of trying to rush to get the miles in so we would be sure to find a place to stay- like the past couple of nights… we stopped at about the halfway mark at a small cafe- bar- albergue called the two duchmen… we sat and watched the other pilgrims walk by and just relaxed. the rest of the day seemed much longer than it actually was… part of it was we were out in  the heat with no shade for most of it. we met up with our swedish and finish friends again today just before we stopped. they were trying to go another about 15 km- they´re nuts! so we talked to them for awhile…

it was quite easy to find a place in town to stay because we were in town by 130… we had a place we wanted to find… after asking 2 people we found a man who took us until we could see the hotel sign! he was wonderful! and the place had rooms that was also wonderful. it was awesome to have a shower before 600. and hopefully the clothes we washed will be dry so we wont have to hang them out on our bags like the last couple days!

after walking today we decided we needed to send some more stuff ahead to santiago to make our packs lighter- they are just too heavy. luckily we arrived in melide before 230 when all the post offices close! God is so good… he also helped us find the postoffice… we had seen it but we couldn´t remember where and so we set off pretty much having no clue- and it turns out it is right around the corner from our hotel… btw we are in hotel xaneiro ii… its nice, but the wifi doesn´t work… so it´s another internet cafe, but that means more on the blog!

we spent our afternoon- evening walking around town and just seeing whats around. we saw a funeral procession to the main church in town- it was quite different from ours… there were hundreds of people who walked through the streets praying the rosary with the priest it was beautiful to see!

while we were waiting for Mass we ran into an irish-english guy… he was born in ireland but lives in england… he was funny we talked to him for a long time… turns out he´s been walking what we do in 2 days in 1 day… he´s nuts too! it was great to be able to talk to another english speaker- and who doesn´t like irish accents? Mass was not as well attended as the past couple of days, but we are not in one of the huge pilgrim stops so that could be why.

we saw our 4 spaniards from the first day that we kept playing leap frog with… they have since decided to “slack pack” or send their bags ahead to their next stop so they don´t have to carry them… we have considered it, but would rather be able to say that we walked the whole thing with our packs! but we´ll see… God willing we will be able to finish with our packs.

tomorrow is another shorter day… the plan is to get to arzua which again is only like 16 or 18 km… it is nice to have sa couple days with some rest! keep the prayers coming! i think we are both a little less sore than we have been the past couple days! we´re praying for you!