I cannot tell you how excited I am to tell you all that we actually made it to Santiago.
3.5 weeks and 260.4 miles later... we walked down into the city at around 7 in the morning (just as the sun was peeking up), cheered on by Spaniards heading home after celebrating all night, to arrive at the cathedral we had been staring at for almost a month on every 5 cent euro coin we'd seen.
It was so cool to be in the midst of buildings with people passing us saying "Welcome to Santiago", "You're almost there!", etc. And then to arrive and see the cathedral was really a gratifying end to a long and arduous journey. We walked around the cathedral and then went and stood in line to receive our compostela. We went into the office and answered a few questions, then received a certificate with our names written in Latin (Danielem Josephum Barnes and Juliam Christinam Mazdra Barnes in case you don't know Latin) and it felt amazing. The city was a madhouse for the 25th with tens of thousands of people in town to celebrate so we went and dropped off our bags at the hotel and then went to stand in line for 4 hours to attend the pilgrims' mass. The church was packed, but the homily was very inspiring as the priest talked about taking the pilgrimage and applying the changes we had undergone in our day to day lives and how those lives are also a sort of pilgrimage.
The next day we decided to finish up our pilgrimage once the hoards of travellers had left the city so we could have a little more peace and quiet. We went and hugged the statue of Saint James that sits on the altar (you go up a staircase behind him and give him a bear hug from behind-very hard jewel encrusted cloak.. not warm and cozy as I had imagined) and knelt before his tomb underneath the altar. Both were very moving for us after working for so long just to get there and reading Rick Steve's guide to Santiago over and over.
We walked to the plaza and stepped on the seashell in the center to mark the official end of our journey.
We made it. :)
Julie- For me, it was an experience that I had thought about for a long time. We had been planning to take this trip almost since we first started dating 7 years ago. I had never been backpacking before except for one overnight trip that I took with our good friend Jason where I nearly hyperventilated on top of a hill, so I had no concept of how physically demanding it would be on me and how that would affect me mentally. It was definitely hard to get adjusted to, the first week I thought about hailing over a passing car every time I heard one coming and just calling it quits. I was in way over my head and didn't think I could hack it... but we just kept going. Eventually I got to the point where I stopped thinking about taking the easy way out and was confident enough that I could make it another 3 km before resting, or that I wouldn't die en route to the next town 10 km away. And then... after a couple of weeks, we got into a routine and I stopped fretting about having to wake up and do the same exact thing the next day, and, something that was even more shocking for me, I stopped caring about having to go uphill. I miraculously stopped whining. They didn't scare me anymore, and they were much less difficult than they were when we first started (it didn't help that our first day was the absolute WORST day of the hike), but I actually started to enjoy the uphills. Climbing up to O Cebreiro was my absolute favorite day of hiking-despite the rain and the huge uphills. The views from way high up are amazing and the adrenaline from going up made me feel so accomplished and strong. I now prefer ascending to descending.
It feels so strange that it's all over, that we're done, that we actually did it. You know the strange thing? I'd be willing to do it again.. only next time not during a holy year.
Dan - This truly was an experience. Arriving at the cathedral was not the most amazing part for me though. I loveed seeing the spires from far off, and stepping on the plaque signifying the end of the Camino, but there were two moments that really stuck out in my mind which should be blogged. One was recieving the compostela. They did not allow Julie and I to walk up together, so we each had a mini interview with a different person about the trip. My lady asked where I started, how the trip was, why I did it, etc. I filled out some brief paperwork and then she wrote on my compostela my name in latin (as Julie mentioned earlier). She handed it to me after reading aloud my name, handed back my pilgrim's credential, and showed me this line on it that I never noticed that said (more or less) "Camino completed on _____________." She had already stamped the date and placed the official stamp of the Pilgrim's office next to the date. When she handed me all of this and told me congratulations, I couldn't help but tear up a bit. And as broken as my Spanish is already, imagine how hard it was to communicate "thank you and have a great day." That was one of the two moments where I felt like I completed something.
The second came on the 26th, which was the night before we left. We gathered in the plaza outside the cathedral at 11:30 at night. From the 24th - 31st, they were running a music and light show literally on the front of the cathedral. We sat down amongst hundreds of people to see what was an amazing 20 minute show that highlighted the Camino, the religious aspects, and the province of Galicia. And to top it all off, there were fireworks at the end. This was a fitting replacement for the 4th of July we missed, but also felt like the actual close to the trip. The show was truly a celebration of all we had just acomplished and truly beautiful.
This camino is over, but one of the great points that the Priest made on the sermon on the 25th was that life is a camino. As long as I physically can, I will always keep walking and experiencing and sharing with those I love.
I don't think this will be our last post, but a necessary thanks goes out to all who followed this blog, commented, and cheered us on throughout this journey. We are greatful for your support.
Showing posts with label awesomeness. Show all posts
Showing posts with label awesomeness. Show all posts
Wednesday, July 28, 2010
Saturday, July 17, 2010
O Cebreiro, pts 1 & 2
"Bienvenidos a Galicia" was the phrase we kept saying to ourselves as we hiked up a giant mountain to get to the town of O Cebreiro. But more on that in a minute. For those of you who have been reading this blog and pay attention to writer´s voice, you may have noticed that most are in Julie´s. I wanted to note that I have not been ignoring the blog as for every update I have been sitting next to Julie helping her with my notes I´ve been writing about each day.
Yesterday had the hike to O Cebreiro, a quaint (really the only word to describe it mountain village. We would also be crossing into Spain´s most Western province, Galicia. We hiked up, up, and up on both highway and rocky switchbacks and finally made it to a small town. Because so many pilgrims stopped at this bar (at the top of the first hill to climb) we couldn´t get service. Rather, we just left. This is when Galcia´s famous weather showed up. For those of you who don´t know, Galicia is famous for having weather like Seattle. We became stuck in a giant cloud of drizzle and mist. This was not a hard, driving rain, but enough to make it damp all around and get everything wet. Upon arriving in O Cebreiro, we put our packs in the line in the albergue and waited for it to open by going to the tourist shops and eating in a bar. This town is famous for it´s local cheese (sheep cheese, I think) which is a soft, white cheese. We ordered a platter and it came with bread, strawberry marmalade, and the cheese drizzled with honey on top. It was heavenly. Julie also ordered a bowl of Gallego Soup to warm herself up.
The other cool things about this town included the church and the old homes. First, the homes: http://fotos0.mundofotos.net/2009/26_01_2009/mundo_imag1232994303/o-cebreiro-lugo-espana.jpg
These are olden time homes that no one lives in any more, but one of them has been turned into a makeshift museum where one of the locals just hangs out there to answer questions. We got to tour inside and see how suprisingly spacious it was and how cleverly it was built. Secondly, we got to see the church in town. The church is famous because apparently in the 12 century a man traveled in horrible snowy weather to reach the church. When he arrived, the priest did not belive him and wanted to turn him away. Then, the host turned into the body and blood of Christ on its own, staining the tabernacle, aka a legimitate miracle. The cup and tabernacle are on display there now. That night, however, was very exciting. We got to take place in a ceremony that was pretty cool, but that will have to wait. There is a line to use the computers now so later I will post the second half of this entry.
2nd Half: At 6pm that night, a special cross came through town and was to be placed in the church. It was the "Cross of the Youth," comissioned by Pope John Paul II in 1985 to travel the world. It has been to Europe, America, Asia, and so on. As we arrived in the church, the priest asked us all (full church) to step outside and join the processional of the cross and a portrait of Mary into the church. We followed it to the doorway, then all lit candles outside the Church to symbolize the light of God. Then, we followed the cross into the church. We then stayed for a special mass welcoming the cross. During the mass, I got to walk up and kneel before the cross and touch it. It was really cool. After the mass, we went to get a menu at a bar with roast chicken, which Spain does not have a lot of. This country runs on pork, and very little chicken. It was also delicious. Afterwards, we went back to the albergue, got our clothes, and woke up the next morning to a mountain top above the fog. Absolutely gorgeous. I´ll leave the rest up to Julie to type. What a great town O Cebreiro is.
Yesterday had the hike to O Cebreiro, a quaint (really the only word to describe it mountain village. We would also be crossing into Spain´s most Western province, Galicia. We hiked up, up, and up on both highway and rocky switchbacks and finally made it to a small town. Because so many pilgrims stopped at this bar (at the top of the first hill to climb) we couldn´t get service. Rather, we just left. This is when Galcia´s famous weather showed up. For those of you who don´t know, Galicia is famous for having weather like Seattle. We became stuck in a giant cloud of drizzle and mist. This was not a hard, driving rain, but enough to make it damp all around and get everything wet. Upon arriving in O Cebreiro, we put our packs in the line in the albergue and waited for it to open by going to the tourist shops and eating in a bar. This town is famous for it´s local cheese (sheep cheese, I think) which is a soft, white cheese. We ordered a platter and it came with bread, strawberry marmalade, and the cheese drizzled with honey on top. It was heavenly. Julie also ordered a bowl of Gallego Soup to warm herself up.
The other cool things about this town included the church and the old homes. First, the homes: http://fotos0.mundofotos.net/2009/26_01_2009/mundo_imag1232994303/o-cebreiro-lugo-espana.jpg
These are olden time homes that no one lives in any more, but one of them has been turned into a makeshift museum where one of the locals just hangs out there to answer questions. We got to tour inside and see how suprisingly spacious it was and how cleverly it was built. Secondly, we got to see the church in town. The church is famous because apparently in the 12 century a man traveled in horrible snowy weather to reach the church. When he arrived, the priest did not belive him and wanted to turn him away. Then, the host turned into the body and blood of Christ on its own, staining the tabernacle, aka a legimitate miracle. The cup and tabernacle are on display there now. That night, however, was very exciting. We got to take place in a ceremony that was pretty cool, but that will have to wait. There is a line to use the computers now so later I will post the second half of this entry.
2nd Half: At 6pm that night, a special cross came through town and was to be placed in the church. It was the "Cross of the Youth," comissioned by Pope John Paul II in 1985 to travel the world. It has been to Europe, America, Asia, and so on. As we arrived in the church, the priest asked us all (full church) to step outside and join the processional of the cross and a portrait of Mary into the church. We followed it to the doorway, then all lit candles outside the Church to symbolize the light of God. Then, we followed the cross into the church. We then stayed for a special mass welcoming the cross. During the mass, I got to walk up and kneel before the cross and touch it. It was really cool. After the mass, we went to get a menu at a bar with roast chicken, which Spain does not have a lot of. This country runs on pork, and very little chicken. It was also delicious. Afterwards, we went back to the albergue, got our clothes, and woke up the next morning to a mountain top above the fog. Absolutely gorgeous. I´ll leave the rest up to Julie to type. What a great town O Cebreiro is.
Friday, July 9, 2010
Villadangos del Paramo
Don´t forget to scroll down past this blog. Dan took it upon himself to update as well.. two for the price of one today!
Well, I had a lovely time resting in Burgos and Leon. They are beautiful cities with great cathedrals that we got to spend a nice long time exploring. We also had a television in Burgos so we got to see Spain beat the feared Germans in their first ever appearance in the final 4. Now they´re going onto the finals and we need to figure out a way to find a tv in whatever hostel we´re at because it´s going to be crazy.
By the way, did I mention that I take after my mother? Not only did I need a break after essentially camping for a lowly 6 days, but I did it for two days in a four star hotel. It was aweomse, and now I´m back to sweating it out for 4 euros a night with 20 something other stinky pilgrims.
It is incredibly hot here too... in some places it hit 40 degrees Celcius, which I think is something like 104 degrees Fahrenheit. No shade, no trees, just shrubs and grass. But, we skipped over a relatively boring chunk, at least.. that´s what Rick Steve´s said. And I have absolutely no regrets.
If we end early which is looking like a real possibility, then we might fly out to some other city in Europe and do a little sight-seeing while we´re here. We´re thinking London... that way all the Barnes´ will have visited it within a 6 month span. Also, they speak English there.. which sounds good right now, although I´m getting great practice in with my vosotros and subjunctive (in time to start teaching it 5 days after I get back).
But I have to tell you all about my favorite moment of our break in Burgos. It was so beautiful, so absolutely perfect, so wonderfully redemptive for all the pain going on in my left leg... I found a way to get actual milk here in Spain.
Holy cow! It was hard. They don´t have regular milk here, it´s all in cartons that are radiated so that they don´t have to be refrigerated. So it´s always warm and never has any flavor. Now, I know I´ve been bragging to some of you about how I´ve given up on actual dairy and replaced it with the wonderfulness of Trader Joe´s rice milk, but there is nothing that beats the feeling of a cold glass of milk straight from a vending machine where you literally have to buy a bottle and then hold it to the spout while milk comes out of the little plastic teat at 4 degrees Celcius. Awesomeness in a bottle for 1,10 euros.
So, other randomness while I have the time... Will someone please tell Laura that I had a dream about her? We were eating pizza rolls and I was telling her about how Dan woke me up the other night by randomly shooting his arm out and grabbing my shoulder (he thought I was a bag of golf clubs that was falling down...apparently) and when I went to reenact it I woke my own self up because I reached out to grab somebody and opened my eyes.
It´s really hard for me to be away from home for this long. Especially now that I have my own home and adult life. I miss all these little simple things of life, like going to the fridge and pushing my glass up against the lever and getting cold water. Simple things. My puppy. My very own bed. Taking a shower with conditioner.
I saw a quote that said "Que es peregrinar? Aprender a renunciar a casi todo." Roughly translated- What does it mean to do a pilgrimage? To learn to give up almost everything.
Including my grande chai creme soy milk frappuccinos from Starbucks. Oh how I miss thee.
Well, I had a lovely time resting in Burgos and Leon. They are beautiful cities with great cathedrals that we got to spend a nice long time exploring. We also had a television in Burgos so we got to see Spain beat the feared Germans in their first ever appearance in the final 4. Now they´re going onto the finals and we need to figure out a way to find a tv in whatever hostel we´re at because it´s going to be crazy.
By the way, did I mention that I take after my mother? Not only did I need a break after essentially camping for a lowly 6 days, but I did it for two days in a four star hotel. It was aweomse, and now I´m back to sweating it out for 4 euros a night with 20 something other stinky pilgrims.
It is incredibly hot here too... in some places it hit 40 degrees Celcius, which I think is something like 104 degrees Fahrenheit. No shade, no trees, just shrubs and grass. But, we skipped over a relatively boring chunk, at least.. that´s what Rick Steve´s said. And I have absolutely no regrets.
If we end early which is looking like a real possibility, then we might fly out to some other city in Europe and do a little sight-seeing while we´re here. We´re thinking London... that way all the Barnes´ will have visited it within a 6 month span. Also, they speak English there.. which sounds good right now, although I´m getting great practice in with my vosotros and subjunctive (in time to start teaching it 5 days after I get back).
But I have to tell you all about my favorite moment of our break in Burgos. It was so beautiful, so absolutely perfect, so wonderfully redemptive for all the pain going on in my left leg... I found a way to get actual milk here in Spain.
Holy cow! It was hard. They don´t have regular milk here, it´s all in cartons that are radiated so that they don´t have to be refrigerated. So it´s always warm and never has any flavor. Now, I know I´ve been bragging to some of you about how I´ve given up on actual dairy and replaced it with the wonderfulness of Trader Joe´s rice milk, but there is nothing that beats the feeling of a cold glass of milk straight from a vending machine where you literally have to buy a bottle and then hold it to the spout while milk comes out of the little plastic teat at 4 degrees Celcius. Awesomeness in a bottle for 1,10 euros.
So, other randomness while I have the time... Will someone please tell Laura that I had a dream about her? We were eating pizza rolls and I was telling her about how Dan woke me up the other night by randomly shooting his arm out and grabbing my shoulder (he thought I was a bag of golf clubs that was falling down...apparently) and when I went to reenact it I woke my own self up because I reached out to grab somebody and opened my eyes.
It´s really hard for me to be away from home for this long. Especially now that I have my own home and adult life. I miss all these little simple things of life, like going to the fridge and pushing my glass up against the lever and getting cold water. Simple things. My puppy. My very own bed. Taking a shower with conditioner.
I saw a quote that said "Que es peregrinar? Aprender a renunciar a casi todo." Roughly translated- What does it mean to do a pilgrimage? To learn to give up almost everything.
Including my grande chai creme soy milk frappuccinos from Starbucks. Oh how I miss thee.
Thursday, July 1, 2010
The first day
First off... Dan has arrived!
Secondly... I´m writing on an international keyboard and I have 16 minutes before my time runs out on the computer, so forgive me in advance if I make any typographical mistakes.
So. Dan´s first day in Spain started off a little rough. The metro workers have been on strike so the metro was shut down from the airport. Meaning, for the first time in my life I had to figure out how to use the bus system. It took us 2 hours to get back to the hotel, and then we napped like no tomorrow. We took the train the following day to Pamplona and happened to see random castles and mountains along the way. Once in Pamplona we met with our arranged taxi (a minivan that takes pilgrims to various points along the trail) and arrived in the beautiful and olden city of Saint Jean Pied-de-Port. I successfully had a complete conversation with an old Frenchman who didn´t speak English or Spanish (yea my year and a half of French!) and we stayed in a hostel for the night.
We set off this morning at 6:30. We knew in advance that today was going to be one of the most grueling days of the camino, but it was still surprising how much it kicked our butts. We crossed over the Pyrnees and have the sore backs to prove it. At one point we stopped for a break and looked out over the from our gorgeous vantage point. We both decided that we had never in our lives seen mountains like that before. The little villages below were shrouded in fog and we were hiking above the clouds. There was nothing but mountains and more mountains, but up where we were there were all these different herds of sheep and horses just wandering around without being fenced in. It was so cute because some of them wore cowbells and you could hear them from practically wherever you were. There were also a bunch of vultures circling as if they were waiting for one of us to drop, and we think someone did at one point. There was a helicopter that flew over us which we think was a Medevac taking someone off the trail, but from where we were on the trail it looked like it was headed straight towards us altitude-wise. Literally 90% of the hike was uphill, and then the last 10% was a crazy series of switchbacks going back down to about the height where we started. The last 10% was what killed our knees and feet though, and (although Dan is sore too) I´m rigid like Pinocchio because I´m so sore.
Tomorrow we´re not going to go the recommended distance because we have to kill time so we can arrive in Pamplona late enough to see the Running of the Bulls. We can only stay in each town one night and then we have to move on, so it´s a little bit of us playing the system, but also taking it easy after the truly hellacious day we had today.
So... we don´t know when the next time we´ll be able to update you all. Just know that for the next couple of days we´ll be taking it easy on relatively easy terrain so I´m not anticipating any problems. Tonight we´re sleeping in a refugio with around 100 other people and Dan and I are on the top bunks =(. Gotta head out, my time´s almost up. Love you all, and take care!
Secondly... I´m writing on an international keyboard and I have 16 minutes before my time runs out on the computer, so forgive me in advance if I make any typographical mistakes.
So. Dan´s first day in Spain started off a little rough. The metro workers have been on strike so the metro was shut down from the airport. Meaning, for the first time in my life I had to figure out how to use the bus system. It took us 2 hours to get back to the hotel, and then we napped like no tomorrow. We took the train the following day to Pamplona and happened to see random castles and mountains along the way. Once in Pamplona we met with our arranged taxi (a minivan that takes pilgrims to various points along the trail) and arrived in the beautiful and olden city of Saint Jean Pied-de-Port. I successfully had a complete conversation with an old Frenchman who didn´t speak English or Spanish (yea my year and a half of French!) and we stayed in a hostel for the night.
We set off this morning at 6:30. We knew in advance that today was going to be one of the most grueling days of the camino, but it was still surprising how much it kicked our butts. We crossed over the Pyrnees and have the sore backs to prove it. At one point we stopped for a break and looked out over the from our gorgeous vantage point. We both decided that we had never in our lives seen mountains like that before. The little villages below were shrouded in fog and we were hiking above the clouds. There was nothing but mountains and more mountains, but up where we were there were all these different herds of sheep and horses just wandering around without being fenced in. It was so cute because some of them wore cowbells and you could hear them from practically wherever you were. There were also a bunch of vultures circling as if they were waiting for one of us to drop, and we think someone did at one point. There was a helicopter that flew over us which we think was a Medevac taking someone off the trail, but from where we were on the trail it looked like it was headed straight towards us altitude-wise. Literally 90% of the hike was uphill, and then the last 10% was a crazy series of switchbacks going back down to about the height where we started. The last 10% was what killed our knees and feet though, and (although Dan is sore too) I´m rigid like Pinocchio because I´m so sore.
Tomorrow we´re not going to go the recommended distance because we have to kill time so we can arrive in Pamplona late enough to see the Running of the Bulls. We can only stay in each town one night and then we have to move on, so it´s a little bit of us playing the system, but also taking it easy after the truly hellacious day we had today.
So... we don´t know when the next time we´ll be able to update you all. Just know that for the next couple of days we´ll be taking it easy on relatively easy terrain so I´m not anticipating any problems. Tonight we´re sleeping in a refugio with around 100 other people and Dan and I are on the top bunks =(. Gotta head out, my time´s almost up. Love you all, and take care!
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