What now...?!

Here I am just over a week later in my "normal" life. I already feel like another holiday! Luckily I do have another week off... ummm... next week(!)

What has 29 days of walking across Spain done to me? Well, I certainly have a few more friends who I hope to stay in touch with and modern technology is facilitating this so far. I lost three lbs in weight (the equivalent to a big poo I guess) and my feet are a little more calloused. My tan is slowly fading. I can speak a little more German and a very very small amount of Spanish.

I'm afraid after all that time to think I didn't come to any dramatic conclusions about life, the universe and everything (we all knew it was 42 anyway). I perhaps became a little more agnostic though. Ever since I decided to walk the Camino everything just fell nicely into place and worked for the good. Maybe this was a divine being or maybe this was an attitude somehow instilled in me which saw the good in every situation. Whatever the reason I certainly want to stick some of this in my post Camino life.

You might be wondering how I managed to get from South-West France to North-East Spain without getting lost. The answer is thousands of yellow arrows. In fact I feel a little strange that these are no longer my daily guide and am tempted to spray paint a few on my route to work. Following yellow arrows and listening to 'Over the Rainbow' on my phone a couple of times got me thinking of the Wizard of Oz. Just like Dorothy and her friends many pilgrims on the Camino are searching for something but don't always find it in the way they expect. I guess I didn't know exactly what I was seaching for but the character that most sprung to mind was the Lion who was looking for courage. Two years ago I started my first Nursing job in a Critical Care Unit (CCU) and had to deal with being inexperienced and lacking in knowledge compared to my collegues. My confidence definitely took a big hit and led struggles at work. Although I had gained more confidence by the time I left CCU just before the Camino, completing Camino has given me another real boost. Back in November I made up my mind to walk the Camino and five months later I got to Santiago and have the certificate to prove it. Although Camino has a unique atmosphere of open friendliness I was pleased to be able to converse with so many complete strangers who soon came to feel like family.

Finally I want to go back to some Grafitti on the wall in Jesus' house (Day 19) and the family and friend's I had before Camino.

My housemate actually quoted this to me when I was talking about "finding myself" before I left. This hits the nail on the head but I would switch the word 'place' for 'relationships' (if that isn't too cheesy!). Even before going on Camino I was really touched by the interest and support family and friends gave me (I was especially glad of some step-father, step-daughter bonding). Then whilst I was away I was overwhelmed by how many people followed the blog and all the lovely messages I received. I am super jammy with all the wonderful people I have in my life and after walking to Santiago I can see that now.

So what now? I would like to finsh with a quote from Scottish Neil (the Camino personified)...

'Don't stop walking'

I need more time...

...still digesting!!! I promise there will be one last post by the end of the week.

Home - Keeping the post Camino blues at bay

All good things must come to an end. So there I was in Santiago airport facing my last goodbye to Damien who I had spent the most time with over the last three weeks. His flight to Madrid was first and then I had few lonely hours bouying myself up with all my happy memories. My Camino love quickly drained from me as soon as I boarded my easyjet flight and had to try and block out the loud chatter of about a hundred Spanish school children.

There was a massive queue for passport control at Gatwick but I no longer had to rely on wifi so passed the time getting in touch with friends back home and checking in with some Camino friends. I then got to have  a 'Love Actually' moment coming out of arrivals and straight into the arms of my mum and sister!

On the drive home I chattered non-stop even though I knew I would have to repeat everything to my Step dad Ian when we got to Mum's. Ian had made a big banner welcoming me home (which I mamaged to take a few minutes to notice) and having walked the first part of the Camino last year we had plenty of experiences to compare.

I spent the next 24 hours being throughly spoilt. I dumped all my dirty washing in the utility room and by the next day it had magically become clean. Ian made a curry and opened a bottle of Rioja. I was able to see my brother who cycled down from Bristol. The next day was Mother's day so I had to share some limelight with my mum but I was allowed to do a presentation of my photos with only my brother falling asleep. I've had a big knot in my stomach today but a bit of family time has definitely stopped a big post Camino come down.

Stay tuned for one final post tomorrow once I get back to "normal" life and have a little more time to digest...

Day 31 - A trip to the end of the world

For a lot of Pilgrims Santiago is not the end, the coastal town of Finisterre (which means end of the world) is where you must finish (and for some not even that is a enough and they continue round to Muxia). Walking there from Santiago takes 3-4 days which I didn't have so for the first time in 29 days I was transported by a mode other than my feet (actually I must confess to using an escalator on one occasion). We caught the bus to Finnesterre where we were going to join Scottish Neil and the other guys we walked the first half of the Meseta with plus Neil's Camino family in Finnesterre that he had been raving about since we met him.

I had the siesta to end all siestas on the bus and missed a lot of interesting scenery. I awoke when we had nearly arrived and we were surrounded by striking rock formations and passed through quaint seaside towns. When we arrived there was Sonny again, much more relaxed now. We met Neil who introduced us to his Madrid mum, Ana, at her restaurant and I will come back to her later on. We had a tapas which consisted of a sausage on a skewer over a bowl of oil which she set alight.  You then rotated the skewer until the fire went out and then you had a nice little hot sausage.

Then we met more of Neils family at the Albergue where we checked in and were reunited with some friends. After a freshen up we headed back to Ana's restaurant where she single handedly cooked various dinners and served behind the bar for a constant stream of Pilgrims. Depite being all on her own she did not at any point seem the least bit flustered or overworked!
                                                           
We had a lie in the next day, breakfasted on homemade bread jam and Neil excitedly made me a cup of PG tips, my first tea of the Camino. By this point my legs were getting twitchy from the lack of walking so we walked to the light house where there is a stone with a zero mark marking the end of the walk to Finnesterre. This where traditionally Pilgrims go to burn things (often their boots). This was a beautiful walk in sunshine and I felt throughly spoilt by whatever force had given me this perfect end to my Camino. Todd and Damien burnt their socks whilst I scaled the rocks down to the sea with an Uruguian I'd just met. I think he may have been a little high which made for interesting reflective conversation whilst gazing out at the ocean. On the way back to the town I was treated to a lively rendition of the Uruguian national anthem.

Back to Ana's for a few Cervezas and tapas. This was followed by emotional goodbyes before getting on the bus back to Santiago so I could get my flight the next day. This trip really was the cherry on top of my Camino!

Day 30 - Arriving in Santiago

There was just 20 more kilometres to walk to Santiago Cathedral but we wanted to get there by noon for the Pilgrim mass. This meant a six o'clock start walking through woodland in the dark and rain guided by the light of Todd's head torch. We carried on and in true Camino style appropriate for the last day, we had to walk 10km on empty stomachs untill we reached a coffee stop. Once I'd been refreshed I started to get butterflies about walking the last 10k. The excitement of course led to some singing and I attempted to create a song in the style on Nat King Cole's L.O.V.E but with the letters S.A.N.T.I.A.G.O. Just before Santiago you reach the top of mount Gonzo and then begin the ascent into the city. I thought we would be able to see the Cathedral from here but no such luck with the weather still being so wet. Down the hill we went and just as we reached the Santiago sign on the outskirts of the city, the sun came out!  We had been warned that there was still a bit a walk after this sign so we took a few photos but kept our heads. On we walked and I was surprised there was still no sign of the Cathedral. We continued through urban sprawl for ages and only when we were about 500m away did the Cathedrals turrets start to appear and then they dissappeared again. I grabbed Todd's hand, Damien took mine and Neringas and the Christian and Barbara joined the chain. We began to hear bagpipes, walked past the bagpiper, through tunnel and emerged on the Plaza in front of the Cathedral. The family strode across hand in hand with little fanfare and then we broke into hugs, high fives, pats on the back and lots of photos. I think we could have stayed much longer absorbing the moment but it was 11.45 and we had a Mass to get to!

When we went into the Cathedral we were told no bags allowed and they needed checking in to an office. Where exactly this was located was unclear. Panic ensued as we ran around into places that said Pilgrim. Sonny (Korean lad) in particular had gone into overdrive running round and simply repeating the words "mass" and "bag" over and over. We found this office in the end and got to the Mass in time. It was a bit boring because everything was in Spanish (I should have known as much) but there was some beautiful singing from a Nun and closing my eyes to listen this was very serene.

I bumped into a few other Pilgrims I had met along the way. Sakeena was at the Mass, another Korean girl and of
Course Sonny. There was one person missing though... Ludger my Camino dad. He had already emailed me saying he had caught an earlier flight home because of work. I guess you can't have it all!

We went to get our Certificates with our new Latin names on them, all checked into a Hotel and then hit a Tapas bar (the best in Santiago according to Henry) to start the celebrations. We got them to make celebratory cocktails which I don't think they were used to doing. I ended up with a giant glass of Cinzano and Gin, the nearest they could get to a Gin Martini. The rest of the evening was spent having Cañas (small beer and a tapas surprise) finally ending up at a bar dancing to Paul Simon.

But like all good journeys that you don't want to end the only thing to do is carry on. Because I arrived two days ahead of schedule into Santiago that is exactly what I am going to do... I am off to the end of the world...

Day 29 - T'was the night before Santiago...

One more sleeeeep!!!

Really trying to calm myself down but during course of the day and especially this evening I have become very excited.

Today worked out really well. Unintentionally I ended up walking most of the day alone which gave me plenty of thinking time. I mentally relived every day of my Camino and thought of everything I was grateful for and there was a lot of things. Just when I had got up to the current day I met Neringa and we had some sunshine as we walked through a beautiful section of woodland.

Our Albergue is very ambient. There is piped music throughout and earlier they were playing 'Nothing else matters' by Metallica, Gregorian chant style

I've enjoyed talking to people about what they thought about today. The mood will perhaps be even more reflective tomorrow.

I'm really trying not to have too many expectations for my arrival in Santiago but whatever happens I already have an awesome journey in the bag!

Day 28 - Eight legs of deliciousness

Two more sleeps till Santiago so I'm very aware I need to get you up to speed. Today in brief...

Still very wet but with some sunny spells. I have become one with my boots and have zero blisters. Conversations continue to be surreal and interjected with singing. My highlight today was Damien singing 'Yesterday' and was surprised how much a Canadian accent made it sound like a song from Sesame Street.

In the evening we arrived in Melide and had the legendary Pulpo ( Octopus). It was indeed delicious and unlike anything else I have tried before.

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