I fly home in 10 days. I am running out of time.

I decided to cut down to the Camino Frances, to finish the last 100km from Sarria. It seems a bit backwards, because I’ve already walked this route and it’s not particularly beautiful and it is quite crowded, but I want to do it again. I feel a bit out of sync with my pilgrimage and finding some familiarity sounds nice to me.

A Canadian couple I met at the beginning of the Norte is also meeting me in Sarria. One of them is injured and needs to finish early. I feel excited to act as a sort of guide for them, suggesting albergues and restaurants and cathedrals to visit. I think I’ve been needing to do something for others for a while- I’ve been taking a lot for myself lately, which I feel strays from my idea of a true pilgrim.

“A tourist takes, a pilgrim gives thanks.”

Currently in León right now, and in an hour I’m going to take a bus to a village 24km away from Sarria- so I have my adventure lined up for the day. It feels weird to be taking buses, but I’m trying to just stay present and accept it as part of this journey.

I think that in ten days time I will feel ready to end this journey and return home.

barcelona

Back in Stuttgart. Running out of pictures to post here and not sure how many people are even reading this at this point, so here’s a picture of me with my Belgium waffle back in Brussels.

I’ve decided that I’m going to have to stick to the Norte and skip ahead a day or two in order to make it back to Santiago by the 16th.

Besides, I’m not ready to leave these beautiful sweeping views of the ocean just yet…

Barcelona – London – Chicago – Portland

Barcelona

Amsterdam

London

On my last full day in Santiago, in the garage of the five-star Parador Hotel where pilgrims wait in the open air for the butler to come take them to their free lunch in the Pilgrims’ Dining Room, I met Melide, a nineteen year-old woman who, when asked by a fellow pilgrim what language she speaks, said, “German, French, Spanish, English, some Italian.” Swiss.  Over lunch she had mentioned that she tried to do most of her walking alone, and she had some funny and some biting comments about what other people, especially men, had to say about about that preference.  But it was her eating that impressed me.  Not the eating of her lunch per se, but her attitude toward it.  Her age and her wanting to walk alone reminded me of one of our students and I mentioned that the student was a vegan and that she had had some logistical difficulties and cultural differences to deal with in order to eat well in Spain.  “I’m vegan also,” she said, to which I replied, “But you’ve just eaten those pork ribs and that soup with chorizo…” She looked right at me and gently said, “Yes, but this meal was a gift to all of us.  Had I not eaten what I was served, the food would have gone to waste and I may have insulted the people who prepared it.”  Maturity and wisdom sometimes comes in a young package.

Last day in Madrid, it’s a bittersweet day. I’m excited to get home but I love this country, I can’t imagine what it will be like to return home. Hunter and I had an absolutely perfect day today, adventuring through Madrid to see every park in the city! Viva España!