Santiago de compastela

After 35 days, 780 km, and loads of unforgettable experiences, I made it. At the 08/08/2008 08:08:08 I arrived to the cathedral of Santiago de compastela. First thing I did was to take of my back pack, lose my walking sticks and just sit down in front of the cathedral, stare at this magnificent building and with the sound of seagulls in the back, think of all the people I met on the way. Allen, Tessa, Dago, Julia, Juana, Pedro, Pietro, Ruth, Ellissa, James, Robert, Stefan, Niko, Nadia, Lucas, Michel, Jan Klod, Bo, Gabi, Aguast, Amil, Pablo, and lots and lots more wonderful people.
I could not stop thinking of what now? what am I going to do next? How will I manage going back to normal life.
I did the Camino to take a break from life. But now it seems that life is taking a break from the Camino...

5/8 (part 2)
After I saw I was too long on the internet I started walking to San Xulian. The road was empty. No Tourists. It was just wonderful walking under arches of trees. The first two places where full. But the third one in Casanuva had just one place waiting for me :) The village had nothing but two houses and the alburgue. A car came and took us to a nearby village to have lunch. At evening, Robert convinced me to use the washing machine for the first time on the camino. Had a nice chat with a couple of Italians about Berluscony. Italy sounds very similar to Israel :). When I went to sleep I found out I know every one in the room. That was nice.

6/8
It was fogy again when I started walking. I had a bruise in the back of my left foot, exactly where mt boot ends. It raind a bit. (To be continued...)

New pics!

Palas do ray

1/8 I decided to take the harder road from Villafranca. It was a very hard straight up climb (500 m) but when you get to the top the view is breathtaking (which is bad since I was breathing hardly when I got to the top). Most of the way to the top was flat along the mountain. I went to a small village near the road to have a coffee. They´ve opened up the bar especially for me :). The way down was also pretty steep, and that was the first time my knees began to hurt. Went with a nice Sweden guy that started walking from home 10 weeks ago. The rest of the way was pretty annoying. I walked inside a valley near a highway going from village to village (peaceful ones, but I didn´t like them). Most of these places don´t have a market, so instead they have small bread/vegetable/dairy trucks driving around and selling them what they need. I followed a bread truck for a while until I got to the last uphill of the day. It was hard but I made it to La Faba, A nice quiet village between the mountains. This was the hardest day yet. Not physically, but mentally. I missed home so much. I´ve noticed it´s Friday, and everybody is probably having dinner right now. I decided I want to cook to lift my mood up so I made a "Shakshooka". Had it and a soup with P&P (who really liked the Shakshooka). I hope I´ll feel better tomorrow. 2/8 Had a nice breakfast the hosts made, and started climbing the big mountain chain marking the border to the final county of the Camino, Galecia. The view was absolutely stunning. It got prettier each step I took. Did most of the way down and got to Traicastella. Hundreds of people appeared on the way, most of them send their backpacks ahead and walk only with food and water. They all walk in huge groups and make a lot of noise. But the worst part is they take most of the places in the albergue. 2 out of 4 places were full when I got there (and it was quite early). Luckily there was a place in a privet albergue. I met Robert and his dad Stefan (nice German people) and we made dinner (potatoes, cheese omelet, salad and Chuchky from a jar). Just before we went to bed, the host made a strange drink called (something that starts with a Q) typical to Galicia. I had a peel of lemon and orange, coffee beans and loads of alcohol. Then he turned off the light and led the thing on fire. He cooked it for half an hour, while mixing it a mumbling something in Spanish. For all I know, he could have been casting a spell. I had a drink of it. I can only say it tastes like it looks... 3/8 Woke up and made breakfast with Robert and his dad (fruit salad and some cereals). Started walking towards Calbor. For once, the shorter way is the nicer one :). I was walking in a cloud until I got to the top of a small mountain. You could see the whole cloud from above. It looked like an ocean. When I reached Calbor at 11 am there were already 10 people waiting for the alburgue to open! It's ridiculous! A few dozen kilometers ago no one would have thought of stopping at 11. You can still do at least 10 more km and reach before the albergue opens. Went on to Borbadelo and went straight to the privet albergue. It was empty, but it got full not long after. Got to get up tomorrow to get early. Had a nice dinner in a restaurant downstairs. They had a great cheesecake. 4/8 started walking with an Austrian hospitalero named Johannes. Apparently there´s a small group who is doing only a part of the Camino till they reach the albergue where they´ll stay and train to be a hospitaler. Johannes told me that, if I have problems with a place to stay, they´ll organize something for me in their place (about 7 km more than my plan). Got to Gunzar, and met there lots of people that got lost during the "tourist" waves (Ruth, Robert, Stefan, Elissa, Johana and Julia). There wasn´t enough place for all of them in the albergue, but we managed somehow. We all mound about how crowded it got, but decided it will not ruin our Camino. 5/8 Started walking in the fog. Got to Johannes alburgue just to say hi and went on. Hope I´ll have a place today in San Xillan. If not there are 2 more places just 1.5 km one from the other. Worst case, I´ll sleep in a grave yard like Julia and Juahna did last night :) Walked 715 km, only 65 km to go... Buen Camino!
new < />

new Pics!