El Camino

The Camino de Santiago was absolutely AMAZING!  I think I enjoyed it more than any other trip I have taken in Europe.  We walked from Orense after taking the night train all through Spain and we walked a little over 100 kilometers over 4 days, then spent one day in Santiago getting our certifications and such, the took the night train and then another train back to Alicante.  It was quite a trip but we had such a good time.  I was lucky and finished with only a hurting right ankle and a toenail that is about to fall off.  Others ended up with NASTY blisters covering their entire feet that they had to get sewn up.  I thank my wonderful Asics for getting me through it.  The group that went was an awesome group of friends of mine from Mizzou and Arizona, and I can't remember a moment that we weren't laughing throughout the whole trip, even when we had 5 km straight uphill.  All we ate during the day was bread, chorizo, cheese, and wine, then at night we got a hot meal.  Wine on the trail is a bit much and makes the hills more difficult, but more fun.  Almost all the water in Galicia is potable, so we drank from fountains along the way.  The first night, we slept in a gorgeous 12th century monastery and used the monks showers..the second through fourth nights we slept in Albergues, which are pilgrim shelters, and they were actually pretty nice.  My goal was to never get in a bad mood and I didn't the entire time..Even the 3rd day where we hiked 33 km with the final 5km uphill in the pouring rain.  Finally making it to Santiago de Compostela, seeing the cathedral, and going to the pilgrim's mass there was incredible.  The priest personally welcomed our group during the mass and Armando, our director that went with us (and who sang to wake us up every morning) was a lector during the service!  It was amazing.  I will try to post the video of Armando as well, but it may take forever.  The pictures will tell the rest of the story.  Enjoy!