Día 1 en Tui(12 de Abril)
So the whole week before the Camino, I was really sick and had a fever. I wasn't actually supposed to walk the first two days because I didn't have any strength.
All the AFSers except for the ones who lived in Galicia had to take a train or plane to Vigo and I was happy it only took my host parents and I 40 minutes to go to Tui. Since we arrived earlier than everyone else, This girl from Montana and I decided to walk to Valença do Minho in Portugal which took us like half an hour. The problem was that I was already struggling to walk 30 minutes.
When we came back, we met up with AFSers that we haven't seen since September which made me pretty excited and happy. There were also some volunteers from Madrid, Extremadura, and Andalucia who walked with us. We were supposed to eat dinner at like 9:00, but we ended up finishing at like 12.
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| Celebrating someone's birthday! |
Día 2 Porriño a Redondela(13 de Abril)
We woke up at 8:30 to have breakfast and had to walk to Porriño before 2:00. (Around 14 km) If we arrived late we wouldn't get to eat lunch. We walked through forests, houses, and highways. It wasn't too bad because we got breaks in between. A car came with us in case any of us got injured or didn't have enough energy to walk. Since it was so hot (we were lucky because it usually rains everyday in Galicia), some guys went swimming in the river.
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Out of the whole Camino, the part after lunch was the worst. It was terrible because we walked on the highway with no scenery and after that it was a bunch of hills. Every one of us was super sore after the first day.
How the Camino Works
The Camino is structured and you simply have to follow the yellow arrows and seashells that are spray painted or attatched to the walls. It sounds easy but when you are talking with a bunch of people, sometimes you can forget where you are going!
http://peregrinossantiago.es/esp/
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On the last day I realised that these told us how many Kilometers were left until Santiago! (People pile a bunch of rocks on it for some reason...)At the beginning of the walk, they gave us Passports (Credenciales) which we have to get two stamps each day in order to qualify for the Certificate(Compostelana). You can get stamps from pretty much any hostel, cafe, or shop. |
Día 3 Pontevedra a Barro(14 de Abril)
The second day of walking is supposedly the toughest. My legs were sore during the morning but surprisingly didn't hurt in the afternoon. I was hungry the whole time because in Spain, they eat very little for breakfast.
A couple of people and I were the last to arrive, but it was fine because we still had lots of time to eat. After lunch was basically walking, talking, pictures, and more walking. While we were walking through the city of Pontevedra, we saw the Google Street View Car. Everyone who saw us probably thought we were crazy because somebody whipped out a huge American Flag in front of the car and starting screaming.
That night, we stayed in a hostel in Barro. The first 16 people who arrived got bunk beds and the rest slept on mattreses in a seperate room. Almost everyone was complaining because they only had 10 seconds of hot water to shower but I was lucky because I got a little more time. This was probably the dirtiest hostel we stayed in, but it doesn't matter because we still had fun and got to chat with the people who worked and stayed there.
Día 4 Padrón(15 de Abril)
We got lots of rest because we started woke up at around 9:30 and started walking at 10:00. The walking that day wasn't too bad because we only had 11 km. Just like everyday we would walk and talk until we arrived to our destination. At lunch they served a lot of food. I had to eat up because if I didn't, I wouldn't get any food until dinner.
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| From left to right: Turkey, Germany, Extremadura(Spain), Chicago, Quebec(Canada), Finland, Minnesota, New York, Massachusetts, California, Turkey, Thailand, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, Me, Chicago |
After lunch, I decided to walk a little bit faster because I didn't want to end up last. Well that plan didn't work too well because I ended up arriving at the hostel 2 hours later than other people. At first I was in the front, but I gradually ended up last because I stopped with a group of people and took a one hour water break. We then went up a church tower and rung the bells and one of them even carved their name on it. After, we took a second 1 hour break because we were really hungry and my host mom who drove the car with all the snacks didn't stop for us.
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| My best friend and I |
After dinner, we went to a Catedral where there was a huge spot light and made shadows. We went to bed quite early I expected us to stay up all night since it was the last night, but nobody did because we were all exhausted.
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| We attempted to spell AFS |
Día 5 Santiago de Compostela (16 de Abril)
The last day was a happy and sad day at the same time. Happy because we finished the Camino de Santiago and accomplished something special. But sad because we had to say goodbye to everyone after making friends and getting to know them. To start the day, we walked a couple of kilometers to eat breakfast. After breakfast we walked more and more. It was honestly very hard because it was scorching hot. There were other peregrinos who walked a lot faster than us. Either they are very good at walking or I am just out of shape. And again, I arrived last with some other people.
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Breakfast  |
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| For lunch we had churrasco and salad |
After lunch, we took our time because we were alreadly close to Santiago. It was more relaxed because we didn't really have to get there on time at a certain hour.
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| Antes de Salir! |
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| Our final day of walking |
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| So close but yet so far... |
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| Excuse my sexiness |
We took our final break, around 10 minutes before arriving. When we went inside the city of Santiago near the catedral, we started sprinting and screaming trying to avoid hitting anyone. People looked at us like if we were crazy. It was awesome because we still had energy to run after walking 116 km!
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| Hemos llegado a Santiago De Compostela!!! |
After taking tons of pictures and buying souvenirs, we went to a mass inside the Catedral. It was packed so most of us sat on the stairs. Four of the AFSers read a speech in front of everyobody about what we did in the Camino. So because it was Semana Santa, they had a special celebration in the Catedral called a "Botafumeiro". It is a huge enclosed jar full of incense that is tied on a rope that hangs from the top of the Catedral and swings back and forth. Traditionally, they did this because in the old days when the Peregrinos arrived, they would smell terrible after not showering for a long time.
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| Like everyone says, they kind of look like the Ku Klux Klan |
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| Ejercicio del Via Crucis |
