Camino de Santiago

Hola mis companeros. I wish you all could visit me this week because so far the weather has been GORGEOUS! Sunny and mid-60s all week with only a slight breeze (as opposed to the usual 40 degrees, "ciclona" (cyclone!) winds and RAIN), so I've been spending most of my free time outdoors soaking it all up. I even got some freckles today! (Perfect to celebrate St. Patrick's Day through my Irish heritage of transparent skin, no?)

My real story today is the adventure I am starting that is the Camino de Santiago, the medieval pilgrimage route through Spain to Compostela de Santiago, where the body of St. James (Santiago en Espanol) lies in the cathedral of the city (you can probs guess its name). As much as I would love to do the entire route del norte along the northern coast of Spain, it would take me over a month and I only have 4 days. THAT SAID, this weekend we (me, Sarah, and Linden) are partaking in a small piece of the Camino puzzle from Portugalete, in the port of the river that flows to Bilbao, to Laredo, a town about 80km away. That means we'll be walking about 50 miles over the span of 3 days! It sounds tough to me but I'm excited for the challenge, especially for the parts of the camino that trace along the northern beaches!

Funny story about getting out "pasaportes de peregrino", or our Pilgrim Passports, which allow us to stay in particular albergues (hostels) for free/donations. It started when we found out there was a little bar that hosted a "Friends of the Camino" center inside, but only on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 7-9pm. Kinda weird. Then we went to go find it, and of course it's in the shady neighborhood where, shall we say, "ladies of the night" enjoy spending their time. Awkward. Especially awkward because we couldn't actually find it at first until we asked someone for directions, and then they led us to a shady Elks-type bar literally filled with trophies, poker tables, and about 30 old men playing cards with a cigarette in one hand and a beer on the table. As it turns out, the "friends" of the Camino are really just 8 or so old men who volunteer their time explaining and guiding peregrinos about the Camino from the back room in their little bar. Surreal! So there we were, sitting at a poker player surrounded by old locals in a cloud of smoke and the guide was asking us about which routes we wanted, the albergues available, how long we were traveling, etc. It kind of felt like we were buying shady insurance under the table or something, like I said: surreal. We finally got our pasaportes and a guide book that actually describes the routes via a physical map (as opposed to the hand-drawn maps on the pasaportes or the generic "this is the Camino" map that shows the 10 or so different routes throughout all of Spain), so as of today I am finally not so worried about the route itself or finding places to sleep, but now it's the hiking that troubles me. I'm sure it will be tough at points (like the point in the route where we must climb 263m, one of the higher climbs along the entire Northern Camino), but the ocean views and great temps will probably sway any doubts I have about doing the Camino in general, and I can't wait to post some pictures of the true Spanish countryside! We've got our trail mix (haha it's actually relevant for our trail travels), our hiking shoes, our backpacks, I think we're prepared. Wish us luck!