EUROPE

I will be in Santiago early morning tomorrow. I am just 5km away. I have experienced blisters in the strangest places of my feet. I even had tendonitis for a few days but nothing major otherwise. My hair had its own experience along The Camino. I had cut it two times myself and the second time I used my nail scissors. I would have shaved it all if not for my high school reunion in July. Lucky hair! I did not want to make my reunion entrance singing “Harry Krishna” even if that would have made me so special! LOL About the Camino, people say that it is like our life. It has peaks and lows and flat zones. It can be hard or easy – or boring at times. It can be good, exciting or disappointing.  We meet people, make friends, part ways. It has moments of loneliness and others of sharing time with people. Now I am close to the final trek of this great experience but I might go further with it… to “the end of Terra” or Finisterre. That will add three days to my trip here. See you all later. With love, mihaela

It might be interesting to know that there is a 4 year 6 month old girl that walks with her father. They are from France and he has done the Camino four times. She also did it once already but then she was carried by the father since she was just a baby back then. She is skinny and has tiny little legs. She asks people about their blisters and likes to show hers. Also there is a German woman that was a pharmacist and was dreaming for a while to do this walk and could not find time. Now she is about 70 years old and walks slow and her back pack is too heavy for her and it pulls her back. She is short, slim and frail but she always makes it to the next town and next refugio. Her sleeping bag hangs in front of her and at every step she hits it with her legs. The Danish man that pulls a heavy duty cart has walked over 2,000 km by now. He started this on the 22nd of March and had 103 kg to carry. Now he weights only 77 kg. He had two fingers broken after his first two weeks but kept on. The Austrian retired couple is waking faster than other young people. They exercise at home and walk there as well. They are amazing. The Canadian girl I was walking with has tendonitis and had to go to the doctor and stay two days in the same refugio, so she is one day behind now. Another German girl is with her, having the same problem but worse, it seems. Now I have walked for the past two days with another Canadian woman. They are good sports and usually speak French as well, plus a bit of Spanish. It is just a pity that we both keep talking too much. Yet, the road is kind of boring since all we see now are grain fields. It is also so hot. I think we will have rain tomorrow. I did not see rain from my first day, crossing the Pyrenees. Yesterday we stayed in the most beautiful refugio (Albergue) so far. It was privately owned and had great grass and flowers and a swimming pool. They served a Pelegrino menu and were very efficient. I also had one night in a Parochial refugio and it was wonderful. They were so attentive to our needs and had an OK garden. Also they cooked for all of us. They got us to sing the Camino song and had a prayer session after dinner. The only minus was that we had to sleep on mattresses on the floor and they were more like sport mattresses. The floor was made of a nice wood. It was OK. When you walk this much and you’re tired, you surely sleep. I get to hear less and less of the snoring and farting concerto lately. I might be part of the concert now as well, so… no more complaints. Well… I did write a lot… Hope you get now the feeling of the Camino. Love, Miha  

Departure was better than planned, since I had no problem driving to and into NY. My flight out of there had such a delay that I missed my connection from Casablanca to Toulouse. As a result I got to spend a day in that city and the hotel was by the water. So… I got to see a bit of Morocco as well. Today I visited Lourdes and I recommend it to all of you. It is in the mountains and the view is wonderful. Unfortunately I only had a few hours there. I would love to get back someday. Now I am in a Refugio in my first city preparing for my Camino. It is good. They even have hot water and free internet. Hope all the rest of them will be at least as good. This is France still… no clue what to expect in Spain. Long day tomorrow. I have 27km through the mountains. Wonderful mountains and cities but I still carry 15 to 16 Kg even after I mailed ahead 5-6 kg today. Wish me luck. Love you all, Miha The above I could not send when I wrote. Now I am on my 5th day along the Camino. I have walked over 100 km but it has become too hot already in Spain so everybody wakes up early (6-7am) and starts to walk. I am usually the last leaving the room (not the hostel though) but I always catch up with them along the way. The back pack is not the best one and it is heavy. The road is up and down the mountains and now it has become hot in the mountains as well but the flowers are beautiful and the experience is great. I meet a lot of new people and not many deserve to wear white coats. Only one I see carrying a stick in the shape of a cross and trying to look like Christ. Most of the people that are on the road with me are either French or Spanish but I also know a few Germans, three Canadians, one American, and a few Netherlanders. Yesterday was the funniest day so far and we (a Canadian girl, a Belgian, and I) laughed until we hurt. I had blisters and muscular pain on the 2nd and the 3rd day but all is fine again. Most of the people do get that, even wearing good shoes. The road is steep and going down the mountain gave me the blisters. I have limited time on the net again so this was just a short update. No time for spell-check. Sorry. Love you all, Miha P.S. The refugios are OK for the 5-7 euro we pay. We got hot water everywhere but the internet is on a machine that cuts you off after 16 min. The beds are always bunk-beds (how is this spelled?) and the snoring is a true symphony of all the imaginable instruments around the earth.

HI EVERYONE! I am just trying to apologize for not writing lately and for the time that will come that I might be even shorter on my e-mails. I also want to let you all know that I am on my way to Spain for my 750-800 km walk. I will try, at least,to keep you all updated with the evolution of my trip, as some of you asked me to. As most of you know by now, I am going on my vacation to Spain for the pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela. There are different routes that take you there but the most popular and the one I chose is the Camino Frances and it starts in France, crosses the Pyrenees and goes inland crossing Northern Spain to Santiago de Compostela. I just ended my last working flight of the month in Norfolk, VA today. The plan is that tomorrow I will rent a car and drive from here to NY. Out of JFK I will fly Royal Air Maroc to Toulouse (changing planes in Casablanca). From Toulouse I will take the train to Lourdes and see the place. I might need to spend that night there as I might not catch the next train to St. Jean Pied de Port on the same day (or so it looks like from the raileurope.com site— wonderful invention, the Internet, since I can check all my schedules in advance here!). However… this is the plan but I will let you know later if the reality will be better or wonderful: thinking just positive! So… I will try to keep you posted but I might not have much access to the net on “my road to Santiago”. Love you all, Miha P.S. Please do not mind my spelling or repetitions since I will be tired and on the hurry and I will not double-check my writing. The idea is that I just let you know that I still exist and advance on the route.