Soooo. After 3 weeks of warm showers and cozy beds, we finally reached the point on the trip where the pilgrims outnumber the cows in the towns and the floor becomes the next best place to sleep.

Fortunatly we have also entered the most beautiful part of the Camino- Galicia. Contrary to my mom´s advice, I decided not to approach people in this province and tell them that their language is simply ¨poorly spoken Portuguese.¨

On our way through the mountains, we had the tempting opportunity to stay at a rather famous albergue- unfortunately by ¨famous¨ albergue I mean a hut in the woods run by a completely crazy man who left his ¨comfortable middle-class life in Madrid to open a refuge for pilgrims because he is a knight sent by God.¨ Other interesting facts about Tomas include: he enjoys speaking about his past life; he has about 12 former pilgrims, who haven´t showered for as long as they´ve moved in, living with him; some of the aforementioned former pilgrims like to walk around carrying axes.

Nathaniel and I made a last minute decision to walk another 7 km to the next town rather than staying to hear about Tomas´past life- which much to our pleasure did not resemble the little hostel on top of the mountain (aka the setting for any horror film you have ever seen.)

Actually, it was probably not quite as bad as our imaginations led us to believe on the 7 km we hiked past his little hut- but we came to the conclusion that the stories we had created would provide more entertainment than actually having stayed there.

A few days later, we would have the pleasure of sleeping in a tent kindly set up by the army for the overflow of pilgrims. For some reason, it seemed like sleeping in a tent was not all-together a bad idea- we were wrong. I´m not sure if it was the cold, the rain, or the thousands of 15 year olds running around screaming that made that night particularly memorable, but we survived and here we are.

Walking for the last couple of days has been absolutely mind blowing. I had to purchase a winter hat and gloves to keep from freezing, but everything down to the cold weather and uncomfortable sleeping has been worth it. The views are amazing and the walks through the woods offer a sort of pleasure that leads one to imagine what life would be like if it was transformed into a Harry-Potter-like fairy tale.

¡In two days we will be arriving in Santiago! I think I´m just about ready to get there, especially now that the school field trips and families have begun their 5 day trips along the Camino. We are now left with only a handful of pilgrims who started their journeys as long ago as we have- instead the vast majority of people began walking only a few days ago.

On a final note- I don´t think I´ve written since before we were in Leon, and thus have not had the chance to say that, while the walk between Burgos and Leon was long and 50 degrees warmer than would have comfortable, Leon is a beautiful city filled with outdoor markets and friendly people. Other than accidently entering what we have concluded was a porn internet store, I have nothing but good things to say about the city. We ran into Robert, who we met at the begining of the journey, which was a great surprise. Unfortunately Zach ended his trip in Leon, which means he did not get to walk with us for the last couple of days which, as a I mentioned, have been amazing.

The timer on this computer is counting down, so that´s all for now. Hope all is well with everyone.

Peregrino soy
a santiago voy