After 30 hours of travel I've arrived in the French village of St. Jean Pied du Port. The reality of the adventure I am about to begin is setting in. The climb (in the shuttle) up the Pyrenees to St Jean made sure of that. To think I'm about to set out and walk over 500 miles is a daunting feeling, but with the encouragement I am getting from all of you gives me strength. Today, May 20th is a day to recover from the travel, to a tiny bit of housekeeping, repack and ship items I don't want to carry to Santiago de Compostela, my ultimate destination. This morning is absolutely beautiful, there was a bit of concern before arriving, the weather reports were not good, but we lucked out in that regard, tomorrow the first day of climbing there is 1300 feet of elevation to do. Good to get the tough stuff out of the way I guess, but there will be more of that I know. The plan is to only walk 13 km the first day to the village of Orrison. Oh, BTW, I want to mention this typing is being done on a French keyboard so there may be some typos, some keys such as the A, M, W and punctuation are in a different place, so I apologize in advance.
The alburgue (hostal) here has set the bar high, it is called L'sprit du Chemin (google it), I shared a room with 2 others. The other Pilgrims I met were from England, France, Belguim and a lady from Australia but originally from Brazil; We only pay 9 Euros for the room, the ambiance is what makes it unique, imagine waking up to and spending the evening listening to Geogorian Chant sung by females, it really sets a atmosphere. This morning when I came outside 2 pilgrims were setting off on horseback, I'd read that some do it this way but to see it on the first day was a gift. I want to post some photos but I don't have access for the computer and more importantly others are waiting for the computer.
In closing I want to thank a few people who helped me get here and begin this journey. Senora Anna Camacho, my Spanish la maestra, whose calmness and positive instruction helped me leanr the language, well learned somewhat, Samantha Pfeiffer, my pilates instructor who got me into great shape for my walk, Polo who I bounced my limited spanish skills off of, my neighbot Stacia, who btw is graduating from SDSU this weekend for getting me a camera so I can share this adventure. And most of all just friends and former coworkers who haved provided positive energy toward my goal of doing this, thank you all. So bye for today and Buen Camino.
You can view some photos at my Facebook page.
The alburgue (hostal) here has set the bar high, it is called L'sprit du Chemin (google it), I shared a room with 2 others. The other Pilgrims I met were from England, France, Belguim and a lady from Australia but originally from Brazil; We only pay 9 Euros for the room, the ambiance is what makes it unique, imagine waking up to and spending the evening listening to Geogorian Chant sung by females, it really sets a atmosphere. This morning when I came outside 2 pilgrims were setting off on horseback, I'd read that some do it this way but to see it on the first day was a gift. I want to post some photos but I don't have access for the computer and more importantly others are waiting for the computer.
In closing I want to thank a few people who helped me get here and begin this journey. Senora Anna Camacho, my Spanish la maestra, whose calmness and positive instruction helped me leanr the language, well learned somewhat, Samantha Pfeiffer, my pilates instructor who got me into great shape for my walk, Polo who I bounced my limited spanish skills off of, my neighbot Stacia, who btw is graduating from SDSU this weekend for getting me a camera so I can share this adventure. And most of all just friends and former coworkers who haved provided positive energy toward my goal of doing this, thank you all. So bye for today and Buen Camino.
You can view some photos at my Facebook page.
bravo barry the bull hud son....... via con dios....onward christian soldiers..... bon voyage.... bonne chance..... by the grace of the infinite....and most importantly... ciao.....
ReplyDeletewhy don't u make a commitment to a charity and see if there is any interest to raising funds for every mile u walk?