Countdown to Santiago

Tonight the excitement is building as we are in Arca within 20kms of Santiago and a short day´s journey away. The last few days one could feel the buzz in the air. We have been joined on the Camino by people who have followed the Camino Norte across the nortern coast of Spain and the other Camino which comes across the centre of Spain (name escapes me). There are also what we affectionately call day-packers on the route now we are near the end. These are either locals who like to walk a short section of the Camino or members of organized tour groups who walk together for sections of the trail but with bus or van support. They are definitely more fashionably dressed and refreshed looking after a comfortable night´s sleep! Friends who made better time and have already arrived in Santiago are emailing me with details of the cathederal and the reunion of friends - it all adds to the thrill!

Friendships made on the Camino are close and supportive. The injured and limping pilgrims are helped along the way by new friends with extra bandages and kind words. Some people are nursing other wounds, suffering the loss of a family member or the break-up of a marriage. Others are walking to give thanks for surviving serious illness or to accompany a friend or family member who needed to walk the Camino. Then there are the athletic types -people who either walk or bike the Camino for a physical challenge. I have been amazed how many older pilgrims look much younger than their age. Yesterday I talked to two women from Austria who have spent two months on the Camino starting in France and covering about 1500 kms. They were both well over 65 and still friends - even after all that distance together in often less than ideal conditions.

Like many other pilgrims I am on the Camino alone but yet never lonely. Sometimes I have chosen solitude for part of a day but one can always enjoy the company of others. For the last few days I have spent my evenings with a group of German pilgrims who met each other on the Camino. Their English is excellent - reinforcing my personal commitment to master a second language this next year - maybe even a third! I believe it enriches your life to be able to understand and communicate well in another language. Also it is good for the brain which continues to need it´s own excercise to keep young. It will be hard to say goodbye to the Camino but I hope to keep many of my new friendships through the power of the internet!