Leon Funerals. :-(

 Ok. So no one died. But we had to say our goodbyes to our Camino bobsled team and family. It felt like a funeral. Bea has a ticket back to Dublin on June 27th as she starts work in France  on the first of July. Originally we had 28 days to do this 30 day adventure. We thought we would make up the time by adding a few kilometers to everyday to get to Santiago on time. We eventually realized that I would be hard to do this as we are already walking a lot everyday. It could of been done, but we still would of bad to leave our Camino family behind. We decided a while ago that we would take a bus to skip ahead 2 days to arrive on time. At first we planned to do this once we got to Burgos, but once that day came, we didn't want to leave our friends, so we put it off to Leon. Well we finally got to Leon and the inevitable goodbye was staring us in the face. 

We had lunch with the bobsled team and as Bea mentioned, I think our split was meant to be. I don't mean it in a bad way at all. Our break allowed us to focus on our personal camino's purpose. The boys came to Spain for religious reasons. We came to Spain for friendship and adventure. The two weeks we travelled together were wonderful and full of amazing coversations, jokes, and experiences that made our Camino special. I love traveling because it opens your horizons to different takes on the world and how different people, cultures, and societies work through different challenges. The boys had a different view on many things from ours, but it opened up great debative coversations. It makes you grow and allows you to either strengthen or adjust your stance. I'm sitting in the cathedral of Santiago right now waiting for mass to start and find myself looking around for the catholic duo and Megan and Kaitlin. I hope I meet up with them again. 

We didn't get to meet up with that group again in Leon as their albergue had a 9:30pm curfew. We barely made it out by 10pm. Spain is made up of night owls. It seems like the party doesn't start till midnight most nights. 

The next day we wallowed in our hangovers. Bea, Luuk, Pauline, Anna, and I ate a slow breakfast, went to a supermarket slowly, and then slowly laid down on the grass to trade the alcohol in our systems for sunshine. Luuk finished his Camino in Leon. He had to go back home and he said it felt over. He woke up early this morning and stood at a busy traffic circle for 2 hours trying to hitchhike back to Holland. He was unsuccessful. Apparently Spain is not a hitchhiker friendly country. He ended up buying a train ticket to France where the crazy French are known for picking up hitchhikers often. We all laid in the park together and relished our last moments together.

Walk into the club like whatup.... We really miss Luuk

 The time finally came to say goodbye to Luuk. I am very unpridctable emotionally. Sometimes at very sad life moments I am cool as a cucumber, but then during Marely and Me, I unexpectedly bawl like a lost toddler. Surprisingly I fought back a tear hugging Luuk goodbye. He added so much to our Camino. He speaks English better than I do. He has learned a lot from English songs and American tv. He has so many funny phrases that he works into normal conversations. He feels completely comfortable taking time for himself to think for things on his own, in his words "becoming autistic" and then joining us later as his jovial self. He would always convince us to stay at the town he was going to, or drink a million 50cent glasses of wine. He is a great guy and became a very special part of our Camino. We promised to have a Camino reunion within the next 5 years.  Hardcore. 

The Germans

When we refer to the Germans, it refers to two wonderfully adorable and ridiculous girls, Anna and Pauline. They are going off to college in the Fall and are full of shenanigans. The more time we spent with them, the more we grew to appreciate their funny sense of humor and appreciation for schnapps. The girls were our party people. They were always up for fun. They also always shocked us. After our nights of partying with them, we always half expected to never see them again due to hangovers. But those girls know how to rally hardcore. On days we would expect them to get a bus, they would walk into town like champs. Other days we thought they were fine, but they would hop a bus to the next town. I think we said goodbye to them nearly a dozen times, but all of the sudden, we turn around and they are back! They were on our bus to Pontferrada, but got off much earlier than us. I once again fought back the tears in my eyes hugging them goodbye for good. I wish them all the best in their futures. I hope one day we will meet up again!

Moving into the Future

On the Camino, you grown to know your family. Your family consists of basically everyone that started at St. Jean on the same day. Even if you dont walk with them, you see them in the albergues, in town, or at dinner. We had to leave them behind to get to Santiago in time and were very nervous about it. We were jumping forward to a new family that started 2 days before us. It was scary. The bus ride was tragic. It gave us 2 hours to reflect and get sad. We got to Ponferrada and found our albergue. We bought food to make dinner at the albergue that night. We got in around 6:30pm and the kitchen was packed with at least 6 different groups making dinner. We grumpily and hungrily waited for it to clear. It didn't. We irrationally decided to go out to dinner and carry our food to the next town. It was such a good idea. We went to the restaurant Mencia. It changed my food life. They brought out plates of prosciutto and cheese, veggies, fried mushrooms, spaghetti, and pork. We were happy pilgrims. We decided at din that if we were still unhappy in 3 days we would go back in time, back to our old Camino family. 

More to come hopefully tonight!