Hola!! Sorry for the confusion. The last post was written this morning because we didn´t have internet last night and because I fell asleep about an hour after getting in.
And thanks for the advice we did stay on the highway all day.
So today was probably the most miserable weather yet. All day it snowed, maybe an inch an hour on top of the foot plus we had already. The plow trucks were coming regularly so that helped. We got to know the two drivers very well.
Most of the day we spent staring at the road with our heads hunched over from the intense wind. If we looked up for a moment our eyelashes would freeze. It was pretty hard core.
Early on we saw a car stuck in a snow bank and helped pushed them out. Lots of shouting and Justin almost getting run over a few times.
After about 4 hours and 13 km we got pretty sick of the whole thing. We had passed the two high points and were going down, but the weather seemed to be getting worse. So we gave up and decided to try and hitchhike if we saw any cars.
The first one we saw was a nice SUV with a warm looking fellow inside. We both stopped, thumbs out, and watched him drive smoothly by. Justin got a bit angry and hoped for him to get stuck in the snow.
Low and be hold, 15 minutes later we see him stuck in a snow bank looking a bit sheepish. We spent a while trying to help him with no success. Another young couple stopped to help as well, but still no luck. The young couple was very nice and drove us the last 9 km. Hooray!!
We also got a much better view of the scenery from the car than we would have staring at our feet in the snow.
Our alburgue is relatively warm with a kitchen. It´s still snowing here though, but not sticking as much. Hopefully tomorrow as we leave the mountain completely we will enter into rain instead of snow.
The bags between the socks worked well and my feet were drier. Justin liked his socks with flip flops and still refuses everyone´s advice for shoes. What can you do? I´m regularly checking him for blackened appendages.
The rest of our group from last night went farther today except for two young people who we are eating with.
Thanks for all the support, advice, questions, concerns. We will take the highway tomorrow most likely, and if we get too miserable we will hitchhike again. Our thoughts are we are doing this for fun, not for our free ticket into heaven, so it´s ok if we ¨cheat¨.
LOVE to all and warm dry hugs!!
My immediate future
14 years ago
4 comments:
Hola perigrinos -
A quick note before I go to bed, (in Carbondale). Hope the weather is better for you in the am! We are sending warm thoughts your way. Justin, I'm glad Aleza is checking your appendages regularly; but if you throw any more snowballs at her when she really doesn't want you to, you will have to answer to me on 12/15! (Just kidding.) Aleza, that was sweet to mention our phone call being the highlight of your evening. It was a highlight of ours too. Oh,one last comment; I agree that you should concentrate on your trek being enjoyable, so I think it's ok if you "cheat".
Abrazos a todos. Stay safe and warm! Love you mucho!
Mamacita
hola! sounds like your trek has taken a turn for the worse...weather wise. way to go, though, sticking through it. look at hitchhiking as another interesting way to meet some local people of spain! i'm not sure how easy it is for you guys to communicate, but it's probably fun either way :) just be safe...don't get in cars with suspicious looking people! however, i think it's a little safer in europe than it is in america. today is cold here and possible a little bit of snow later tonight. i'm hoping! i would much rather it be 32 and snowing than 34 and raining! i go back to school tomorrow for my last harrah (aka last week) and am swamped with finishing papers and projects! i have to give my 5 minute sign language performance in front of the whole class tomorrow! i'm nervous about it :( but i will survive! anyway, going to get some breakfast and i wish you the best of luck until the weather improves. stay warm and safe!! love, jess!
There is no such thing as cheating. Who knows where the 'authentic' paths are anymore - probably tarred to become a highway! I'm sure any medieval, mendicant pilgrim would have hopped onto the back of a horse, donkey or cart if struggling through the snow!
The problem with melting snow is that it becomes mud so do take care on the slippery-slurry paths. Combined with large droppings of cow-shit, you are in for a real treat!
You guys are my heroes! I am going to make your blog compulsory reading for anyone who wants to walk el camino in winter!
Stay safe, stay warm. From now on, all the albergues run by the Galician Xunta are only 3 euro so you can have another cafe-con-leche!
Do you have somewhere to stay in Santiago? If not, try Hostal Suso - right next to the Tourist office in Rua do Vilar (same little street as the Pilgrims Office).
Buen suerte,
Sil
Hey guys,
Want to teach an English class in Sarria?
English speaking pilgrims wanted in Sarria.
The “Instituto Secundaria” in Sarria are looking for English speaking pilgrims. The request is being made by the local English teacher at the school in Sarria. She realized that each day many English speakers walked by their school and that they may be able to help their students in their English studies.
The deal from the school is: An English speaking pilgrim speaks to a group of students for 30 minutes. The pilgrim then receive a “gift card” of 10 euro that can be used in the local bike shop or to get something to eat (I am sure at more places as well, but these two were mentioned in the report.
http://agalegainfo.crtvg.es/videos/?emi=5030&corte=2008-11-20&hora=20:26:22&canle=tvg1
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