Yesterday and this morning I have been meeting almost everybody I have met along the way and now I am getting sad that I have to go home. I could easily use a few more weeks. A few more weeks of walking, a few more weeks of the camino-life which is so special. I already miss getting up in the morning putting on the boots and my backpack and just start walking, not knowing where my next bed is waiting.

The Camino life and the pilgrim fellowships is very special and it always touch me deep. The people I meet, the stories I hear, the experience I get every time. Every time I walk I get deeper and deeper into my self. I learn things about my self and others... and though I have been walking this camino in it's full lenght twice before it has been a very different journey.

Starting in Burgos was one thing that was quite different. I felt the pilgrims I met already knew each other well... I felt I was already missing a part of the journey... I would love to have had more time... so I could have done the whole thing... but 500km is also something.

The day I arrived in Finisterre by bus, the famous writer Stephen Hawkins also arrived in his wheel chair. As I have not followed the news I was told that he had done the Santiago - Finisterre in his wheel chair (but I am not certain). 

Tomorrow I will be back behind my desk at work... the daily routines are waiting...  - There will probably in the next few days be a follow-up when everything has started to settle in my body and mind.

I only wish I had more time...

Thursday morning I went by bus to Finisterre... where I shared a hotelroom with Lise.  I already knew that it would be inpossible to sleep at the albergue since I didn't walk there...

As the tradiotion says... I burned some of my clothing...  I went "swimming" in the atlantic ocean, which was freezing cold, so it only lasted for a few minutes... and finally I went up to the old lighthouse with Lise who had also arrived to Finisterre to see the amazing sunset...

Yesterday I was picked up at Finisterre by Judith and her husband, and they took me to their home just outside Muxia...  but first we had a good tapas meal of seafood....  pulpo galego, nevajas, calimares...  Uhhmmm....   Again I went swimming in the atlantic ocean, this time with judith and this time for 10 minutes... or may be 15...   it took me a while to get use to the VERY cold water... but at the end it was a good experience... and leaving the water my fingers and toes were "numb".  -  We went to Muxia to see the sunset... and I must say.... Muxia is far more beautiful than Finisterre for a sunset.  WAUW. 

Now - I am back in Santiago. I've just checked in to a small pension... and I will now enjoy my last day here. Tomorrow I go back to Barcelona... and on Monday I am back at wo....   wo... wor....   I can't even say it...   Anyway Tomorrow around 14:40 I leave Santiago an fly to Barcelona.

I have so many ideas and thoughts I now need to preocess...  which means it is now the camino begins...

I have been coughing and sneezing all night and I've decided it is better that I get this cold under control than walking further... (though I would really love to walk the last 3 days).

I have now checked out of my 4 star "albergue" where I have enjoyed both the bed and the bathtub. - I need to find a new albergue for tonight... and I think I might go to finisterre by bus this afternoon. (?) or tomorrow morning.

Though this journey was very different from the others (aren't they always) I have really loved every step... even those with a swollen ankel. I have enjoyed the nights in the albergues (bedbugs or no bedbugs...  they never bit me).  - I also enjoyed Severinos cooking - the Italian gu who cooked for me the first time in El Burgo Ranero. He can really cook - with very little ingredients.  Uhhmmm....  I haven't seen Severino for several days now.

Another Italian guy, Luca... smart and quite handsome also fell behind... I wonder what happened to him.

Cleo (very smart young girl from Belgium), that poor girl, had an accident walking down to Molinaseca and arrived to the Albergue in an ambulance as she could not walk.  I hope she's fine and has recovered.

I have during this journey met a huge number of danish pilgrims. Too many if you ask me. A lot of them complaining about everything. The food, the albergues, the spanish people not understanding them...  the camino is going through an industrial area... (my advise to people who want to do this journey is... look into your self first and ask your self - are you ready to let go and just take what is...??) 

Because I have met so many complaning danish people it took me a few days to actually show my danish nationality to 3 Norwegian men who was walking for only a week. They walk for one week every year and this was their 3rd or 4th time...  - All very nice and they seemed to enjoy the caminolife.

I can feel I take a huge distance to negativity on the camino. I do not want to deal with it. I can't change what people are complaing about and I do not want to listen.

I have loved walking on the Meseta... with the wheatfields as far as the eye can see... I loved walking in to Galicia... see the scenery change... all very green and very different from the Meseta. Walking in the mountains is asking more of your body.

I must say as already written a few times before. This is the coldest September Camino I have walked so far. We have had plenty of REALLY nice days with sun and blue sky... and I have a good nice tan. We have had very few hours of rain... but the cold days has been cold. I needed to go shopping in León.

Again I had som many things I wanted to tell you, but as I sit here writing I forget half.

The last 3 kilometres seemed like forever and my footsteps were really heavy.

When I finally arrived at in front of the huge catedral I decided that I would treat myself good. Really good. So I have checked in to a **** "Albergue" - with a huge bed, a big bathtub...  I also signed up for a VERY good massage which was done by Toni. Also tomorrow there will be a huge breakfast... (buffet - with EVERYTHING).

All day I have been in an arguement with myself. I cannot decide wheter I should continue on foot to Finisterre or if I should go by bus. A part of me really want to continue on foot, another part of me says "enough".  But of course, I cannot stay in my 4 star "albergue" as this will empty my bankaccount completely.

By the way, I went to the pilgrims office to get my compostella. Now I have 4 of them. My name in Latin Annam (I think it used to be Annem!?).

In a second I wil go get something really healthy to eat, as I am hungry and I loooong for something really good. (besides Pulpo Galego). So I only hope that the restaurant I have in mind have a table for me... as I do not have anyone to eat with tonight... there is no one here I know, they wil all arrive the next couple of days.  

I will write more about the journey later. Right now I just wanted to check in and let you all know that I am here... I feel good and also tired. 

Now to the restaurant.

After a break in Melide where I had planned to get Pulpo Galego... but ended up having the BEST tortilla de patatas I have EVER had... just because the Pulperia was not yet open...

And then I was walking out of Melide.

Just as I walked out of Melide I got my laugh. And I laughed for a loooong time. I start to understand the concern some women have of walking alone. I was greeted by a man who had his trousers down at his ankels...  he was holding his ...Biiiiiiip in his hand... and he asked me if I was interested in him helping me getting a Buen Camino...!! - But this man is harmless... I was told later by other pilgrims when a man passes he pretends to pee and when a woman passes she gets the same offer I got.

Today I succeded avoiding the crowds of "high-maintenance pilgrims" who walk the camino with only water and maybe a sweather...  There are so many of them here on the last 100km's. Also you can tell who have been walking for a long time and who is only here to walk the last 100.  I do not mean to be jugdemental... not at all... but the camino changes and some get really loud and it becomes an antfarm the last 100. Some pilgrims talk about a bedrace... I believe this is what is happening the last 100km.

Tomorrow I will walk the last 36-40 km into Santiago and then the day after tomorrow start my journey to the end of the world. I cannot believe that this journey is almost over. Only 4 more days of walking.

Tonight I am sleeping in a small pension as the albergue was "completo". this is the 2nd time on all my Caminos that I have met an albergue completo... at last time was in 2004 also here in Arzua.  There were 4 private albergues just as you enter Arzua... but I didn't want to walk back... also my pension is only €20... with my own bathroom.

I have gotten my  self a cold. I am sneezing and sneezing... and while I sit here and write the bartender have just brought me a few napkins so I can blow my nose. I guess it is due to the weather. walking with your backpack you get all sweaty and when you sit and eat or have a snack you are still wet and then you get cold... especially on these cold days.

This september is the coldest I have been walking so far. There are plenty of hot and sunny days where I have to remind my self added sunlotion all the time... and then there are the cold days... and they are really cold. 10-12ºC - I am no longer used to these cold days. I am now addicted to the Barcelona clima.

Well I am almost certain that there will be a new update tomorrow when I have arrived to Santiago... and had my shower.  I have not yet decided if I am going to the pilgrims office to get my compostella... (I already have 3). The credential  with all the beautiful stamps is much more important to me than the compostella.  But we'll see and I'll let you know.

Hasta mañana

First I must apoligize for all the spelling mistakes and missing words. I am eager to tell about my adventure and sometimes the fingers are just dancing to fast over the keyboard.

A few days ago when walking in the morning I had a weird experience. It is normal for me here on the Camino that songs pop into my head for what ever reason. It can be songs that has a meaning to me or songs I haven't heard for a very long time... but this morning (a few days ago) my head just could not find the song.  There were no clear signal. Imagine you are trying to tune in an old FM radio to the right station and you hear a bit of different song and a lot of scratcing...  that's how my head worked the other day.  It got better as the sun rised higher up on the sky... and I was walking down the mountain...  It was down down down the whole day...  a little hard on the knees.

Yesterday I walked from Samos to Portomarin. We (Lise and I) had a Loooong break in Sarria. 2 hours... and may be a little more. I had to get my self a new cell phone as the old one died on me... (I still have the same number).  - We got a little something to eat... and and a good time.  Talked to many of the pilgrims that were going to stay there... said goodbye to a few who had to stop... (as they have no more vacation time). Also I got a marrige proposal... the bartender across from the albergue asked me to be his wife... unfortunately (for him) I had to turn him down... He said I was dreaming of a scandinavian wife to shut up his friends...

We had another loooong break in Ferriros where we had a huge meal... at 20:30 we arived in Portomarin and had already decided that we wanted to share a hotelroom as we needed no curfew tonight... but a shower... and a beer.

This morning I said goodbye to Lise. It was time for me to walk alone again... I really love walking alone.  But for some reason today I was in such a hurry... I have been walking fast... without my usual breaks... and I found that I was trying to outrun the crowds... As many pilgrims only walk the last 100km many have started out in Sarria... and have now also gotten to Portomarin where they started out this morning like me. What I didn't like today was to find these high maintenance pilgrims... who only carry their water and maybe a sweather...  and have the rest of their luggage transported by bus...  A huge German crowd, a huge english crowd and a huge spanish crowd was walking today. And they are soooo loud.

I had an urge today of skipping these last 100km as the camino really change... and just start walking the stretch from Santiago to Finisterra. But somehow I escaped the crowd and was able to find the peace again.  I worry about what will happen to me when I return to Barcelona as this is a non-sleeping and always noisy city...  Will I "survive"??   anyhow... I am now enjoying my evening... feeling tired. probably from the long days yesterday... due the the VERY long breaks...

I always get amazed when I walk the camino... I always meet someone who really has what it takes... no weining. Today I saw a man and his son walking the Camino together. They are Spanish. The son was walking really slow next to his father who was walking slow as he has an artificial leg.  They have started out in Pamplona...  walking all this way on an artificial leg... and others are complaining about sore feet or blisters...

Today I am in Palas de Rei. Only approx. 65km from Santiago so I should be there on 2 days... if I stick to my "plan".   It was raining a little today. I actually love walking in the rain. It is so refreshing, as long it is not raining really hard. - They say we will have more rain tomorrow. I say let it rain.

As for the bedbug report... I have still not been bitten. I check every morning my sore body for bites... and none... only a huge black insect got a taste of me... and that was no bedbug... it was to big... it had wings... and it feasted on my while I was having my lunch.

I will now go and have a cerveza. I have deserved it. give my feet a good massage... and talk to some of the new faces I have seen today. I am ahead of all "old" familiar faces... some have left... some have more time or are walking slower or shorter distances.

There are always so many things to tell... and I always forget half when I sit here with only a little Internet time...  but of course there will be a new diary at the end... it will only take a little while for it to be translated into english.

I hope you enjoy life out there as much as I enjoy my life here.

Un abrazo a todos ;-)

Walking in the morning-mist this morning from Samos where I slept in the beautiful old monastario...  I love these mornings...  well the afternoons too... I love being on the Camino... I love the simplicity...   Yesterday another pilgrim said to me... "You shouldn't go to Samos because in the albergue there is only one big dormitory... and you slep 70-80 pilgrims together..." - My answer to that was great... I think I'll go to Samos" - I don't mind... 4 or 70  as long as I have a roof over my head and a bed to sleep in.

Now we are having a small break in Sarria... I needed to buy a new cellphone as my broke yesterday...  .  there is no light in the screen... I cannot turn it on. -  So now I spent 29 euro on a new temporary cellphone... I'm glad I didn't bring the expensive one on this journey.

I am only a few days away from Santiago... and after Santiago I will continue to the coast... The end of the world...  I do not want this to end. I and addicted to this journey...  waking up in the morning... putting on my boots, on with the backpack... and on my way. Every night a new pueblo and eery night a new bed. New faces and sometimes we have to say goodbye to old smiling faces.

I have just said goodbye to a few who had to end their journey... I am am ahead of others I've met along the way... but new faces will turn up... new stories. Every pilgrim have their story, and their reason to walk the camino.

I am still blisterfree... and still no bedbug-bites though I've seen the little bloodsuckers now a few times. I've even killed a few.

It's quite funny, as sometimes after having a break I feel really old as the muscles a getting cold and stiff... 

This very moment I am only 112 from Santiago... and tonight I plan to be only 90 kilometres from Santiago (as I will sleep in Portomarin).

On the top of O'cebreio I had Pulpo Galego... which I love so much, and I had introduced this delicious meal to 3 Norgewians and Lise who is Danish but lives in Sweden...  unfortunately I was not even hungry... I only ate a tiny bit... I will order them again along the way... as Pulpo Galego is really really good...  May be I will make a pitstop in Melide where this is a huge speciality

Well, I must go on. I am hungry and the Camino is waiting. I still have approx. 20 kilometers to walk before I am in PortoMarin.

Hasta Luego and be good ;-)

Victor an elder spanish man who had come to give pilgrims footmassage and cure their blisters (of which I have none)...  It was really good.  I looked into my swollen ankel... and I will just have to continue to tape it up in the morning when I walk up or down...  - I do not feel it much... but I also try to keep it calm.

I am now in the mountains... or at least today I have spent the whole day walking down. My old basketball injury have come to live and my left knee was really teasing me... now it is fine.

This morning I left my stone at Crus de Ferro... and I left the one I carried for Tom as well...  Continued on to Manjarin where I spoke to Tomas... (the "last" temple knight...

I am really enjoying this. I love the walks.. the views... and the sunrise this morning was absolutely amazing.

Now I am opff to bed... as there here on the albergues is a curfew... We have to be in bed at 22:00 or here in Ponferrada light will be off at 22:30.

The most amazing thing I have found on this Camino is that... most pilgrims stay in bed until 07:00 - only twice I have heard an alarm fo off at 4:45 and this couple I met 20km further ahead...  waiting to be let in to the albergue at 16:00  (Stupidity if you ask me).

Anyway... I most go. Out with the contact lenses...  I have to brush my teeth...  (I have strong garlic breath right nowe from the amazing itialian pasta meal I had tonight...)

I love the camino the most when I can avoid the crowds... especially when I walk an a dusty road and I see no one in front of me and no one behind me...  I am alone... Alone with the crickets... the birds singing... the sound of my own footsteps... and my thougts what ever they may be.  And the best thing is I get to do it again tomorrow... and the day after tomorrow... and...

I love it when I take a break meeting up with all the different nationalities... having a drink, something to eat and a talk about the day... are we staying or do we continue. 

Today I have found my way to Foncebádon... and for the first time in all my Caminos I have changed albergue after I checked in.  - Where I checked in were absolutely to my dislike. The albergue was placed in a cellar... no light... no air... I cannot sleep there...  Usually all I ask for is a bed and a roof over my head... and I had that there...  but even the coldness of the hospitalera made me go away.  I would rather walk another 4 or 11 km to get a place to sleep than sleep there.

Cleo, the belgian girl have cought up with me again... though she today is staying in Rabanal del Camino. And here are many familiar faces... 

I have now ripped my danish flag of my backpack. I am really tired of being recognized as a dane as there are REALLY many danes here at the moment... and most of them complaining...  Enough!!.  

Well... I will now go outside and have a well deserved beer.  Tomorrow morning I will walk to 2 km up to Cruz de Ferro... and leave my stone and also the one I carry for Tom. 

Hasta Luego ;-)