Tuesday, June 10, 2014

Pilgrims' Progress # 5: Europe Living and Camino Beginnings!

Wow!
That's the only word I can think of to describe our last week and a half in Europe! We arrived in Rome on Monday, June 2 and Brent and I celebrated our 25th anniversary there on the 3rd. We stayed in this ancient Italian city that is bustling with old ruins, amazing relics, and tiny little Smart cars on it's brick-lined  and crooked roadways. I fell in love with the slow-paced lifestyle and the fresh food we bought at the little markets and ate  each evening . And I learned to drink 'cappuccini' at the 'bar' (coffee shop) across the street from our rented apartment. 
On Friday of that same week, we left Rome early in the morning and flew to Madrid, Spain, where we stayed in a downtown hotel. From Madrid,  we rode two buses and then a taxi on very curvy mountain road to get to France. On our first night in France,  we stayed in a little hostel in an old house. The next morning we started our Camino adventure.The first day we walked from France into Spain, and in those previous 24 hours we had visited 3 different countries.  It was hard to remember what language we were supposed to be speaking!
Now, it is Tuesday, I think, and we have stayed in 4 hostels ('albergues'), eaten three pilgrim meals provided by cafes, gone to a Spanish Pilgrims' mass at a very old church, and walked through the famous town of Pamplona (no bulls were present). We have walked 84 kilometers (52 miles--nearly 20 of those today!) in 3 days.
I would love to tell you more but typing on my phone is hard so I will be brief. All in all, our adventure has been incredible and gorgeous! I will try to check in again when the internet is available. But now I need to sleep!