Week 36: Pilgrimage! ...and goodbyes.

What an incredible week this past one has been! I have experienced (a tiny part of) the Camino de Santiago, crossed a country border twice, and learned so much more about the culture of Spain… just in time to leave, unfortunately. However, I am constantly reminded that you’re not supposed to cry because it’s over, but rather smile because it happened. So, through this blog post, I will attempt to find all the happiness I can in these experiences, even though they are flying by like nobody’s business.

Our start day to the excursion was Sunday, but we really started going on Monday. We had a reception from the municipal government in Zamora, which was a cool way to welcome us to the place and learn about the history. The professor who talked about such history was a little dry, and so it was difficult for some of us to stay interested, much less even stay awake, but in the end, the information did sink in a bit as we were given guided tours of the city itself.

Waiting for city officials to address us in Zamora.

A statue of a hero who saved Zamora back in Roman times.

Learning about the history of the cathedral.

Ruins of a castle.

A beautiful bridge along the river in Zamora.

Tuesday had been the day I had most been looking forward to: it was the day we went to Portugal to walk a sizable part of the actual Camino de Santiago! We took a 3-hour bus to the city we’d be hiking through, called Braganza, and had an amazing time. Everybody made sure to keep pace with each other, and we ended up at lunch in a hotel not too far from our destination. We stopped off at an ecological center in Branganza where we had also been invited to visit, and so the people there told us about the town and what it does for the Camino. In the end, it was one of my favorite days of the trip!

Hello Portugal!

Ready to roll!
[Taken just before we departed on our walking way.]

We found some poppies along the way!

We even managed to come across quite a friendly donkey.

The main church in Braganza.

Wednesday was a neat day because we went to another tiny little town called Puerta de Sanabria, where we met with more city representatives, and as we learned about the ecological system there, we also hopped on a type of environmental boat with glass covering (not a glass-bottom boat). It was funny because at one point, they tried to get us to believe that the lake was inhabited by a type of Loch Ness Monster, but the effects were just a bit too manufactured to be convincing, but we definitely all had a good laugh. We would all say later that this was basically our favorite part of the trip, except for a few. We then proceeded to an education center to learn more about the ecology of the lake and the disastrous flood that happened in the area in recent history, which was an interesting experience; we watched a video about the disaster, and then got to walk around the exhibit in the center.  Before too long, we were all ready to head home, and so after having lunch at a roadside restaurant in Sanabria and tasting some local cuisine, we returned to Zamora where we had been able to leave the rest of our things during this little trip, and had some free time before continuing on with the day.

The lake at Sanabria. What a beautiful place.

Learning about the lake. The guy in the picture even dove in the lake
with scuba gear to give us a live view of underwater ruins!

Walking into the education center.

Medieval architecture all over the city.

A stone sign addressed to pilgrims following the Way of St. James.

An example of some of the beautiful architecture in the tiny village.

The end to this amazing journey was on Thursday, as we woke up super early to be able to return to Madrid at a decent hour. We got back to Toledo just before lunch, and as everyone ate, we all shared our plans with each other about where we would be traveling, or if we’d be going back home. At least a good portion of students returned home on Friday… but first we had to get there. Before Friday came, we decided to make the most of our time left in Spain and do as the Spaniards do: party! Allison and I met up with Rodrigo and his friends for one last time, to celebrate a festival important to Toledo where everyone that night camped in tents in the valley. Allison and I decided to make a night out of it, and so we stayed up, dancing all the night away with our friends. All too soon, morning came - and by morning, I mean 5:00AM, when we all had to be up and about to be in Madrid for some people’s early morning flights.

One last night of partying with our Spanish friends :)

It was sad to say goodbye definitively to everyone, especially since some of us had become really close during our semester stay, but as some of the group had flights right away in the morning, it was a short and sweet goodbye. A kind-hearted and fun-loving coordinator of the program, Yuki, mentioned on the way to the airport that she would be upset if not everybody was crying, and weirdly I wasn’t, and so she jokingly started sulking around, but in the end, there were enough tears shed between the whole group to float us all into the airport. This moment definitely reminded me of how I had made so many transient friends during the semester, and not people who were in Toledo, but rather people I met while traveling. It’s sad to reflect on the fact that sometimes you make such good connections with people, you just seem to really click with them, and yet you have to say goodbye probably for forever, so soon. Anyways.

The group parted ways before too long, but thankfully some of my friends weren’t leaving Madrid right away, at least not in the morning, and so we hung out in Madrid, seeing a few more sights and ducking into a few more cafés. Allison in particular didn’t have her flight until later in the evening, and so we strolled around Madrid, trying to tick a few last boxes off our lists, including buying a few last souvenirs. In the end, we made sure Allison got to the airport early enough to get through security and all without rushing, and finally it was just me in the Madrid airport for most of the afternoon and into the evening, as my flight wasn’t until the following morning. Luckily, I found a (relatively) comfy place to sleep, on a couch in a little café, and so I cozied up with my bags and settled in for the nicest night’s sleep I’ve ever had in an airport.

In the morning, I made sure to set a few alarms just in case, but I woke up quite soundly at 6:00AM. After freshening up a bit in the restroom, I collected all my bags, and made my way to my flight that would take me from Madrid to Brussels, Belgium. My friend Fatima had ever so graciously agreed to meet me at the airport to help me get all my luggage on the train to Lille, and also to help me navigate everything since she speaks the language (Flemish), and she actually came with to Lille, where we all made quite a day of it! Fatima is lucky enough to live close to Lille, only an hour or two away by train, and so she can visit whenever she wants (theoretically, at least), so a day trip to her study abroad city was no big deal (that galls me just thinking about such a thing in my context!). I actually got to meet Alex’s Canadian friend Krista, who is absolutely a riot! It was great to meet her best friend in Lille, and I had heard so many good things about her. After dropping my bags off in Alex’s room, Fatima and I went to hang out with some of our friends from my old residence, walking around Vieux Lille, enjoying some more Merveilleux pastries that were absolutely delicious. In the end, we ended up visiting my old residence at my insistence, because I wanted to play some ping pong like old times, and there we happened to run into my former neighbor, who was all French charm, and also Rob! We chatted for a bit, and then all too soon it was time for us to part ways. Luckily, parting ways wasn’t too sad for me, because I had my best friend to return to! Alex and I chatted for a while, sat down with Krista to eat some delicious fried rice for dinner, and then she did a dangerous thing: she introduced me to Downton Abbey. Of course I’m now hooked on the series, just as she is, and so now I have to carve time out in my schedule to watch it all… Maybe this summer. :) and so the evening slipped away before us, and we eventually snuggled up and went to sleep.

Finally, Sunday has rolled around - and I got to go to mass with Alex and Krista at the cathedral that I ended up really liking in Lille! (Not least of which because it was only two minutes walking from my residence :)) That was a really nice way to start the day, and we even grabbed some coffee and croissants from a café right across the street afterwards, as our little homage to Sunday morning brunch at home. When we got back to Alex’s place, we settled right back into watching Downton Abbey. It is such a good show! We eventually got around to packing for our upcoming trip a little bit, but we didn’t quite get all packed. Oh well, we still have until Tuesday… Anyways, in the evening we had quiche with Krista again, which was excellent (even though I got stuck with dishwashing duty), especially since Alex made it! So in the end, it turned out to be a great Sunday.

I don’t think I’ve mentioned before - Alex and I are planning to go to Budapest together this Tuesday! We’ll be there until very early Friday morning, and so we’re planning to go to the famous public baths for some pampering, and then walk around and see the sights in the city. After that, I’m planning on meeting my friend Anna up in her hometown of Klagenfurt, Austria, and then onto Vienna meeting up my other Austrian friend Nina, and finally on my own onto Prague. It’s our last big trip before our family gets here in just a couple weeks now, so we just cannot wait!

My trip to the Camino de Santiago only fanned the flames further for me, in the way of wanting to come back someday and do an actual pilgrimage on the whole trail. Ideally, it starts in Paris, and you walk all the way down south through France, through the Pyrenees, and then west onto the northwest coast of Spain, to Santiago de Compostela, which is where St. James the Great is buried. I hope to be able to do this sometime soon, seeing as I’m only getting older and I’d like to do all of this while young and unattached, so I hope I can organize something within the next few years already. I already want to come back to Europe as soon as I can after I finish my degree at St. Norbert! And with that, I think I’ve done quite enough reflecting for this last little paragraph of the week, and so I’ll say my goodbye - ¡Hasta pronto!