Photos of the last days of Camino

In Lisbon, one last photo of the 3 siblings before Leighton went back to Vancouver.  

My amazing friend Mima who took great care of us while in Portugal.  

Finisterre (the end of the world), a place where some pilgrims continue to after they reach Santiago.  We choose not to walk there, so we rented a car and drove here instead.

enjoying the sunset

Post camino nap on the beach.  It´s incredible to think that just days before this photo we were all still walking through farmland. 

The cathedral at Santiago de Compostella at night.

Kuya Mark giving a brotherly hug to Leighton.  He was also practising his hug to St. James.  There is a statue  in the Cathedral of St. James that the pilgrims can hug and offers prayers of thanks for a safe arrival.

walking through Santiago

Reunited after doing 2 different caminos

Receiving our compostellas.  They include your name in Latin.  Crystal = Crystallem

Leighton with his pilgrim credentials and compostella.

My first view of the cathedral.

Aiden and I sneaking up on Leighton just moments after he arrives at the cathedral.

a good nap spot.

It was cherry season in Spain. A very generous man broke off branches from the cherry trees in his yard and handed them out to the passing pilgrims.  I hope it was his yard.....

Some people thought that we were malo peregrinos (bad pilgrims) because they thought we had broken these branches off someone´s tree.  

Just a tiny shot of the amount of laundry that gets hand washed by all the pilgrims at each of the albergues.  I had to stick my head between 2 lines of strangers´ underwear and socks to take this photo. 

Let me tell you, it´s not always hot in Spain.  Sometimes a sweater, a jacket and a scarf are required to take a siesta.  This albergue is located in the mountains and, in my opinion, was the coldest stop on  our camino. 

Wine is cheap and plentiful.

Safe arrival in Santiago de Compostella

We have officially finished the Camino!  We arrived in Santiago de Compostella on Saturday afternoon and Leighton arrived later that evening.  Finally all four of us are together.  Although we are a little exhausted and have muscle and foot soreness we are all in good spirits and happy to have successfully finished our camino. 

Mark is featured on a Filipino travelling website. Click here to read the article. 

Photos and more stories are still to come. 

Food foto #3

Pulpo (octopus) - pretty good, boiled, surprisingly soft.

Joyful mysteries

The visitation and the annunciation.

Food foto #2

Who likes carbs?

Food foto!

What could possibly make pan and naranja better? Nutella!

Cruce Militar

High point of the Camino - 1535 m

Domus Dei

Waiting for supper at the parish albergue. They were full but allowed us to sleep in the chapel.

Market day

We arrived in Artorga at a good time.

Knight's tale

We missed a medieval joust tournament!

Towel power

Go Canucks go!

Pork adobo

Need I say more?

Support

These two gentlemen are driving a support van while their friends
walk. They also provide us with plenty of laughs and jokes.

We have been featured on WYD Madrid website!

Click here to read the article.

Source: www.madrid11.com/en.

Way of the Wickeys made it to the World Youth Day website

Our camino story has made it to the World Youth Day website!  Click here to read what they wrote.

We are getting close to Santiago now.  I think we have about 5 or 6 more days, so that means we will be there this weekend!!!!  It´s hard to believe how many kilometres we have walked so far.  I think it is somewhere close to 700km.  The body is sore, but we are all still in good spirits and looking forward to our arrival in Santiago. 

Leighton is currently on his way from Porto, Portugal. We can´t wait to see him and find out about how the Portuguese route is. 

On a side note, I´m hearing all sorts of exciting news about the Canucks.  We watched some highlights online, but I know it´s not the same as being in Vancouver right now.  I guess Game 5 is tonight...we´ll have to wait until the next town to google the final score. 

Leighton is on his way

Today is the day that Leighton flies from Vancouver to Lisbon.  Aiden, Mark and myself are really excited that soon all 4 of us will be on the same continent again and that Leighton will be starting his camino soon.  Leighton will rest for a day with the help of one of my friends in Lisbon (Thanks Mima!!!!) and then he will be on his way.

Tonight we are in Astorga, which is a beautiful city.  It´s small but very lively and there are lots of chocolate and sweets stores!  We were lucky enough to sample a little of all the different chocolates!  

Tomorrow is another day.  Same routine: wake up, breakfast, shoes on, walk, walk, walk, drink water, walk, siesta, eat, sleep.  It´s much more excited and beautiful than that, but it´s also so hard to put into words.  The weather is becoming a bit more variable as we get closer to the end.  It rained a lot last night so it meant muddy pathways this morning.  The mud caked to the bottom of our shoes and was a little bit slippery, but it´s all part of the camino experience.

Photo update from the camino

Aiden enjoying a calm evening and reading up on what´s to come for tomorrow´s walk.

Augustinian nuns who run one of the albergues leading a sing along.  Very cute!

For Marie: Dirty shoes and my walking sticks, while waiting in line to get into an albergue.

Houses built into the hills.

On the way to Burgos.

Taking a needed rest.

Pogi Kuya Mark.

The cathedral in Burgos

Bread for dinner!

Some of the other pilgrims.  Many of the pilgrims are retirees and most of them are keeping up with us or passing us!!!