Day 35- Arca de Pino- SANTIAGO!!!!!!! 0km left! We made it, woo hoo.

Well, we are here, and let me tell you, it is an amazing feeling, to have walked 800km and then get to an amazing Cathedral, though old, it still has its own thing about it. We walked in with Cesar and Kate, and yes, cesar and I were singing "I AM COW HEAR ME MOOOOO!!!" as loud as we could. we found ourselves a nice hostal so we are staying there for the night, and then tomorrow we are going to probably part ways. I just have to say that it feels soo good to be done, but it feels like we are just taking a day off, but no, we are done! no more hiking for a while, maybe do the Portugal route one of these years.
While walking in, we had to stop at a place called Monto Golso, it was the first time that you could see Santiago, and you could just see the towers of the Cathedral. It was probably the best feeling I have felt before, just knowing that we did it, with the pain, but we made it. I was almost in tears but not quite. It still hasnt sunk in that we are done though.
So to all of you that have been faithfully reading everyday, I thank you so much, I would not have done this if you were not reading and leaving comments, so I thank you so much, you comments often made the hard days easier. Mom, we miss you so much and cant wait to see you. And same with all my sisters and brothers and nieces and nephews. We will be there soon.
So to holland we go, that shall be exciting. Going to a great soccer game, so that will be good. But the best thing of the summer, besides doing the hike, will be coming home to all my family and friends, cannot wait.
Well, there is a coke waiting for me at a bar up the road, and a proud and relaxed father, and two great new friends, so I shall leave it at this.
I will enter His gates with thanks giving in my heart.
Thank you
-Jakob

day 34- Arzua-Arca de Pino- 20km left!!!!! Last day tomorrow

wow, we are almost there. We just finished having our probable last dinner with cesar and kate on this trail, was very good, and guess what we had. Yes, thats right, Pasta. Well about today.
today we woke up at around 7:15, dad didn´t hear the alarm. so we left at around quarter to 8. Today was only 18km, but it seemed longer. We hiked for a bit, with cesar kate dad and I, and then all of a sudden, he was there, GONE! Dad must have had smelt the coffee in the town 10km or something, because he was gone, like no where to be seen. he said he just all of a sudden felt really good, and just gave it. he was talking to a young boy from Ireland(sp?), Shammes, he is 15, I met him and his family a few days before. Anyways we got to the first town and had the breaky specials. Cafe con leche with orange juince, bocadillo, and a bucky de bei (sp?), haha. All four of us had it, it was only 3€. so cesar and kate paid right away, but dad didn´t pay right away, but that is normal in bars in spain. So we kept on walking and got to another town 5 km away and stopped there. When we went outside to have our lunch dad said "Oh crap, guess what, I forgot to pay for breakfast this morning!!!. Ah well, free breakfast, and I am not going to go walk back there!" So we got free breakfast, but we did not feel good about it, though, dad is a real dutch man. anyways, we got here after hiking, up and down and up and down again. We found the Albequerque right away, no mrs. Ewald we did not miss it, but thanks for the warning. It is an ok place. Got beds right beside Cesar and Kate again. We made plans for me to Go to Poland in 2012 to watch the European Cup, and then I am going to Fiona´s home town to visit her, and then after that I am taking Cesar and Kate home to Smithers with me, so yeah, thats the plan! anyways, righ now they are all sitting ourside and dad is having Rice Pudding, his favorite, and Cesar Kate and I are going to have icecream kake. Well that is all for today, I thank you all for reading everyday, and I am going to miss writing in here and informing you what is going on, and stuff like that, because we are almost done, but I will post tomorrow, so don´t forget to read it, because it will be the last one. Well that is all for now. Bye bye.
For one of the Camino ers, Jakob Kort
Bye bye, here we come Santiago!

Day 33- Palas de Rei-Arzua- 38km Left! WOW!

So yeah, almost there. Wow. Anyways, about the day.
Well we got up early this morning. Only 6:30 today. Left by 7. Cesar and kate left by 20 to 7. We said we would meet up with them later. So we had a yogurt, and a croissant, dad said he had two, but he was still sleeping, haha. No rain today, nice and cloudy for the morning though. Kind of a boring hike until coffee stop. For brunch, we had a coke and a Kas Limon, and also we both had a HUGE bocadillos, which is a large piece of bread with a large omelette, with either ham or chesse on it. Dad had the ham, I had, yes you guessed it, the cheese. Right when we got there, kate and Cesar were leaving. It seemed like a gathering of Canadians there because Kate and Cesar were there, and us, and this gay(?) vancoverite, and three ladies from Halifax. So we kept on walking, through beautiful trees, and woodland. The cedar and chestnut trees were over taken by large eucaliptus trees, they were very big. After walking around 5km per hour, really fast according to dad, we had to make a stop, after walking 5km. Dad had not had his coffee yet, so he needed it. I had a coke, and we opened up our chocolate bars we had bought the previous afternoon. After that wonderful break, we continued into the woodland. We passed a very raunchy smelling pig farm, had to breath through my mouth the whole time, because I did not want to smell it, I would rather taste it. NOT! After passing that nasty place, we met up with Cesar and Kate. I have taught Cesar the best song in the world. "I am cow" by the Arrogant Worms. Very good, listen to it if you can. After teaching him it, he has started to sing it aloud with me, but while he is alone with Kate, he sings it to real cows. He did that today. Stopped and sang it to the cow. So we met up with them, and we were kinda looking forward to the Albequerque by then. Oh, side note, we have been thinking about doing something special for the last 20km, and I thought of something. Since Cesar just learnt a new song, we should sing I am cow all the way to Santiago, for 20km, but, I don´t think Kate and dad would like that. Dad´s idea was, first one to see Santiago would get carried the rest of the way into it, so I said I would stay at least 500m ahead of them the whole day, just so I could get carried in. Anyways, the terrain was going up and down and up and down, much to the chagrin of dad and kate, who have the sore legs. WE got to the Albequerque, and there was a line up, so we decided to walk another 3 km to Arzua, where we found a very nice albequerque, or I should say, kate and cesar found it. For dinner tonight, we had the best meal yet. Rice with fresh veggies, pork, and scrambled eggs, with again two bottles of wine and a two liter bottle of coke, which is still sitting on the table. AND NO DESSERT!!!!!!! whats with that, we will have to get that later. Anyways, I feel that I have typed in a different style that I usually do today, hopefully it is good. Only 2 days left, tomorrow is 18km and the day into Santiago is 20, nice and easy. Well I miss all my family and I can´t wait to go to holland, bye bye.
Lift your eyes unto the hills......
-Jakob
heres dad
I read psalm 121 at dinner tonight. It got me all choked up, just listen:The LORD watches over you. For more thasn four weeks he has.There has been nothing seriously wrong with Jaokob or me. But also ,The Lord is your shade at your right hand. When you will see us you may notice that we are mostly tanned at the LEFT side!! The sun will not harm you by day. Even though it has been very hot on the meseta, no harm was done to us. The Lord will watch over your coming and going both now and forever more. We are coming to the end of this hike, and it has become a bit of a metaphor of our lives. We ´walk everyday, knowing that God is walking beside us and watching over us. I will never read that Psalm the same way again.

Klaas

Day 31 and 32. Barbadelo-Portamarin-Palas de Rei- 76km left

So well,don´t really remember much from yesterday, But I will try my best. We woke up at seven at left around 7:30. We have spent the last few days with Cesar and Kate, just walking and cooking with them and stuff. So yesterday was onlu 18km, nice weather. When we got to Portamarin, we were worried about getting a bed, because in dad´s book it said there were only like 140 beds in the whole town, but the town had made a new Albequerque, with 110 beds in one room. But it was very nice, good computers, all kitchen stuff, and a TV!, but none of that fancy stuff really mattered. It was just a nice place. For supper we had Pissgehtti, wich dad and I made,"our secret recipe", oh, and don´t forget the two bottles of wine, one for cesar and dad and one for kate and I. Oh, cesar kate and I stayed up till quarter to 11, and we were able to see a star!!! The first star I have been able to see in 4 weeks, at night that is.
So this morning we were up at 7, and out the door by quarter to 8. Today was 26km, a little bit longer than yesterday. We took a short cut to get going, every other pilgrim took the long way around the city, we just back tracked and got on the same trail, Smart thinking dad. So since we are in Galicia, I thought that it would be good if we actually had some rain. And it looked like we were in for some rain today, but it didn´t start. We were stopped by this albequerque, run by a group of Christian ladies, from all over europe. They gave us a stamp, and free coffee and tea. Very nice of them. For lumch cesar bought bread right from the truck in the street. On it we had Jam, hmmmmmmm, very good. So after that, it started to pour rain, and I mean pour, it was sideways rain. It was pretty cool though, because I haven´t seen any rain for a long time. So we got our ponchos on and put our rain covers on, and started walking. And we walked, and we walked. It was a really long day. We saw some one that we were hiking with, call a cab and take it to the next town! We were all mad at him. CHEATER!!!!!! So now were are here going to eat dinner, with cesar and kate, HAMBURGER!!!!!! Yummy, it is double patty, with cheese, eggs, and all the other stuff on a burger, fries, and a side salad, all for 6€. Well anyways, I am reall hungry, and I want to eat. Thanks for commenting all, and dad´s leg is fine. 3 DAYS LEFT!. Bye Bye
-Jakob

Barbadelo to Portomarin 94.8 km left

Jakob is napping so today it is my turn to keep you informed of what is going on. We had a quiet night, quiet mainly because of the excellent earplugs. We went to bed after a good dinner with our Polish Canadian friends and a Dutch couple, Good times and so so food. The Spanish cuisine really isnt that great, at least when it comes to dinners.
We woke up at 7 and by 7:30 we were ready to go again for another day on the trail. This was going to be an exciting one, since we would be crossing the 100 km marker today. By now there is a marker every 500 m to let you know how much more there is to go.
The landscape was lovely, mostly along paths and through slightly hilly country, not too steep and not too flat. The weather too was perfect, not cold at all today, so we started in our shirts right away. After 2 km it was time for coffee. Jakob was hungry already so he ordered a bacon and cheese sandwich, which ended up to be too big even for him. I just had toast with jam. It is funny how at this stage you meet up with all kinds of people from earlier on. It seems that no matter what pace you have, you all get there at more or less the same time.
So we went on, more paths, quiet roads, ancient trees and beautiful scenery. We must have passed through at least 8 villages. Villages is the wrong word to describe these palces, as they are mostly two or three farms put together. We ran into a herd of cows and felt a bit like being in Pamplona running form the bulls.
I think tendinitis is setting in again, this time in the other leg. Ah well, it is only 100 km to go. Yes we came to the marker that said 100 km!! Of course pictures had to be taken. At 99.5 was a coffeshop, and we all ordered a drink. My coffee came in a bucket size cup, and it was not cafe cone leche but leche con cafe. Terrible, I could not drink it, ordered Fanta in stead.
Eventually we crossed the bridge into Portomarin, a nice looking town at the shores of an artificial lake. we found a brandnew Albergue, and were the first people there. So much for worrying about finding a place to stay. Jakob and I went to town for lunch after the laundry and showers. Bought another postcard for you Trish. On our way we spotted the local pool, we might have to try that yet today.
Then it was nap time for me. read a few pages and promptly fell asleep. And now Jakob is taking his turn. I have bottom bunk today. there are 110 beds in this place, in one room divided only by curtains. But what amazes me is how quiet everyone always is, both at night and in the morning and even in the afternoon as many pilgrims are resting or napping.
So a few more days and this will be all over. We talked about what it would feel like to arrive at the end. Joy,sadness, or a combination of both. it is hard to say. For now we will just relax, make dinner together with Kate and Caesar, and enjoy another evening.
"the foolish man seeks happiness in the distance, the wise man grows it under his feet" (Oppenheimer)

Day 29- O´cebrero-Tricastela- 143km left

Last night I called laura, was good to hear her voice again, and felicity´s. Umm, had an amazing sleep because of the ear plugs, again. Woke up once, and there were lots of people snoring, so I just stuck my ear plugs in again, yes they fell out, and I could not hear anything. So today was only a 21 km hike, not bad. It was very beautiful again. We had a little bit of a climb, nothing much, but we could see soo much. Dad got a cool picture, and I got a lot of pictures also. I have only 270 left, I can take over 60 a day for the last few days of hiking if I wanted too, but I won´t. Anyways, we were going to stop at the first town, but there were no Bars, so we stopped at the second one, along with our South African friend, Nick, and the English guitar playing dude. took a bit of a break there because it was our first. But after that, we kept on walking, or should I say hiking. There was also one part, where we had a very very steep climb, and I have to say, the person who put that bar right at the very top, was a very smart person, because I think every peregrino that came up that hill stopped there. So only 6km left till Tricastela. We were walking down a rocky hill when I almost, very nearly, sprained my ankle, still is a bit sore, but thats ok, comes with the hike I guess. Even if I had sprained it badly, I would have finished the hike. Anyways, we are here now, in a very nice albequerque, it is a 2 star one, free internet, a TV, nice beds, lots of bathrooms, just over all nice. Ooohhhhhh... I forgot to mention something, while we were hiking along, we were getting really hungry, and we were both talking about it when all of a sudden, BAM!! there was this little old lady with 2 crepes, Creeps, for us. She charges us 2 euros for them, but hey, they were a snack. It was awesome.
So dad is sleeping right now, or reading a book or something. Tonight for supper we are going to have Pankakes, and mom, I decided for our home coming meal, I am not going to cook, I want Creeps, ok?? Well tis all for today folks. Only 6 days of hiking left, scary thought. I want it to be over, kinda, and at the same time I don´t want it to end. WHAT DO I THINK!!!!!! ah well, it will end when it ends. Everyone, have a good day, and you better leave alot of comments, to make up for yesterdays post.
Tut, tut, it looks like rain
-Jakob
Just to add to the story of the lady with the creeps (pancakes)we had just been discussing how we might have to go hungry all the way to Tricastela, since there were no other major towns coming up, and we had just finished talking about that when Jakob said: ¨"i smell food", and POP, there she was. We got a picture of her of course, and she even knew a few words of English. Amamzing.
There was a huge line up at the municipal alberge, but we had already decided we were going to stay at the one we are at now. It´s very peaceful, we are the only two guests. And somehow, it was makerket day again, people selling clothes, watches, fruit and toys on the street, and inevitably at the end the food stands where the women cook up big pots full of squid (pulpa) and everyone else each it with generous helpings of bread, cheese and wine. They actulally cut the squid´s tentacles with scissors into bite size peaces. I haven´t had the guts yet to try soen myself, though it´s supposed to be good.
Anyway, Jakob was a bit depressed: "When we get here so early, I don´t know what to do and I get bored". So I convinced him to fill out some postcards we still needed to mail, and then to go buy some stamps and stuff for tomorrow. I almost hadf to drag him along, but right now he is very happy I did, because when we got to the store we ran into Kate and Cesar, two people Jakob befriended along the way and whom we had kind of lost. He´s gonna hang out with them for a bit tonight, while I go and sit on the bench infront of the albegue and read what is turning out ot be a cool book: The Egyptologist, by Arthur Phillips, 5 time Jeopardy champion.
By the way, the pancakes were okay, not like Trsih´s of course, but what can you expect from a pakkie, add water only! However, the wine was good. Thea, you´re right you either become a catholic or an alcoholic on this hike, and a catholic I ain´t.
Trish, we miss you and love you, hang in there!!!
Klaas.

Day 28- Vega del Valcarce-O´Cebreiro- 155km(?)

Last night was pretty interesting, we met three bikers from belgum(sp?), Oh mom, greetings from the tall Belgin. Also there was a whole pack of girls there, around 20 or so, and they would not shut up, all on their cellphones, and sining and screaming, it was 9:30 when I went to bed, and they were steill yelling and such, and also that english dude was playing his guitar again. So the amazing ear plugs helped me out again and made me fall fast asleep on our comfy beds. Dad and I could actually sleep total in our sleeping bags today, the people in the room didn´t close the window which we had opened, yippy!!! So dad got up at 7 and I didn´t get up till 7:30, so a nice sleep in. Today we only hiked around 10km, because it was the steepest hike on the whole Camino. So we hiked, and got to a town hoping for a bar, but there was none open, so we kept on hiking. We got to another town where dad and I saw this Hostal thing that was for sale and him and I both decided that mom would like it, but it would be too quiet for her. It had the most beautiful view in the world, big mountains right in front of it, on of which we climbed, so pretty cool. Anyways, in that town we stopped for a coffee and a Cola Coa, and a crossant and a boccadios, and a tostata. Yes we splurged, but thats ok, we didn´t eat lunch. After that town we started climbing, and it was steep, but not as steep as I thought it was. Dad and I both thought it was easier than expected. I have to tell you that the views we saw were just awesome. I said to dad "the only word that you can say it ´wow´" It was just awesome. I got a picture of a gecko (sp?), and also a 180 degree video of the view, two of them actually. So we got to O´Cebreiro, and it is a tourist town, like majorly, but it is beautiful. The View we have from the Ablequerque, is awesome, we look down on the valley and we can see for hours and hours on end. After doing the laundry and taking a shower, dad and I walked up town, were we bought a second post card for my mother. Also one of our friends was eating this soup in a barish place, so we wanted to try some. This friend was a guy that we gave our extra cheese to, and a half a bottle of wine, so he bought both dad and I a beer. yes, me too. The soup was so good, it was Spinach, potatoes, meat, and other spiced and stuff. Very good. Dad and I decided to come here for Supper. only 10€ for a meal. We are going to have........Galician Soup, the soup I was just talking about.... second course, Eggs with garlic suasage and french fries or veal stew(dad might have the veal), dessert..........Fresh cheese of cebreireo with honey(dad) Cake of house(Jakob), and bread and wine or water is included. we will go for the wine. So thats our dinner, all for 20€ prett expensive. 6 days of hiking left, not bad. We have booked a hostal room in Santiago for 3 days. In those three days we are going to go to Finesterre, aka the end of the world, and also look at the Cathedral, and lots more. So yeah, looking forward to The netherlands also.. and of course, looking forward to coming home and seeing family and friends and especially Peyton, can´t wait to see her, have heard many good things about her soo far. Well, that is all for now, dad is probably sleeping in bed already, so I shall go do the same maybe, I will see. Agian thank you for the comments.
Every step we are a step closer.
-Jakob