May 27th: Crossing the Pyrenees

Well, what a couple of days we have had! This is the first time that I am getting a chance to post here since we left for our trip late on Tuesday night.

So, after we traveled from Atlanta through Istanbul, Madrid, Soria, and Pamplona finally arriving at our destination: Saint Jean Pied de Port (meaning Saint John at the foot of the pass), it is needless to say that we were very tired and jet-lagged. Emotions were high and we had a fair bit of culture shock and language-barrier problems to get though. But we did, we finally made it to the traditional beginning of the Camino Frances, which is the most popular of the routes on the Camino de Santiago de Compostela.

When we arrived in Saint Jean, we were greeted by the majestic Pyrenees mountains, which I must say are far more intimidating in person than they were in my imagination. After settling in to our hostel, we spent a lovely evening walking around Saint Jean on Thursday and getting fully ready for our trek in the morning. 

This morning (Friday) we woke up a little later due to jet lag keeping is up so late, but we were out the door and filling up our water bottles at around 7:45AM. We headed through the city to the real start of the Camino, which was a very exciting moment!

The first 8 km or so of today are entirely uphill and very difficult. We were enveloped in a cloud the entire time which was hard, but became a blessing in the end because we couldn't see the great distance we had further to go.
At the 8 km mark is a small town called Orrison (just a restaurant, hostel and maybe a few houses) where we stopped to catch our breath and drink some coffee.

After that, though it was getting harder to motivate ourselves to keep going, we continued up the many hills and mountains of the Pyrenees. We made friends along the way in cafes, along the side of the road, and later in the albergue (hostel). We saw plenty of wildlife - including sheep, cows, wild horses, lizards, cats, a mule, vultures, and many, many slugs. The views were beyond spectacular and we were in continual awe and raptures while pushing ourselves to keep going. All in all, I would say that though this rivals one of the most difficult experiences of my life, it definitely also rivals one of the most beautiful experiences of my life.

Finally arriving in Roncesvalles after 8.5 hours of mostly uphill slogging, we were filled with utter relief, exhaustion, and pride. Although I cannot speak for my fellow pilgrims, I can say that I would do this again (maybe with a week-long break or so) for the amazing experience and awe-inspiring views. Overall, I think we can safely say this was a breathtaking experience, literally and figuratively.

(I'm not sure when I'll post this because I must wait for proper wifi first and hopefully pictures will follow soon)

An interview with the girls

To start out this blog, my Mummy (Karen Sculley) graciously offered to do a short interview with each pilgrim before we begin this adventure tomorrow. Here is a short peek into our building excitement with a short Q&A:

inquired of Cascade:

Q1: If you had to encapsulate your dreams for this pilgrimage in 5 words or less, what would you say

• Walking, Nature, Diversity, Stars, Journey

Q2: What kind of people are you hoping to encounter along the way?

• All sorts of people from all over the world hopefully

Q3: Please tell us which of your Camino playlist songs you anticipate being the most meaningful as you set out.

• I have a Camino playlist? Umm . . . most likely I’ll end up listening to the songs from Phantom of the Opera or Les Mis over and over again.

asked of Elaine:

Q4: What prompted you to embark on this pilgrimage?

• Cascade, it’s all Cascade’s doing.

Q5: Can you think of a word picture to describe your feelings today, the night before you leave on this journey?

• Before the beginning of the Canterbury Tales and they are going to set out and tell stories to each other.

Q6: If you meet a stray cat in Spain and accidentally adopted said cat and nestled it in your backpack, while keeping your total weight within the manageable limits, what would you name her or him?

• Minerva.

sought from Emily:

Q7: Which of your life experiences would you say has best prepared you to set out on a journey such as this?

• Going to Kosovo and working at a summer camp there; living at Georgia State and having to walk everywhere

Q8: What kind of weather conditions do you expect to encounter?

• Chilly and cool and sort of rainy; kind of expecting the worst, but it says 70s and fine

Q9: If you were to forget to bring an essential item, what would it likely be, and how would you obtain said item?

• Cell phone charger, and I’d probably have to buy one in a big city or the airport

Anyway, I hope you look forward to following us as frequently (or sporadically) as we can post on here. As you can tell here, we three are very different people but united in being very excited and expectant for this next expedition!

- Cascade