ABOUT MONICA AND LITTLE BARTEK
In the refuge of Villafranca Montes de Oca I met up with Polish born Monica and her son Bartek who is 2 years and 4 months old.
The two leave Portomarín (mid January 2010)
MORE PICTURES FROM MONICA AND BARTEK IN THE GALLERY (HOME PAGE)
They have been on the camino since September 2009, a trip of 3100 kms from Lublin in eastern Poland. Monica is a 27-year old journalist, with a daughter of 5 back home and her little son always nearby. On 25 January 2010 they arrived safely in SDC, and were planning to walk to Fátima in northern Portugal, even to Lisbon. In May they hope to return to Poland.
In particular in Spain Monica experienced some problems. Several times she was ordered off the road by policemen. These problems did not occur in Poland, Germany and France. Her route had taken her to Leipzig, Frankfurt, Vezelay, Moissac, Roncesvalles, Burgos, to SDC. She always stayed in the albergues or with people in private houses, like the house of Dr. Aña Lundt in Agés on Christmas Day (with me and an American guy: Jacob).
Her preparations had only taken one day, and off she went! She started her pilgrimage on the doorstep of her home in Lublin.
"Where did you stay in Poland?" I asked her.
"At the end of the day you go to the church and ask for help," was her reply.
I met her several times after the first meeting in the refuge of Villafranca: in Agés, Burgos, Hontanas, Astorga, Portomarín and Palas de Rei. One morning I opened the "Voz de Galicia" and noticed that she had safely made it to SDC. Pictures of her featured next to the story that backpacks are not allowed anymore inside the cathedral for security reasons.
Christmas Day: Jacob, Monica and Dr. Iñia.
On Christmas Eve we spent the night in a wet Albergue de Villafranca Montes de Oca. The hospitalera told us that we would find an albergue open in Agés the next day. This was not as easy as it sounded, but getting to Burgos (another 24 kms) through thick snow was impossible. That's when Dr. Iñia Lund stepped in. She opened her house to us and gave us lunch and dinner. An unforgettable Christmas! She just returned from Africa where she had worked as a physician. Iñia is Norwegian but speaks perfect Spanish and lives modestly in the little village of Agés (near Atapuerca). Her companion, Fran, did the cooking.
