Day #281

Last day in June and I think I spent it pretty wisely. 

Today started with a bowl of Coco Pops. An hour later and I am sat in my pyjamas watching kids TV with a bowl of cereal, a bit like how I picture the rest of my life going. At around lunch time, I filled in a job application and handed it in. Just as I did so, I realised that it was sunny and Saturday, yet I was not playing football with my friend Arthur. Of course I gave him a ring! After an hour of kicking a ball to each other and doing impressions of people from our primary school, I headed into town to buy a book. With all the free time this summer, I want to get into reading so I bought the two books in the third picture. The two books in the picture have contrasts which is always good when starting to get back into reading (said the pretty lady behind the counter so it must be true!), so I bought a satirical history book and a serious, all-sad-like World War One book. The first picture is a bad one; long shutter speed playing guitar for the first time in 12 days! The second picture is kind of like what I imagine heaven to be like. If my nan finds out that I moved her little lady statue across the garden then it is heaven that I will be heading!

Awsome Scotland Red Bull biker guy

Until tomorrow

Will :)

Day #280

Baaaack in the UK! Sorry I missed yesterday's blog post but I was really ill. Am I forgiven? Sweet.

Today we woke up, went to the airport looking truly British with our shorts and my hat on even though it was raining. When we got to the holding pen before the flight it was nice to see more British people who had only packed shorts and were looking a little bit worse for wear with the realisation that they probably had to go back to work on Monday! When we got home we caught up on all the news and gossip from my mum, unpacked and I went to sleep, I am feeling better but still not 100%. Today's picture is of the t-shirt that my dad and brother went out and got for me yesterday.

 Also, a massive thank you is in order, with gift aid included, on the Brian Inglis justgiving page, we have raised over £1200 for cancer research, for which I personally am extremely grateful.

Until tomorrow

Will :)

Day #279

I know what you are thinking (I don't really), but no I have not turned into a Metallica pirate overnight.

Today I was very ill. I spent the first part of the day in the square outside the cathedral talking with various people arriving that we had gotten to know quite well, including 2 ladies from Oregon and the British lady. Just as we were saying goodbye to them, our friend Nacho came striding into the square (the guy in the middle), and my dad literally ran over and grabbed him. He was pretty emotional. It's a feeling that's hard to describe. After I had taken the picture and exchanged a few 'high tens' with the man, we headed into the cathedral for pilgrim's mass, during which the priests swing an incense ball along the nave, through a gap in the pews. It flies so high, it almost hits the ceiling! If you have been interested in the Camino, you will love the film 'The Way'. It is one of my favourite films.

Until tomorrow

Will :)

Day #278

A journey of a thousand miles starts with a single step and ours ended with a painful march up a crowded, dusty road with cars beeping as we finish our walk. 

The morning air greeted us with anticipation. We knew what would happen today. We were to finish. For my dad and brother, this was very special because they had been doing it in sections for 6 years, rather than me who tags on at the end. With every footstep, the Cathedral of St James felt closer and closer. 

I won't bore you with the details of how many times we stopped for water but the humidity ensured it was plenty. We had just stopped for an ice cream (living rough, right?) about 6 Km from Santiago and were coming down the road with the city in sight and suddenly music almost identical to that of 'The Lord of the Rings' came on. It's the very peaceful music whereby Sam says to Frodo something like "Think of home Frodo, think of the flowers and the shire, Mr Frodo." It was at this moment that I knew I had to destroy the ring...I mean I had to complete the walk. 

The journey from the outskirts (where photo number 2 was taken at - Monto Gozo) to the old town in which the cathedral stood was a very hard one. The pilgrims seemed to dwindle and industrial noises could echo through my badly packed rucksack. 

When we arrived in the square, so many of the people that we had been travelling with or at similar times were there. Acquaintances that had become friends made the arrival rather emotional. It lead to me setting my small tripod up and taking the photo which is the first. We look like giants! After sitting down, I took a picture of the shells on the back of my brother and I's bags. My shell is the peace sign on the right and his is the Camino arrow on the left. It has been a long journey and I have enjoyed nearly all of it: the food, the walking and especially the people. 

We have now checked into a four star-hotel to enjoy the last two nights in comfort before flying back.

I hope you have enjoyed reading the progress and I hope to see you on The Way one day soon.

(If I have missed anything out I will have to re-edit another day. Off to watch the football in the square!)

Until tomorrow

Will :) 

Day #277

If you think that the second picture looks abit awkward with 8 bunk beds to a room then you should have seen the room in Ponferrada with 50 bunk bed! It effectively becomes snore tennis, and at 45-0 my dad won. Today we set off from Ribadiso. With full water bottles and my pack of biscuits we headed for Santa Irene, not knowing what we would find. This day was the hottest it has been here which is lovely to sit in but unbearable to do any kind of walking in. The first picture is of a butterfly, sunning itself on a rock on the path. When we arrived at the hostel, I was a bit suspicious. There were towels and sheets on the beds! As well as these luxury items, there was an amazing shower. When I say amazing I mean amazing by a pilgrim's standards - hot AND cold water, and it stayed on for longer than 10 seconds! After getting settled, I got chatting to two girls, one from the USA and one from England. The girl from America was going home to give up all her possessions and become a nun. The girl from England and I bonded over what hurt the most, legs or shoulders. She won with shin splints. This amazingly high quality hostel was - in my opinion - the world's way of releasing pilgrims back into the real world slowly and with white towels.

Until tomorrow

Will :)

Day #276

50 Km to Santiago, and for tonight's sleep, a disused hospice. 

Today, us three excited-yet-weary travellers set off from 'Palas de Rei' at our usual time of 7 o'clock to reach Ribadiso for the equally usual time of about 1 o'clock. We walked through our usual scenery of country paths, farms, villages, towns and slightly bigger towns. The first photo is of a man herding sheep through the middle of us. 

Many people have the same or similar agendas to us whereby they walk about 25 Km per day and rest at specific hostels but our friend Málin is getting the bus to Santiago so we will probably not see her again, a shame because she has become great company on the walk. The second picture is of a really cute fluffy dog in a town we walked through. I had to get quite low to the ground to take the photo which is a bit dark and must have looked abit odd to say the least. The third photo is my brother and dad at the 50 Km mark. Not long to go. The last photo is the old converted hospice which we stayed in with a river good enough to swim in. I must admit I was hoping for ghosts.

Until tomorrow

Will :)

Day #275

Apologies for skirting around what happened this fine walking day but I cant really remember. All the walking kind of merges into one. The first picture is of the Templar's cross on the floor outside a church and the second photo is one of the candles inside the church.

Until tomorrow (which I should be typing within the next 2 minutes)

Will :)

Day #274

With four days left of walking, my dad and broher both have blisters on their feet. Yet, as the novice, I have none. Last night in Sarria, my brother and I played cards with two guys the same kind of age as us from Korea, so every game was slightly different to what we were used to. 

My lack of sleep was not particularly helped last night as a woman in the next bunk to mine was vomitting into a carrier bag, quite loudly, and Spanishly.... 

Today I woke up quite ratty due to a complete lack of energy, and breakfast could not come soon enough. As we arrived, we greeted a Canadian guy who said straight away "Don´t go round that corner; there´s a dog that just bit my ass." We did not go round that corner because we were terrified of the Canadian-eating pooch. Just after breakfast we met a pirate looking guy from Madrid called Nacho, who was a children´s book illustrator and was absolutely tanking it. As we were walking with Nacho and talking about our life stories, we passed the 100km to Santiago marker which is in photograph one. The day was completed by rolling into town called PortoMarin like the three blisterteers and Málin. The town was built on a man-made lake and we are now settling down for a siesta followed by a walk round the town and football in the pub. You are now suitably updated on where we are.

Until whenever 

Will :)

Day #273

"I have my magic potion to make my feet better"...Of course you do, crazy English lady. I find it hard to recall what happened yesterday (23.06.12)...not because of the local wine but because maybe the lack of sleep and the long walking. Today we took breakfast in Samos which is a huge monetary  (third picture) then rolled into a town called Sarria where I took the wall painting in photo 4. The morning was really misty for an hour (Were you expecting chronology?) and with all the hills the valley looked really nice.

Until very soon

Will :)

Day #272

Happy summer solstice from the suniest place in northern Europe, not. Today after being woken up at 6:00 AM by people with torches, my dad, brother and I did the very British thing of wearing shorts and setting off even in the rain. Everyone from hotter countries like Italy was just staring at us as we left like we were crazy. We reached breakfast and coffee ontop of another large hill which wasn´t too bad especially with Coldplay´s new album playing in my ears. As we were leaving we met up with our friend Málin (my dad says that´s how you spell it) who spent the night at a different hostel. We are now seeing faces that we see in the evening at the hostels and becoming friends with some and on nodding terms with others. As we neared the end of our walk with about  8km to go, we stopped for coca cola and caught our breath. Just as we had sat down and I had ordered the cokes in my perfect (broken) Spanish, a woman began herding about 25 cows out of the barn and up the street. The cows seemed un-phased by the two dogs who were trying to be quite loud. As we checked in and did our washing, ate a huge sandwich and gotten settled at the Municipal hostel in Triacastella, we discovered that Málin was in mine and my brother's room. The room has two bunk beds, the last one being filled by a Spanish girl who I haven't met yet. With the football on the television, it could be a late night!

Until whenever I find Wi-Fi and a computer

Will :) 

Day #271

Good evening from the third night of the Camino which is actually being written on the fourth day, if you are as confused as I am then no worries. The night in the ´Fenix´or ´Pheonix´ went really well, it is worth noting that it is called this because the last hostel on the site burnt down and the new one literally rose out of the ashes, the first picture is the sign for it. That night we also met two Americans; John and his son Alex. Today we walked our second section of 25km which was killer. The day started with a 10 km march up a hill to breakfast, after Oreos, donuts and plenty of pastries, we set off for the German hostel in ´La Faba´. The last 6km of the way up to ´La Faba´ was very hard, almost a straight up slope. Soon after we arrived we met a police officer from Holland who was absolutely hilarious. The second photo is rain and the third is me throwing cards, elegantly.

Until tomorrow

Will :)

Day #270

Even in Spain, I still manage to take a picture of water. Today we walked the first 25 Km of our 210Km walk and I can safely say that I will sleep well tonight. Last night was spent in a room of 50 bunk beds, all full of pilgrims from all over the world. I thought getting to sleep would be impossible but actually, with the help of my Ipod it went okay. At four in the morning I was awoken by people with torches and alarm clocks, it was clear that roughing it began here. After waking up and throwing some clothes on, we headed out with our bags which weigh a tonne! It started out as hard work but with the conversation of my brother and Dad it was all good. We have already made two "friends", one is called Merrilyn (I think) and another is a German guy with a really German name, like... Henrich Ironman. Tonight after finishing and having a shower I am absolutely shattered, all that is left is socializing, football on the television and another crowded room to sleep in. Tonight we are staying in a hostal called ´Pheonix´ and run by a man called ´Jesus´, something tells me this place is special.

Until whenever I can get to a computer

Will :)

Day #269

On a pay compuiter in a town which I can´t remember the name of, it´s time to get into some serious blogging. Today (18/06/12) we took 6 hours of transport to arrive at our destination for the first night. The town is called ´Pomferrada´ and it did have a really nice hostel despite having to go through a hole in some trees to use the showers!
 The first photo is of a 5 star hotel in Santiago which is very expensive to stay in. It's ironic because it used to be a free hospital for pilgrims walking the Camino. The second picture is of a very Spanish busking band in the centre of the city. The third picture is of clouds ontop of a hilltop which we were staying near.

Until tomorrow...Which is actually the day that I am writing this

Will :)

A quick Camino update

As the title suggests, this is just a quick update from the bus that we are travelling on (nope, we aren't cheating). We are getting it from where we finish to where we start to end up where we finish again. Complicated I know. This is not a replacement for the project 365. I will make the days up wherever I get the chance. There isn't much left to say other than catch up soon, my friends and family. Will :)

Day #268

I have to get up at what time tomorrow? Oh ridiculous o'clock, right. Today my bag got packed and I mentally prepared for the task ahead... waking up at 2 AM. I'm only joking, tomorrow my dad, brother and I are walking the last part of the Camino (a pilgrimage in spain which has been turned into a walking holiday for the Daily mail readers), its wierd that I haven't done the first bit, or any of the walk and yet 11 days from now I should theoretically have finished it, its kind of catching the end of a film that you really wanted to see and not the whole thing - the illusion is ruined, but not quite. Serious note now and on the giving page which I put up on my blog on 'Day #260', we have raised £540 which is 270% of what we originally set out to raise plus another £127.50 from gift aid so right now the total stands at £667.50 which is amazing so thank you very much! Over the next 11 days, my dad has kindly said that I can take my camera and a netbook to carry on the blog..That's the theory anyway, it might be that I do what I did when I went on holiday to Ipswich (trust me, it was a holiday), whereby I take the photos and update all the days of the blog when I get back. Today's photos are firstly, my intimidatingly large walking boots infront of our backpacks. I am apparently carrying the first aid kit with blister plasters in it, I think they are trying to tell me something. The second photo is my second attempt at light photography, I wrote my name and circled it with the light that I used for 'Day#262'.

I bid you farewell, take care *awkward hugs while shuffling out of the door*.

Until tomorrow (hopefully)

Will :)

Day #267

Evening all, it's Charivari! Today my friends and I went and watched the age old parade in Folkestone called 'Charivari' which, like the airshow, makes Folkestone what it is - a place where occasionally, stuff happens. I leave for Spain on Monday - early morning and have just been told that I have to wake up at 2 o' clock, does that really happen? Do people wake up earlier than 10 AM? My condolences go to my Russian followers tonight, I wish things could be different after watching their 90 minute struggle against Greece, I wish that We didn't have to go our separate ways, I wish we did not have to go halves on our financial assets while giving a speech to our metephorical kids about how much we still love them despite the Facebook relationship status update.

Until tomorrow

Will :)

Day #266

I think pictures of this flower can be found all over my blog but this is my favourite flower (if I had one, which I don't). After a very exited but nervous 90 minutes of watching an owl order some overpaid hairdressers round a football pitch - nope, not hallucinating due to over-exhaustion from exams, this was Roy Hodgson and the England footballers playing some pretty decent football, followed by some not so decent football, followed by some decent football, followed by a fat baldy englishman shouting "All the way England, all the way!". Watching England shreds my nerves but I will always come back.

Until tomorrow

Will :)

Day #265

Only 100 days left, more emotional over this than moving out of my house. Today as I write this I realise that there is only 99 more days after  today until I finish my project 365 (aced my maths GCSE right?), if anyone has any suggestions over what they want to see more on the blog before it ends then I would really appreciate it as I will have a lot of time on my hands after tomorrow because it is my last exam! I am listening to James Walbourne 'Cocaine eyes' which has some really good guitaring in it which I think means that it breaks away from the folk stereotype, I have mentioned him in the blog before because he is an awsome musician. Today's photo is abit boring, but if you zoom in you can see the little water droplets jumping off of my hand.

Until tomorrow

Will :)

Day #264

I think I am safer uploading this picture than the one of my nan reaching for a bottle of wine. Today we moved out, the house was empty, goodbyes were said and we left to live at my nan's house for a few days. Tonight we sat in the garden because it was blue skies and really warm, ideal conditions for drinking, apparently. My photo today is only on here because I think my brother reflected in the glass of wine looks like a 'Fisheye lens' whereby everything is distorted.

Until tomorrow

Will :)

Day #263

Last day on the bus and I nearly miss it, typical. Today is just a quick one, all of our stuff is now in boxes and we are ready to move out tomorrow. The photo for today is pretty rubbish, long exposure on these things didn't work so well, I like to think that I was supervisor over the packing...

Until tomorrow

Will :)

Day #262

It looks like something that a toddler would draw but this is my light vortex thingy. Today I took my maths resit exam which actually went suspectly well, I usually end after 30 minutes and have a nice sleep for an hour and 15 minutes but today was different, I answered nearly all the questions and only had 5 minutes to spare, afterwards, my friend Aidan and I stumbled on a fantastic website called www.whatdoestheinternetthink.net/ whereby you input anything which is occuring or happening or just in existance and it will tell you what the internet thinks of it, for example if I input 'Oil prices', the figures are... 45.1% negative, 32.5% positive and 22.4% indifferent, it also tells me the overall opinion which is ..."Today the internet is negative about oil prices", amazing right? The photo for today is of my '16 today' badge which lights up 3 different colours being spun around for 30 seconds, I know it isn't great but its my first light trail that I have done so I will try more inventive things with it.

Until tomorrow

Will :)

Day #261

It's Monday tomorrow, last week of exams and I have a brand new calculator! As I sit here listening to 'John Mayer - Slow dancing in a burning room', I am trying to think of anything that I actually did today that is worth writing about, I went for a walk until I realised that walking in the rain isn't particuarly fun, I did a small bit of revision and I watched Ireland lose in the football (on TV, don't get too excited). I also showed my dad how to set his new phone up, if it wasn't for me he would be the owner of a phone with the time 12 hours slow in the year 2000.

Until tomorrow

Will :)

Day #260

Please read, this is something very important to me. A year and a half ago, my mum was diagnosed with breast cancer, she is much better now and is having preventitive treatment to make sure the cancer does not come back. I remember the day that I was told she had cancer because it was the worst day of my life and will continue to be so for a very long time, it was so horrible because it felt like a vital pillar in my support network had collapsed. On Monday 18th of June, my father, brother and I will walk the final stage of the Camino, which is a 750 km pilgrimage through Spain and parts of France. We will be walking to raise money for 'Cancer Research' a worthy charity and one that is very important to me and my family for obvious reasons. If you would like to give a donation which would be amazing, the just giving page is: http://www.justgiving.com/Brian-Inglis0

Thank you for your time

Until tomorrow

Will :)

Day #259

My new hat and 4 year old sunglasses, looks like a person right? Evening all, today I cut the grass and smashed my revision, I now have the weekend for extra work but I think I am ready for my history exam. My mum bought the hat for me 2 days ago and I quite like it, it kind of suits me. While working I was listening to my favourite parody band called 'Flight of the Conchords', I think I will cover some of their songs with my band, here is their song 'Jenny', definately worth a listen.

Until tomorrow

Will :)

Day #258



AAAAARGHHHH!!!! Today you can kind of see what I look like in a skirt. (The two pictures together-bottom as skirt and top as...well... me). I was looking through my cupboard today, after 20 minutes of looking for Mr Tumnous, Aslan and Narnia, I settled for this t-shirt. I have 4 days until my maths and history exams so its cramming time...I mean I have revised the perfect amount and this is just extra preparation. I should also mention my nan who looks at my blog reguarly apparently, thanks nan! And my mum who bought me clothes yesterday and lunch today!

There, I think thats enough jibberish tonight

Until tomorrow

Will :)