[Gocamino] sixteen months on the Camino

[blaroli@aol.com]

Hello you all, 
Nineteen-years old Vincent Van Zadelhoff set out for Santiago, on the 30th of November of 2004, from his native city of Haarlem in Holland. He arrived at the Santiago Cathedral on March 13th of this year after walking more than two thousand five hundred kilometers.
The young pilgrim carried on his back pack a tent, a sleeping back, and cooking and other needed utensils.  While he found many albergues throughout the way, he had to spend many nights outdoors. He claims that the albergues in Spain were far and away the best.
Young Vincent appears to be delighted with his experience. The most difficult days, he says, were the Christmas holidays during which he missed his family. He also stated that crossing the Pyrenees was quite difficult since the snow reached up to his knees for ten days.... and at times he thought that he wouldn't make it.
He is very happy to have met so many wonderful pilgrims and believes that the friendships he formed will be long lasting. From Longronho to Santiago he walked with two Japanese female pilgrims from Osaka. The young women had read a very old book in Japan about the Camino and decided to make the pilgrimage. Neither young Vincent nor the Japanese pilgrims spoke Spanish or each other's language, nevertheless, upon arriving in  Santiago together they claimed that they had no difficulty whatever understanding one another.
 
Young Vincent plans to become as policeman and patrol the streets of his native city.  While he was offered opportunities to return to Holland by plane, rail or bus, he turned them down in favor of going beck on a donated bicycle so as to "relive the extraordinary expansion of the human spirit on the Camino."
 
A picture of the  tall, blond, young man appeared on the Correo of March 14th.
 
He certainly has earned the very broad and happy smile that adorns his handsome face.
 
Regards,
 
Rosina