Die Camino-Reunion

So that's it - the reunion of our Camino group in Gdansk is already over...

On Friday, I was very excited about how it would be, but actually I should have known from the beginning that every thought is too much... At the airport, Dana and Francesco welcomed me as the last of the group and we drove to Dana & Arek's house, where everyone else was already gathered. It was just a great joy of reunion, there were hugs and embraces as if we were meeting long-time friends after a long time.☺️🤗 There was no restraint or distance at all, so that we could hardly imagine that actually a year has already passed between our farewell in Santiago and today... 

Our group also gained some new members, as Chloe arrived with her boyfriend Arjen and Ginny & Jim arrived with their daughter Chiara. Both were already well informed about us through pictures and stories, so an introduction was not necessary😉

So we now had a total of 12 people, all of whom were accommodated in a 4-room house at Dana & Arek's place - so there was immediately a hostel atmosphere😅

After a welcome Prosecco, a wonderful homemade dinner and an evening walk on the pier in Sopot, we looked at pictures again, told stories and everyone went to their sleeping place around 01:30 am - bed, mattress or sofa😴😄

After a shared breakfast, we went to the old town of Gdansk for a bit of sightseeing and lunch. However, there was not much time left, because at 6:00 p.m. the church service started, which was supposed to mark the beginning of the celebrations for Dana & Arek's 30th wedding anniversary. With 12 people and 2 bathrooms, we had to start the styling measures early - the ladies still had to do their make-up, the gentlemen had to iron their shirts😁 

What none of us knew was that a total of 50 people (i.e. the whole family + friends) were invited. So it was a huge party in a wonderful location and we were so warmly welcomed that we were all very touched. Not only because everything was told or written in English just for us, but also because people were so open to us. For many, it was obviously incomprehensible why we all - especially our overseas people - had traveled specifically for this event, even though we had only known each other for a few days. We couldn't disagree, but I think after the evening everyone understood why☺️☺️ At 2:30 am we went home and some of us were quite - let's call it - merry🤪😂🥳

On Sunday morning, we said goodbye to Ginny, Jim, Chiara, Chloe and Arjen, but it was only a "see you next time" - we will definitely meet again (preferably in Bavaria🙈🙈) in 2020!

For the rest of us, it was a very cozy Sunday, which we mostly spent in the weekend house in Grabowska. A short walk to the nearby lake, coffee, cake, an afternoon nap with a "view" of the greenery provided a great ending to this weekend😊👍🏻

For me, it was time to finish packing my backpack and find a few hours of sleep before Sandra and Alex pick me up at 5:30 a.m. and we drive to the airport. I am very excited about how this year will be - it's completely different conditions... no rain in sight, warm temperatures and of course a good friend with me on the way😍 I'm curious what the Camino has in store for us and I will keep you posted - sometimes with longer, certainly also with shorter entries, which I hope you will forgive😉😘