Low battery. Too little sun for the solar charger. See you in a few days! Stay in touch!

When someone turns your world upside down

The evening is very calm, a bit chilly in the air, and crispy too. Fresh. I'm sure you know what I'm trying to describe here. This is the moment that arrives just after the sun sets. There is a kind of swich in the air as well as in the wilderness.  Some birds stop their seductive singing, calling for a mate. Others start just to make us sure that the day of sunshine is over and night of moonlight is approching, to restore us, to heal us. Breathing in the crispy air is refreshing my nose, throat all the way down to my lungs..

Today we went to the library in Eskilstuna just to look up a few things. We hadn't eaten since 8 o clock in the morning, and now is was around 12.30 pm. It took a while, and when the library closed we almost crawled out of it, and then sat down for lunch. A woman who worked at the library's café, started to carry the chairs inside, just as the normal procedure. We said hi and she went in, but after 15 minutes, us still Sitting there, she came out again. She was on her way home, buy first she wanted to know where we were going and why. We told her and for a moment our meeting became very intense. With tears in her eyes she told us that she believed in us and what we are doing.  Suddenly I felt more courageous than I had felt during the last 129 km that had passed. Thank you for showing your real self Jenny. You gave us one more thing to believe and have faith in. Now we know what really counts - that we realized our dream and started the journey,  not only mentally.  But turned into a reality.

A reflection: what where you thinking when your eyes suddenly turned dewy? And when that teardrop then fell down your cheek?

The fish start playing in the river now. My tent is a hundered meters away, so I'm heading there now. Thank you river for giving me inspiration and time to slowly breath.

Good night,

Peace, Love and eternal bliss

Lovisa and Loïs

Garlic

Good garlic evening!

Yes, we are eating lots of garlic and tent almost smells of it. Everything tastes better with garlic, I'm sure we all can agree on this?! Garlic,  salt and pepper. Yum! The thing is, since this walk, as much as possible, is a green walk, we use organic shampoo, soap and even toothpaste. I think it is quite easy to forget and not being aware of  the many polluting  liquids we flush down our toilet. I'm lackning in knowledge when it comes to how much each liquid is polluting, and in what way it is hurting nature. All I know is that it's terribly wrong.
I like how The Moneyless Man Mark Boyle puts it: If we all had to clean our own drinking water, I doubt we would pee and poo and it.
So then it is not just the liquids we use then... happy we're  helping nature composting right now instead,  ha ha!!

Tomorrow will be our first day on a walking route, it is called ''Sörmlandsleden''.  We have been walking on countryroads and a few times, and mostly short distances, even bigger roads (don't tell mum and dad). There was not always an option to be honest.
Anyway, We will start outside Eskilstuna and then see how far we'll go tomorrow. So our first day on walking route means your first day without reading the word ''asphalt'' in this blog! Hurray!!

Early for us tonight. Sleep well. Stay in touch. Take care.

Peace, Love and Eternal Bliss

Lovisa and Loïs

Live update! Having lunch by the bridge of Kvicksund

First, I'd like to send many many thanks to all of you taking your time reading this blog and hopefully enjoying it. That is most important to me, to give you a nice time reading during a busy, or a lazy day. It means a lot to me. And also thanks to all of you sharing it. I could never imagine it would spread this fast. Knowing that you follow us on our journey is really really supporting,  both when we feel happy and full of energy, and when or feet hurt and hunger sets in. Hurting feet means you are getting somewhere though, and that you are walking, close to nature's ground,  even though the sole of your shoes and the asphalt covering the ground is reducing the connection you feel.  We will, but not today or tomorrow, maybe try to walk barefoot. Just to show our appreciation to the astonishing nature surrounding us.

Having a lunch break now in Kvicksund. We will continue around 4 km further. I'm writing a blog tonight too if connection is available!

Have a splendid day!!

Peace and Love,

Lovisa and Loïs

Vicksängs församling (the church of Vicksäng)

I don't know where or how to start......
This time it's not a clichée to say that I am out of words. Or, I will put it this way instead: From now on I will forget all about clichées, because who invented the first clichée anyway? How does something become a clichée or end up being a clicée? Let's just forget all about them, because what they really are is just pure and honest expressions of feelings. And sometimes I wonder if I know something more beautiful than doing so.

Loïs and I continued our walk from a church ouside Enköping two days ago. I mentioned this church in an earlier post.  Beautifully situated up on a hill it was.
The caretaker who, without any hesitation, gave us the open hearted permission to let us sleep outside the church,  said good morning the next day by giving us breakfast.
He also brought some necesserities that he thought would make or life on the road easier. I send all my thanks and lots of love to you Tom. Taking a detour in order to bring us some freshly made bread, was more than we could ever dream of. Thank you.

Walking into Västerås yesterday, the heat rising from the asphalt (I know I have been nagging a lot about asphalt in almost every post I have written, but as soon as we reach Eskilstuna, in around three days,  I will put an end to it, since we will then hit a real walking route), we thought that the road ahead of us was about to melt. I think that our bodies too said 'no more', and actually wanted the road to melt so that we could not continue,  even though our stubborn minds wanted.
We then passed the church of Viksäng with it's stunning oak yars, green leaves bathing in the sun.  We walked up to the parish house to ask for a stamp when a group of very nice women greeted us with curiosity.  We are pilgrims on our way to Santiago we said, and then everything happend so quickly. In just ten minutes we we were offered all the facilities we needed and so much more. What can I say, for today's breakfast we were invited to Sara, a woman full of energy,  working as a priest. She told us a lot about how they work in Västerås,  really trying to include everyone. Young, old, gay, queer - all are welcome. On friday the church will celebrate rainbow mass, and then on saturday participate in the first Pride Parade arranged in Västerås. She was very excited about this,  and I think that she is storing and restoring energy with the help of the pillars that her belief rests on.  I think this was very beautiful to see and to have the opportunity to be a part of.

We are both so very grateful.

A reflection: Thank you Caroline for the interesting conversation we had about  giving and recieving. This really is something we will carry with us along the way.

We have to move on now. As a beloved friend once said to me: you have to continue, carrying the special memories with you. But don't cry. Remember and laugh. And then keep the doors of your heart open for the new adventures coming.

Love, peace and eternal bliss.

Loïs och Lovisa

What a wonderful world this is

I will tell you more about this tomorrow, because this wonderful day has not ended yet. It will, in a way, continue tomorrow..... :)

Sleep tight.

Love and Peace,

Lovisa and Loïs

A certain kind of protection

Good evening!

For once I'm not lying inside my tent,  but Sitting outside right next to it (!). That might be good as a change. Who knows? Changing habits is really efficient sometimes. Gives you a new perspective in a way.

There are some things that you just have to love and give a lot of love to when you walk and live like this (no particular order here):
  First: your walking companion.  Give her lots of love even though you feel like you are out words due to your tired head, and you know that you are  going to walk another 10 km on that same straight road of asphalt.
Secondly: SURPRISE!!  YOur shoes. Let them know you havn't forgot about them. Put them in a nice cozy platic bag every night before you go to bed so they will have a good rest before tomorrow's new adventures.
Thirdly: your walking stick. One time someone somewhere told me that you can put 20% of your body weight on your stick while walking. That means a lot to us right now.
Forthly: all the people you meet every day that open up their hearts for us, giving us so much energy. Someone waving from a car, someone at the supermarket asking where your going,  a nice old stubborn man who after a moment of suspicious looks, decides to refill our waterbottles from his own tap.

I could go on for ever you see...

Five days have passed and tonight we put up our tents in a beautiful little village around 18 km outside Enköping. Earlier today we spotted a church on the map, hoping and praying that we could stay there for the night. Now we are here, just by the church. There is a friendly atmosphere here, like Loïs said that she in a normal case would not like to sleep by the church seeing that with a church,  often comes a graveyard. But tonight she feels calm. The caretaker of the church also greeted us and when leaving after closing the church for the day,  he gave us two candles to light for him in Santiago de Compostela.

A reflection: Thinking of death is sometimes scary. But life isn't always scary, it can be, but not always. And death is a part of life, right? If you see it that way it might become a little little less scary....

Good night, have a good night's sleep and hug each other before you go to bed.

Love, peace and eternal bliss,

Lovisa and Loïs

The perfect sign on the imperfect campingsite

Lying in my tent, close to sleep, for the fourth time since we started. I really like it. The wind that is blowing the tent softly from side to side, and the raindrops that vary in shape and size bring peace into my mind. I Can't help but having a cozy warm feeling inside of me, knowing that this shelter will help me stay warm tonight.

Today I'd like to say many many thanks to the helpfull girls atbthe reception of hotel Kompassen in Enköping, letting us walk into the nice and clean hotel for a refreshing ''shower'' in the bathroom without shower. It made us walk on for another 3 km, even though we where exhausted.

A reflection: Every day the magical moments pass us by when we have the chance to say ''yes'' or ''no'' to life. A ''yes'' can change everything, but we might need a lot of courage to say it. Saying ''no'' is often tje easier option.

I'd just like to add something about our campingsite tonight.  We are quite close to a big road, so we can hear the cars passing by all the time. I'm sure we will find sleep after today' s walk, but still this is not exactly what we wanted. And this is life.  Acceptance in a way. Feeling low, tired both mentally and physically, we suddenly saw a big wooden cross leaning against a tree. A pilgrims symbol. We might ve on the right way after all...

Sleep tight :)!

Peace and eternal bliss,

Loïs and Lovisa

Tramping asphalt

The blog from yesterday:

Good evening all of you!

We left our bags outside the tents last night, putting all of our belief in the goodness of human beings.  I mean, who would steal a big black plastic bag that weighs around 17 kilos (without water...)?? Before falling asleep we told each other that if someone tried to steal our backpack, we would hear it. Waking up this morning then, walking away for a morning-pee and suddenly see a man fishing down by the lake, made us realize that we must have been sleeping quite deeply. The seven different flowers we put under our pillows last night. According to a Swedish midsummer tradition, this ritual cause you to dream about who you will marry in the future. Our tents really must have bubbled of love last night....

Two friends of mine came over today. When I say ''came over'' it almost sounds like they live next door, but apparently they don't. Quite hard to live next door to some that are constantly in move. So instead they drove here,  a 30 min drive just to see us. We shared eco chocolate, eco crisps, eco coffe,  eco tea.. you name it. A real feast!! Thank you so much Mirjam and Sofia. You are both beautiful sunrays!!

We sleep outside a school today,  just ouside on a lawn that we found. I love how Loïs just putted it - it's like being in a supermarket after closing time. Now all the children is on their summerbreak and the only things that are left are the memories created during the term. The walls are speaking. Some might be with their grandparents out on the countryside,  leaving their little town for a while. Some might run around catching beautifully coloured butterflies. Who knows what their summer will bring? I hope the sun will help them grow.

A reflection: If you lie down on the ground,  stretching, you will see the world through the eyes of an insect. 

Good night, sleep well.

Peace and eternal bliss

Loïs and Lovisa

Midsummers Eve

Happy Midsummers Eve everyone!

All over Sweden,  people party and celebrate today. It's Midsummers Eve. I believe that the partying is a kind of a last day celebration for the little sunlight that Sweden gets every year. Around 21st of June every year it is an astrnomical event called Summer solstice (Sommarsolståndet).  This is the day when we have the longest day and the shortest night. Then it starts getting darker at night and the days with beautiful sunlight last longer.  If this is not something worth partying for, I don't know what is? And so we did (see picture if you scroll down).

I find the celebration part of Midsummers Eve more interesting this year. In ancient times the Midsummers Night was said to be a very special night when it comes to magic. Supernatural beings and creatures were much more active. If you werw looking for healing medicine plants this was the perfect night going looking for them. We might go having a look at nightfall, Loïs and I. The woods that we are sleeping in tonight is supposed to be a nest of love....

It's funny to realize and see how the world in some way conspires in helping you ending up where you really want to be, or somewhere you for some reason really have to go.
Today when we walked on a sunny countryroad looking for a place where we could refill our waterbottles,  we stumbled upon a rehab center for alcohol and drug abusers, situated beautifully by a lake. We were immideately invited for a cup of coffe and some cake.
Thank you for your hospitality and open hearted atmosphere! That was just what we needed at that time. Our short time there also made me question things in life. Thank you.

A reflection: If you give, unconditionally, it will spread like waves on water.

The bonfire is almost out.

Good night and have a good day tomorrow!

Peace and eternal bliss,

Loïs and Lovisa

The walking wounded

Good evening! !

I really shouldn't be lying here, in my tent, writing a blog this late because the alarm will go off at 6.00 am tomorrow. We want to start quite early since we today realized that we have almost forgot all about organazing and packning during our post-first-Camino year.  It really takes a lot of effort and brainpower, more than we thought...

We met wonderful country-people today.  Only friendly souls. Two people asked us if we wanted to have something to eat, but the first time we had just eaten and the second time we really were to tired just having a normal conversation, ha ha, our blood sugar was apparently very low.

I havn't told you yet, but I'm treating a wound on my right knee that I got 4 days before we started our journey. Who is testing my willpower and belief? I'd like to know... anyway it is healing and I'm sure some more walking and fresh air will help.

A reflection: I'm too tired to come up with some philosofical news. All I want to say is that we invited and kept the mosquitoes company tonight. We are going to have to buy mosquito repellent in Enköping. Three more days,  three more days....

Good night my friends.

Peace and eternal bliss

Lovisa and Loïs.

In preparation

Hi to everyone who found it interesting to click on the link to read this blog!

In two days, on the 20th of June, Loïs and I, Lovisa, will start a long walk/journey/pilgrimage with the goal to reach Santiago de Compostela in Spain. So I thought it could be nice to have a blog to be able to share reflections, pictures, thoughts.....

Loïs and I met a little bit more than one year ago, when we walked the Way of Saint James, or as it is called in Spanish - El Camino de Santiago. Ever since the medival time, believers have been walking El Camino. The reason why people did this is because of the legend saying that Saint James, or Jesus Apostle James, was miraculously saved after Jesus death and then carried by boat all the way from Jerusalem to Santaigo de Compostela (Santiago is the name of Saint James in Spanish), and then burried there. A great cathedral was built afterwards to honour the Holy Sepulchre (den heliga graven).

Today, walking El Camino is really becoming more and more popular. It's well way-marked and there are plenty of hostels, and sometimes even churches to stay in along the way. People walking do it beacuse of many different reasons. Some where facing a difficult time in their lives and needed to start again from scratch, and thought that a long walk will be a great new start. And what I heard the walk really helped people. Others where just found there goal and meaning along the way. 

Most of the people walking start either in a town on the way, or from the main town Saint-Jean-Pied-du -Port, beautifullt situated at the foot of the Pyrenées. When Loïs and I walked we started in this town, but we met several who started from their homes in Germany, Spain, France and Belgium. Hearing this gave birth to the dream of walking all the way from my home, in Sigtuna, Sweden. There was in particular one Dutch man who planted this seed, and for this I will always be greatful to him. Thank you for making contact that first day in Saint-Jean-Pied-du-Port and for all the inspiration you gave me and the important reflections you shared.

This long walk will not just be a walk without meaning. I don't know anything about my friend Loïs personal goals, but I know much about the goals that we share. So this blog is called "The Green Pilgrims", and the reason behind this is that we want to try to live as environmental-friendly as possible while walking. What we will do in order to achieve this is something I will write about soon, we just have to make sure that my smartphone will charge with the solarpanel charger we bought, ha ha!

Thank you for reading,

Peace and Eternal Bliss,

Lovisa