20 days and 643 km later...

...I finally made it to Trondheim!

Or, as the Great Sajeeva would say: "I'm done, bitches! Yaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!"

Actually, it was two days ago on the 19th that I finished, but I just didn't have a chance to post about it until now. I was actually pretty surprised that I was able to complete the walk as quickly as I did. I don't know if I set any records or anything (because nobody keeps track of that stuff), but I do know that I got to Trondheim at least 5 days faster than the "average" pilgrim. Not that it was a race or anything...I guess I just like to keep a good pace.

Walking down from the hills and into the city was sort of an odd experience for me. On one hand, it was good to know that I would be finished soon and would be able to rest for a while. On the other, the past 20 days had flown by so fast and I had seen so many beautiful things that I kinda didn't want it to end.

It seemed like the closer I got to the Nidaros Cathedral, the more conflicting thoughts and feelings came into my head. Most of the tension was religious/spiritual in nature. Once I sat down in the courtyard in front of the cathedral, I suddenly felt this powerful connection with all the pilgrims who had made the same journey in the past, some nearly a thousand years ago. It was very intense to realize that I had, in a way, just become a member of such an ancient fellowship. But at the same time, I was troubled by questions of why I had made the pilgrimmage in the first place. Obviously, it was not for the same reasons as the original pilgrims, as I had no expectations of miracles or divine intervention upon my arrival. I knew that the "true" pilgrims were drawn to Nidaros not because they enjoyed natural scenery or wanted to "see Norway," but because they were compelled to go by a powerful sense of faith. And that kind of faith is something I just don't have.

So why did I do it? Why did I choose to spend 20 days walking to a place I could have reached in 4 hours by train? Why was I sitting in front of that cathedral, sweating like a pig, with a giant pack on my back? To be perfectly honest, I don't really know. It is true that, before I departed, the whole thing just "felt right," but I have a hard time accepting that a rational person would undertake such an immense task based on something so nebulous. I guess I'm starting to accept that it may take some time, perhaps a long time, before I fully understand what this pilgrimmage means to me. I'm banking on the hope that with experience and reflection, I'll have a clearer picture of what compelled me to set off in the first place, and how things have changed now that I'm done. I wish I could say that, while perched atop some Norwegian mountain peak or in the shadow of an awe-inspiring cathedral, I had some sort of epiphany, some kind of earth-shattering insight into my life, because that sort of thing makes for very interesting writing. But I suppose that I should know by now that those epiphanies never seem to arrive when I want or expect them to.

So, now that I'm finally here, what am I doing? Well, not a whole lot, and that's okay with me. I think I need a little down time to digest all that's happened in the past few weeks. Lucky for me, I've been CouchSurfing again with a Norwegian couple, and they've been so great about making me feel at home while I'm here. Just what the doctor ordered.

So what's the next step? Well, tonight I'm taking the bus down to Bergen to check that area out. I mean, as long as I'm here I might as well, right? And after that I'll probably head back to Oslo, take it easy for a few days, and then...well, I'll save that for another post.

Bear with me for a little while and I'll have a new post with a few more Norway pics up in a jiffy.