Galician Camino

[thomryng]

After walking the Francés in 2013 from Roncesvalles and in 2016 from St Jean, my wife Francine and I were busy planning our next Spanish adventure for 2020.

The plan was that I would walk the Francés from St Jean, while she took a flat in Burgos to work on her historical romance book about the Camino. When I was done walking, we'd meet up and explore some of the places along the Camino in more depth, travelling by train or bus.

Life is funny.

We're still planning 2020, but the pull of the Camino was stronger than we expected. One thing led to another, and yesterday we bought tickets for a short Camino this October "just to tide us over" until 2020.

We arrive in Madrid on October 4, and we're planning to head up to O Cebreiro as our starting spot. We'll take it slow - we're budgeting 10 days or so to Santiago.

We hope to see some of you there!

 

[Bala]

You'll be just a few days ahead of me. Fingers crossed for good weather. Buen Camino!

Oh, PS -- are you planning to stay in the albergue or one of the little inns? I won't arrive til late afternoon and, even in October, I'm a little leary of relying on space in the albergue. But booking private accomodation in advance from the U.S. doesn't look easy, either. Darned if I do, darned if I don't.

I know, I know, trust it will all work out.

 

[thomryng]

Oh, PS -- are you planning to stay in the albergue or one of the little inns? I won't arrive til late afternoon and, even in October, I'm a little leary of relying on space in the albergue. But booking private accomodation in advance from the U.S. doesn't look easy, either. Darned if I do, darned if I don't.

I know, I know, trust it will all work out.

We keep going back and forth on this, primarily because we're still a little unsure of our timing in getting to O Cebreiro. I think the preference is one of the little inns, as we had some wacky experiences in that particular albergue on a previous Camino, but we'll take it as it comes.

Hope to meet up with you on the Way!

 

[nycwalking]

Please tell us when book is finished and ready for purchase.

Buen camino to you both.

 

[thomryng]

Please tell us when book is finished and ready for purchase.

Buen camino to you both.

Thank you! And yes, we'll post some information when the book is available. It won't be soon, though, as she's currently outlining and plans to research most of the locations in 2020.

 

[thomryng]

We had been planning to take a train to Astorga and then a bus to Pedrafita do Cebreiro and from there a taxi to O Cebreiro.

We much prefer train travel to the bus, and this seemed a relatively painless way to go. Truth be told, my wife had a horrible experience back in 2013 on the slow bus from Santiago to Madrid - her feet swelled up like balloons - so we'd just as soon avoid a six or seven hour bus ride.

The problem is, our flight into Madrid misses connecting with the early train by 15 minutes. By the time the afternoon train arrives in Astorga, we will have missed all of the buses to Pedrafita. We could overnight in Astorga and catch a bus the next morning, but realistically that would set us back a day while adding another travel day.

So... the six hour bus from Madrid to Pedrafita do Cebreiro it is!