S
Satírico
Guest
I guess it´s all relative.
Camino II is proving pretty heavy going for both body and wallet. My old, reliable boots, veterans of the CF, were killed off in the early stages out of Lourdes. I was lucky to hit a French town on a shopping half-day: one shop had boots around the 200 euros to 275 mark, another shop was closed, the third had comfortable boots at 45 euros. Naturally, I grabbed the bargain.
Well, here I am in Bilbao, forced to shell out another 175E at Decathlon because the French boots - or let´s be fair, the boots made somewhere which I bought in France - had worn right through on the inside, as if I had been sweating acid. On stony ground they were murder. You´ll understand if I say that I am apprehensive, about to set out again on untried boots (except for up and down in the store), with a great deal more of the del Norte to get through. With any luck these will prove both stronger and more comfortable, water resistant and quick to dry.
On a brighter note, the del Norte is very stimulating, often very beautiful, with cool sea breezes to keep the heat at bay. Bilbao is a splendid city and the bar snacks (pintxos) are works of culinary art in themselves. Twice I´ve been rescued by kind locals who stopped their cars to save me from walking the wrong camino and the peregrinos of the Norte have great camaraderie, many of us veterans of the CF et al.
I´m hoping nothing else breaks, physical or spiritual, because the accursed questions have still to be answered. I offer a Buen Camino to everyone else on the CdN, the CF and other ways to Compostela. Keep it together.
Camino II is proving pretty heavy going for both body and wallet. My old, reliable boots, veterans of the CF, were killed off in the early stages out of Lourdes. I was lucky to hit a French town on a shopping half-day: one shop had boots around the 200 euros to 275 mark, another shop was closed, the third had comfortable boots at 45 euros. Naturally, I grabbed the bargain.
Well, here I am in Bilbao, forced to shell out another 175E at Decathlon because the French boots - or let´s be fair, the boots made somewhere which I bought in France - had worn right through on the inside, as if I had been sweating acid. On stony ground they were murder. You´ll understand if I say that I am apprehensive, about to set out again on untried boots (except for up and down in the store), with a great deal more of the del Norte to get through. With any luck these will prove both stronger and more comfortable, water resistant and quick to dry.
On a brighter note, the del Norte is very stimulating, often very beautiful, with cool sea breezes to keep the heat at bay. Bilbao is a splendid city and the bar snacks (pintxos) are works of culinary art in themselves. Twice I´ve been rescued by kind locals who stopped their cars to save me from walking the wrong camino and the peregrinos of the Norte have great camaraderie, many of us veterans of the CF et al.
I´m hoping nothing else breaks, physical or spiritual, because the accursed questions have still to be answered. I offer a Buen Camino to everyone else on the CdN, the CF and other ways to Compostela. Keep it together.
