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PeterD1951

Member
Time of past OR future Camino
First Camino May 2016
It's just over a fortnight since we arrived in Santiago. Heather's Fitbit tells us that we walked a total of around 700km although the guidebook says Logrono to Santiago is just over 600. I expect the rest was sight-seeing and general wandering about.

Our last night in Santiago was spent having a drink with Mary & Joe and meeting Marty and Jennifer (accidentally) for dinner, which just about sums up most nights on the Camino..... you meet people for drinks or meals, either intentionally or, most often, not, and have a brilliant time.

Our minister, Peter, told our family that they had to ask us, not only "Had we had a good time?", but also about the spiritual side of the Camino. Well, I'm sorry, Peter, but I've not really got my head around that bit yet, and I'm not really sure I will in the near future.

The bad bits of the Camino were few, and mostly occurred in the last 100km or so, after Sarria, when the numbers increased dramatically ( you only NEED to do 100km to earn your Compostella), and we had a couple of bad days with the weather and general knackeredness! Even these were brightened up. Our worst day's walking was lifted up by the demon barber of Arzua and the fact that the Albergue we stayed in that night was one of, if not the, nicest of the entire Camino. Heather's day of heat stroke (mild, thankfully) was lifted by meeting David from Swindon, a really nice guy.

The good bits are too numerous to list completely. The first night out from Logrono we stayed in Ventosa and met the group of people who we would spend most time with on our Camino. Thanks Larry & Desi for inviting us for dinner with your gang. It set the tone for the whole trip.

If you are unlucky enough to volunteer to sit through the several hundred photos we have you will be amazed, as we were, by the wildflowers. Poppies, cornflowers and loads we didn't know the names of, were constant companions on the path. Heather decided that just as she got really tired a patch of wildflowers appeared to cheer her up and urge her on. It's a great shame our farmers, and Canadian ones apparently, use so much weedkiller that this beautiful display is not available in most of the UK.

The towns and cities, notably Burgos, Leon, Astorga and of course Santiago were beautiful, although the cathedrals in the first 2, although exceptionally wonderful buildings, felt more like tourist attractions than churches.

Our boots and rucksacks are like old friends. I got one blister from some innappropriate insoles I put in my boots, but once I had removed them, I got no more and Heather had none. Big thanks to Cotswold Outdoor for help in choosing them. The rucksacks were brilliant, comfortable to carry although they always felt horribly heavy when you picked them up. Thanks David for getting us to look seriously at packs.

Northern Spain is lovely, but please don't go cos you'l spoil it and probably won't appreciate it anyway. The weather is more northern European but the countryside is green, lush, beautiful.

In the main we really enjoyed walking from A to B to C, rather than in circles. There was a sense of purpose when you set off every morning and the fact that the weather was really good generally, was a great help.

But the best bit was the people we met. We've had great conversations with loads of people about all sorts of stuff, from important stuff, to serious stuff, to trivial rubbish and we've enjoyed them all. We hope John from Bristol (I think) got his tendinitis sorted and finished his Camino, We hope Kimmi from, Taiwan finds another job when she goes home to replace the one she packed in to do the Camino. We hope Midas, from Holland, gets his qualifications and moves his building company on to the next level. We hope Daniel and his wife have a tremendous life and that their baby grows up to be as nice as they are. We hope a different Daniel got enough photos of food to last the year. The couple who pushed their 2 year old in a buggy from Belgium, well we hope you get psychiatric help and the 2 Spanish guys who were doing the Camino on horseback, we hope you find something usefull to do with your lives other than showing off for girls. To all the cyclists on the Camino..... will you please stop using footpaths which are clearly marked 'SOLO PIETONAL'!

My biggest thanks though go to Larry & Desi, Dick & Jane, Mary & Joe, Marty & Jennifer, Kate & Joshua, Emmy, and Birgit. It would have been a different Camino if we hadn't met you guys.

P.S. To the German guy, whose name escapes me, who Francesco and I spent an hour or so giving advice to, I hope you sort out your life so that you find a job you enjoy and your father still speaks to you.

This was the last post on my Camino blog at: http://peterscaminoblog.blogspot.co.uk/. I would like to think this gives a flavour of the Camino to readers. Best bit of advice from the forums was definitely the bit about using safety pins rather than pegs. And the best bit of advice I can give anyone reading the forums is......... ignore most of the advice on the forums! Although we booked a few albergues, we never actually needed to apart from one night. No bedbugs, no blisters, no food poisoning (although quite a few people came down with bugs), travel arrangements were fine, no bags got lost in airports coming home. Even my bottle of Cardinal Mendoza brandy got home in one piece. Might even do it again, but only if I can wangle 2 months to do it at a gentle pace. Stayed in Santiago at the Pousadas de Compostela Hotel Virxe de Cerca and it was lovely. Huge bed, soft pillows and fluffy towels and great (if expensive) breakfasts. A good antedote to sleeping in dormitories (although that was good to...... just less comfortable!)
 
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Hey Peter - Cheers! Marty and I were at a family gathering over the weekend and I think we have successfully infected others with Camino-itis. :)
 
New Original Camino Gear Designed Especially with The Modern Peregrino In Mind!
Hey Peter - Cheers! Marty and I were at a family gathering over the weekend and I think we have successfully infected others with Camino-itis. :)
Hi, hope the July 4th bbq went well. Yes, I think we may have passed on the bug too. Ignore the profile pic, the beard is still attached!
 
Great post. I sense you will be back for more.
 
Get a spanish phone number with Airalo. eSim, so no physical SIM card. Easy to use app to add more funds if needed.
Thank you for your post; wish I was heading out tomorrow instead of next year, as planned. Cannot wait to get put there, even if I will only be walking as far as I can in 2 weeks
 

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