Friends are dangerous things to have

[Al the optimist]

A friend who lives in Bilbao has just informed me that he is starting a job in Asturias near Oviedo and Gijon. He starts next Monday and will travel there every Monday and back every Friday. He has invited me to stay when he has sorted out somewhere to rent. At some point in the summer the family will move to join him.
Well my reaction was as you would expect:-
1. Great! Delighted for him as he has been unemployed for a while
2. Visit him and then walk the Primitivo?
3. Visit them in Bilbao again, but then walk the Norte to his new place?
4. Visit him/them in the new place and then walk the Norte to SDC?
5. Visit him/them in the new place and walk the Primitivo?
Just as I thought my plans decided for this year with a flight already booked to Biarritz for May the 10th for the Frances (and also maybe a little walk from Madrid to Sergovia at some time)! Now here we go again with all the agonising and planning! Oh well, I can see little else getting done for a while! Back to the calendar and the route books again. It's a hard life being retired.

 

[alexwalker]

It's a hard life being retired.

Indeed. The man who invented work couldn't possibly have had much to fill his days with...

Decisions, decisions...

Good for you: Buen Caminos!

 

[simply B]

Al,

My heart truly aches for the difficulties stemming from your retirement, I do hope that you get it all sorted!

Seriously though, you are obviously made of stern stuff. I had to "un-retire" owing to all the extra effort it took. Working is so much easier for me. You are a man of great character.

(And I sense "quite the character", to boot.)

Good luck and have fun with your choices!

Buen Caminos,

B

 

[AshaDasi]

A friend who lives in Bilbao has just informed me that he is starting a job in Asturias near Oviedo and Gijon. He starts next Monday and will travel there every Monday and back every Friday. He has invited me to stay when he has sorted out somewhere to rent. At some point in the summer the family will move to join him.
Well my reaction was as you would expect:-
1. Great! Delighted for him as he has been unemployed for a while
2. Visit him and then walk the Primitivo?
3. Visit them in Bilbao again, but then walk the Norte to his new place?
4. Visit him/them in the new place and then walk the Norte to SDC?
5. Visit him/them in the new place and walk the Primitivo?
Just as I thought my plans decided for this year with a flight already booked to Biarritz for May the 10th for the Frances (and also maybe a little walk from Madrid to Sergovia at some time)! Now here we go again with all the agonising and planning! Oh well, I can see little else getting done for a while! Back to the calendar and the route books again. It's a hard life being retired.

You lucky devil, Al! I wish I had all those agonizing choices! I think I met you in Ventosa, in the Albergue San Saturnino? In May or June. Unless you just look like someone I met! Anyway, enjoy, and buen camino!

 

[Stephen Nicholls]

Al - you have no problem.
Walk the Frances this year.
The Norte in 2015.
The Primitivo in 2016.

Like all of us "hooked" on the camino, we sometimes plan years in advance. I'm off on both the Inges paths in May ..... but am thinking about the Primitivo for 2015 already!
Buen camino, amigo Al!

 

[Tincatinker]

Al, if you are looking for sympathy I think this box is empty. Have you warned your friend they may need to rent an Albergue? I'll be passing through Oviedo late May inbetween the Salvador and the Primitivo. If you are ensconced by then I'll see you a Tinto.

 

[Al the optimist]

I was in that albergue on May 16th with a Canadian called Richard (who I walked with from Irache to Belorado), two English guys I had met before (Rob and Geoff), an American (Joni who I walked with a few days later on). Sorry, but looking at your picture I cannot remember you. Sorry, no disrespect intended, but hey, it was the camino! We meet so many people it can become a bit of a blur. All I remember of that day was how cold and windy it was getting there and how I hated going up hill into Ventosa, then down to the albergue and then up and down again to the restaurant. I remember how sunny it was the next day clogging it through the boot sucking Rioja mud. I cannot really remember any details the albergue. Did it not have a small garden and a mimi shop in a small room at the front?