No "roughing it"

[Ribeirasacra]

UK newspaper. No comment from me.

 

[Jeff Crawley]

I stopped reading when she said she could see the Pyrenees from Manjarin . . .

 

[stratophile]

"Better still, they whisked us through the less interesting sections by minibus" -- no comment from me, either, other than "LOLOLOLOL!"

 

[Ribeirasacra]

I found it my by twitter feed. I have suggested that this was perhaps the better place to find information.

 

[Jeff Crawley]

"Better still, they whisked us through the less interesting sections by minibus" -- no comment from me, either, other than "LOLOLOLOL!"

A friend just emailed to say it's just a 25 minute car drive from Biarritz to SJPP . . glad I stopped reading when I did, perhaps that was one of the less interesting sections?

 

[SabsP]

There are not enough emoticons here to express my bewilderment about this superficial and crap article.

 

[stratophile]

There are not enough emoticons here to express my bewilderment about this superficial and crap article.

A puff piece for the tour operator is how I read it. I didn't see a 'sponsored by' indicator, but it seemed like it.

 

[Peter Fransiscus]

Every comment is to much.
Wish everybody well,Peter.

 

[november_moon]

How does:
"The trip combines boutique hotels, quality restaurants... whisked us ... by minibus and carried our luggage from place to place."

Square with the decreasing budget she mentioned in her first paragraph? That doesn't sound cheap to me.

 

[simeon]

I think it might be a good idea to read to the end of the article which puts it in context when it says "I am determined to walk it “properly” one day, and now I will know how, all thanks to my “pilgrimage lite”.

 

[Felipe]

I think it might be a good idea to read to the end of the article which puts it in context when it says "I am determined to walk it “properly” one day, and now I will know how, all thanks to my “pilgrimage lite”.

>>a Dutch lady I met at the lovely sandstone village of Castrojeriz. We climbed up to the Sierra del Perdón on a 1,039m-high ridge

Well, I hope that next time she doesn't walk in reverse

 

[nycwalking]

Oh well.

 

[Icacos]

I will forgive you people the mistake of ridiculing the poor woman for making a few mistakes.

 

[Kanga]

Decent journalism involves a modicum of fact checking.

 

[trecile]

And she definitely got this part wrong
"Pilgrims must prove they’ve walked at least 100km to qualify for the Compostela certificate on arriving at Santiago."

 

[Jeff Crawley]

I will forgive you people the mistake of ridiculing the poor woman for making a few mistakes.

Apparently an "expert travel writer" and "an authority on and author of a best selling guide book to Bratislava" so she really shouldn't be making "a few mistakes" should she?

 

[Anemone del Camino]

What I wonder is why she oicked up a credencial if she had no intention of walking the last 100 into Santiago.

 

[Anemone del Camino]

And she definitely got this part wrong
"Pilgrims must prove they’ve walked at least 100km to qualify for the Compostela certificate on arriving at Santiago."

I don't see what is wrong with that statement... it may not be complete, but it is not wrong. Or do I need a second cafe con leche? It is Saturday after all, an extra jolt would be ok.

 

[jmcarp]

For a minute I thought I was at the Trevi Fountain in Rome when she said it is traditional to toss a stone backwards over one's head at the Cruz de Ferro. Maybe if you do that it will ensure that you will return again (and hire the same tour company, no doubt).

 

[Ribeirasacra]

As usual your comments have made me laugh.
I just thought it was me that read that this writer had time travelled or looked at the view via google maps.

 

[trecile]

I don't see what is wrong with that statement... it may not be complete, but it is not wrong. Or do I need a second cafe con leche? It is Saturday after all, an extra jolt would be ok.

If those 100 km aren't the last 100 km to Santiago, one doesn't qualify for a Compostela. The article implies that you could choose ten 10 km sections anywhere on the Camino and still earn a Compostela.

 

[nycwalking]

If those 100 km aren't the last 100 km to Santiago, one doesn't qualify for a Compostela. The article implies that you could choose ten 10 km sections anywhere on the Camino and still earn a Compostela.

And, that implication via Shirley Maclaine's book, can't blame her for not doing my own research, is why I arrived in Santiago on September 3, 2001 and was refused a Compostela. Started in Roncesvalles that first time and skipped last 100kms due to time constraints. Ended up changing flight plans, taking train to Sarria, walking back to Santiago, and receiving Compostela on Sep 9, 2001.

 

[Anemone del Camino]

If those 100 km aren't the last 100 km to Santiago, one doesn't qualify for a Compostela. The article implies that you could choose ten 10 km sections anywhere on the Camino and still earn a Compostela.

I knew I needed more coffee.

 

[Richmond Gardner]

I will forgive you people the mistake of ridiculing the poor woman for making a few mistakes.

I think her big mistake was choosing to write a thinly researched piece about the Camino, which is so deeply known and loved. No harm meant surely, but an indication of how things are changing and becoming less an individual odyssey

 

[RENSHAW]

I stopped reading when she said she could see the Pyrenees from Manjarin . . .

Outstanding vision!? Flabbergasted!

 

[Jeff Crawley]

For a minute I thought I was at the Trevi Fountain in Rome when she said it is traditional to toss a stone backwards over one's head at the Cruz de Ferro. Maybe if you do that it will ensure that you will return again (and hire the same tour company, no doubt).

Throw a stone backwards at Cruz de Ferro and you'll probably hit a party of busogrinos posing by the foot of the cross.
I place mine with due reverence.

 

[Bradypus]

Another article from a UK tabloid on walking the Camino as part of a pre-booked package. This time the writer is walking from Santiago to Finisterre and Muxia. Pretty pictures Between these advertorials and the upcoming BBC reality show it appears that the public profile of the caminos here in the UK is on the rise:
https://www.thescottishsun.co.uk/travel/1383160/camino-way-galicia-walking-pilgrim-route-spain/

 

[SYates]

Decent journalism involves a modicum of fact checking.

AMEN!!!

I used to enjoy reading The Independent - Lately --- Not anymore ... BC SY

 

[SYates]

"Dublin-based travel agency XYZ offered me a way to discover the famous walk without having to rough it."

Paid advertisement/product placement? BC SY

 

[Bradypus]

Paid advertisement/product placement? BC SY

There have been at least three similar articles on UK news websites in just over a month - in Metro, the Independent and the Sun. There may well have been others. Those I saw all prominently named the travel companies involved - two of them naming the same company. I wonder if that is simply coincidence or the result of a focussed marketing campaign.

 

[Jeff Crawley]

Reading a BTL comment on an article in the UK Guardian I noticed this:

When a journalist writes about a subject with which one has a working knowledge, it often a very disappointing experience. Are they this wrong about everything else?

and thought it very appropriate to "Roughing It".