.... the pull of the Camino.
We (husband and two boys) walked the Camino from SJPdP to Santiago (although we skipped Leon to Sarria) in March/April this year. Quite frankly, it was Hell with a few magical moments thrown in. Despite being jet-lagged (flew in from Australia 2 days before), the first day we started out full of excitement; we had already met some lovely people, our packs were managable, we had food and water. However the weather turned south after Valcarlos. Little pockets of snow were at first exciting for our boys.. then the snow and rain pelted down upon us. It was extremely hard going and I was beside myself for what the boys were going through. Yes we made it to Roncesvalles. Yes, we will always have that amazing sense of achievement. Yes, it really was amazing. Both boys fell asleep during the first course of dinner that night. Literally.
The next day we set out, again, full of hope. It was a beautiful morning, a winter wonderland. We were ok; not at all sore, no aches or pains despite how broken we felt when we went to be that night... Until my youngest stepped knee-deep into an icy puddle. In the middle of nowhere. We walked about 5km to the next town and were lucky enough to find a bar and arrange a taxi. The days marched on, it didnt get easier. Still we caught up with our camino family along the way. We met some beautiful hospillaros. Amazing scenery.
We were warm enough and the rain did not bother us, but we did not have snow gloves so we struggled a bit. We also struggled with the fierce headwinds - sometimes icy cold, sometimes just cold. And the feet. Don't need to talk about the feet...
But we were together as a family, my most favourite people in the world. Some amazing conversations were had.
We decided to skip a section - Leon to Sarria as we were hearing reports of deep (waist deep) snow. We didn't want to put our boys through that safety wise (who am I kidding - that is our excuse though and we are sticking to it).
Got to Sarria and was not prepared for how beautiful the walk was despite the weather - rain and hail this time - for a few days. But we decided on an easy 15km per day so was, by this time a skip in the park.
But here's the kicker. Despite the gloomy picture I have just painted, we had already started discussing our NEXT Camino. Before we even finished!!!
WHYYYYY!!!
We are heading over to UK/Europe next year for a family 'do' and can only manage 1 week, so... instead of sailing around the Greek Isles or romancing in Paris or all the other places we could go, we are starting the Camino again - by agreement of everyone, to start a new Camino in July 2019! That's right, it's not just me - we all want to do it.
So.... tell me about the weather in July
(This time we plan to leave most of our luggage in Paris, take one bag between the 4 of us and have it transported. The first 4-6 days are the hardest, so going to try and make those days a bit more enjoyable by taking the 'load' off)
off..
We (husband and two boys) walked the Camino from SJPdP to Santiago (although we skipped Leon to Sarria) in March/April this year. Quite frankly, it was Hell with a few magical moments thrown in. Despite being jet-lagged (flew in from Australia 2 days before), the first day we started out full of excitement; we had already met some lovely people, our packs were managable, we had food and water. However the weather turned south after Valcarlos. Little pockets of snow were at first exciting for our boys.. then the snow and rain pelted down upon us. It was extremely hard going and I was beside myself for what the boys were going through. Yes we made it to Roncesvalles. Yes, we will always have that amazing sense of achievement. Yes, it really was amazing. Both boys fell asleep during the first course of dinner that night. Literally.
The next day we set out, again, full of hope. It was a beautiful morning, a winter wonderland. We were ok; not at all sore, no aches or pains despite how broken we felt when we went to be that night... Until my youngest stepped knee-deep into an icy puddle. In the middle of nowhere. We walked about 5km to the next town and were lucky enough to find a bar and arrange a taxi. The days marched on, it didnt get easier. Still we caught up with our camino family along the way. We met some beautiful hospillaros. Amazing scenery.
We were warm enough and the rain did not bother us, but we did not have snow gloves so we struggled a bit. We also struggled with the fierce headwinds - sometimes icy cold, sometimes just cold. And the feet. Don't need to talk about the feet...
But we were together as a family, my most favourite people in the world. Some amazing conversations were had.
We decided to skip a section - Leon to Sarria as we were hearing reports of deep (waist deep) snow. We didn't want to put our boys through that safety wise (who am I kidding - that is our excuse though and we are sticking to it).
Got to Sarria and was not prepared for how beautiful the walk was despite the weather - rain and hail this time - for a few days. But we decided on an easy 15km per day so was, by this time a skip in the park.
But here's the kicker. Despite the gloomy picture I have just painted, we had already started discussing our NEXT Camino. Before we even finished!!!
WHYYYYY!!!
We are heading over to UK/Europe next year for a family 'do' and can only manage 1 week, so... instead of sailing around the Greek Isles or romancing in Paris or all the other places we could go, we are starting the Camino again - by agreement of everyone, to start a new Camino in July 2019! That's right, it's not just me - we all want to do it.
So.... tell me about the weather in July
(This time we plan to leave most of our luggage in Paris, take one bag between the 4 of us and have it transported. The first 4-6 days are the hardest, so going to try and make those days a bit more enjoyable by taking the 'load' off)
off..