Starting the Via de la Plata April 23rd

[Lynne Wilkinson]

Hi. We are from Vancouver, Canada. We plan to leave Seville on the 23rd.

 

[Anniesantiago]

Hi Lynn. Welcome to the forum
Have a wonderful Camino!

 

[AttheEdgeoftheWorld]

Hi. We are from Vancouver, Canada. We plan to leave Seville on the 23rd.

Hello from Haida Gwaii,

I'll be a couple of weeks behind you! Best of luck!

 

[Lynne Wilkinson]

Hello from Haida Gwaii,

I'll be a couple of weeks behind you! Best of luck!

Thank you. You too.

 

[rometimed]

I'll be on the French way in May/July and am going to do the Via de la Plata starting in September.

Buen Camino Lynne!

 

[alexwalker]

Spend extra time in Merida on the VdlP: The Roman remains there are spectacular.

 

[alexwalker]

On the way into Merida, you will find the biggest Roman bridge outside Italy ever built, some 2.000 years ago. The city was a pension site for retired Roman legion soldiers, with a theatre (still standing) etc. Impressive place. Reflections, my friend: Reflections.

 

[alexwalker]

 

[Lynne Wilkinson]

Hi Lynn. Welcome to the forum
Have a wonderful Camino!

Thank you

 

[Lynne Wilkinson]

I'll be on the French way in May/July and am going to do the Via de la Plata starting in September.

Buen Camino Lynne!

Thank you. You too.

 

[Lynne Wilkinson]

View attachment 16733

Looking forward to it.

 

[colinwkay]

Hi. We are from Vancouver, Canada. We plan to leave Seville on the 23rd.

You w

Hi. We are from Vancouver, Canada. We plan to leave Seville on the 23rd.

You will love the VDLP I did it two years ago in August, was hot so very few other pilgrims, however I enjoyed the solitude and empty albergues!!!
I leave Sevilla on the 18th so will be ahead of you, please enjoy Buen Camino Colin Scotland

 

[Lynne Wilkinson]

You w

You will love the VDLP I did it two years ago in August, was hot so very few other pilgrims, however I enjoyed the solitude and empty albergues!!!
I leave Sevilla on the 18th so will be ahead of you, please enjoy Buen Camino Colin Scotland

Thank you. Do you have any advice for newcomers?

 

[karola]

Hi Lynn
I'm arriving in Sevilla om 19 april 2015 and will start 21-22th of april . Have a good trip and when I'm very tired or enjoying a village... I will see you on the way )

Karola ( the Netherlands)

 

[Lynne Wilkinson]

Hi Lynn
I'm arriving in Sevilla om 19 april 2015 and will start 21-22th of april . Have a good trip and when I'm very tired or enjoying a village... I will see you on the way )

Karola ( the Netherlands)

Bueno camino. See you on the trail

 

[Gillean]

Hi Lynn:
I'm also from the Vancouver area (Burnaby) and will be walking from Cadiz starting about April 10th or 11th. Should be a few days ahead of you going through Sevilla on the 17th or 18th. Perhaps we will cross paths somewhere. If not, I wish you a great adventure and a ¡Buen Camino!
As an aside you might be interested in the Victoria Chapter of the Canadian Company of Pilgrims upcoming seminar on the camino. It will be on March 28th and lasts all day. Here are the particulars: http://victoriacamino.ca/spring-gathering-2015/ . If I can be of any help please let me know. Cheers, John

 

[Lynne Wilkinson]

Hi Lynn:
I'm also from the Vancouver area (Burnaby) and will be walking from Cadiz starting about April 10th or 11th. Should be a few days ahead of you going through Sevilla on the 17th or 18th. Perhaps we will cross paths somewhere. If not, I wish you a great adventure and a ¡Buen Camino!
As an aside you might be interested in the Victoria Chapter of the Canadian Company of Pilgrims upcoming seminar on the camino. It will be on March 28th and lasts all day. Here are the particulars: http://victoriacamino.ca/spring-gathering-2015/ . If I can be of any help please let me know. Cheers, John

Thank you. I am a retired Burnaby teacher. We are both very excited about our first Camino. Any last minute advice from a veteran?

 

[Gillean]

Thank you. I am a retired Burnaby teacher. We are both very excited about our first Camino. Any last minute advice from a veteran?

I know quite a bit about the Camino Frances but this will be my first time on the Via de la Plata. If you are in the Vancouver area at the moment I would be happy to meet you somewhere for coffee and have a bit of a chat. If you can get to Victoria the pilgrim gathering is quite an event with lots and lots of pilgrims. Here are a couple of things I would suggest - they are all pretty standard though so sorry if they are too basic:

1. Do what you can to get your feet conditioned before you leave. Good footwear system and well broken in. It will really improve the quality of your experience. There is no one "right" system. Many different things can work. You still have time if you haven't started already. Ideally you should be able to walk 20+km for two days back to back with your full pack weight and no problems before you go. Start your training slowly. Injuries on the Camino Frances seem to follow the pattern of blisters for the first week or so then more serious "overuse" injuries including joint, ligament, tendon problems after 2 - 3 weeks of pounding. Best way to avoid this is to strengthen the body before you go or to start out easily and gradually (as best you can) when you do get to Spain. As far as blister prevention goes I have had good luck with a product called "Glide" which is sold in running stores and comes in what looks like a deodorant stick. You apply it to your bare feet and it provides a layer of lubrication which helps dramatically with friction hot spots. I am also a big advocate of taking boots and socks off at almost every break and allowing feet, boots and socks to dry a bit while you are resting.

2. Be careful about having too ambitious a schedule. Many people have a fairly rigid timeline and that can lead to problems that are often solved by taking a bus 50 to 100 km ahead.

3. Keep the pack weight down.

4. How's your Spanish? A little knowledge will certainly help and I understand it is almost essential on the VdlP.

5. Hiking with a partner is a bit challenging. I hiked with a friend on my 2nd Camino and it worked out quite well for us but I have seen problems with others. I suppose it's all about reasonable accommodation for each other. You don't have to walk together all the time. You can decide to walk independently for a bit and meet up later in the day for lunch or a particular scenic event.

6. Some references:

http://www.amazon.com/dp/1484079841/?tag=casaivar02-20 (Daphne is from BC);
there is an iPhone app called Via de la Plata which was done by Melanie and is available from the iTunes store - supposed to be pretty good but I haven't had a look at it yet;
I enjoyed this book: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00QPHPSRW/?tag=casaivar02-20

7. If you are like many thousands before you your greatest experience will be the people you meet.

8. You may come home with a bit of a "vino tinto" problem

9. Don't forget to prep your feet. You can show up in Sevilla with nothing, buy what you need there and be good to go if your feet are good.

¡Buen camino!
John

 

[Lynne Wilkinson]

Thank you John, for all the great advice. The "vino tinto" will be a welcome relief for sure at the end of the day. Jean-Luc and I would love to meet with you and chat over coffee. We live downtown. Let us know a time and place.

 

[Gillean]

Thank you John, for all the great advice. The "vino tinto" will be a welcome relief for sure at the end of the day. Jean-Luc and I would love to meet with you and chat over coffee. We live downtown. Let us know a time and place.

Sorry for the long delay in replying. Would next week sometime work for you? I am having coffee with some friends at the Starbucks in City Square across Cambie from City Hall on Monday at about 1000. If you would like to meet there at about 1100 that would work for me. If another time/place would work better please let me know. John

 

[Lynne Wilkinson]

Hi John. Unfortunately I have an appointment tomorrow at that time. Tuesday is not a good day either. Wednesday? Thursday? We could meet in Burnaby or Vancouver.

 

[Gillean]

Hi John. Unfortunately I have an appointment tomorrow at that time. Tuesday is not a good day either. Wednesday? Thursday? We could meet in Burnaby or Vancouver.

Lynne: I have "started a conversation" with you. So there should be some sort of alert or message for you.