Camino de Santiago overview

We met the 2 Pauls father and son, they are the company Walks In Spain, they both appear delightful and both of them very easy on the eye so if the walk is hard going we always have them to look forward to at the end of each day.

We met our fellow walkers at our welcome dinner. They had all arrived in Astorga on the Saturday. 

 There are fourteen of us altogether. A couple from Derbyshire they have done the Camino seven years ago with the 2 Pauls and they have done many walks with them in other areas since both lovely as well.  There were two fellows who were room mates whilst studying law in the States 45 years ago, one from the States and the other chap from Edinburgh who is a judge in the Scottish Supreme Court.  They were both delightful.  There were two girls (ladies really) from States sisters in law one of them a Professor and the other in education, delightful also. There were two other sisters in law from Canada also in education and they were the leaders of the pack, fast walkers indeed gorgeous girls as well.  The other couple also from Canada funnily enough from the same small town as the other two girls, but had never met, he was an accountant and she was in web page design very lovely couple as well.  Gordy Ash and I (delightful also).  There was a lady from New South Wales.

We were up early breakfast at 8.00am and ready to leave by 9.00am bags ready, there were two vehicles so seven of us in each vehicle.  Luggage packed and off we go. We are walking what the 2 Pauls say is the best and most picturesque part of the Camino.  We were driven to the beginning of our walk, there is a program they give us the number of kilometres and they we all meet for lunch in a beautiful restaurant along the way at about 2.00pm.  I am adding this in here for background.  The Camino is extremely good financially for the villages on the way.  There are bars where one can stop if one wants maybe a coffee but mostly we just stop for lunch which is quite an extravagant affair considering we are Pilgrims.  Lunch is normally finished by 4.00pm  and then we do our afternoon walk and arrive at our new hotel, the 2 Pauls will have taken our luggage ahead for us.

All of our accommodation beautiful places where we all said we could have stayed for quite a few days or more.  We got to know one another over lunch and crossing along the way, the first evening we just went into the village where we were staying and organised our own dinner.  There were special dinners on the Tuesday Wednesday and the Farewell Dinner on Friday. 

I have to say one could not have faulted the organisation the accommodation or anything during the entire week.  The 2 Pauls were not only easy on the eye their personality efficiency and kindness just shone through.

We were all of the same baby boomer vintage, Ash being way the youngest, she was a trooper got on famously with everyone she was the young person who kept us all centred and our minds on the job.  The couple from Canada they were about 8 or nine years younger than most people.  Ash did say she could not believe how much we could all drink then get up the next morning and walk 25ks for  the day, she said her young friends would not have had a hope of keeping up with us. Nice thing to say.

The 2 Pauls were saying fifteen years ago when they started this business most of the villages along the way many of the buildings had no rooves.  The villages on the way have benefitted from the increased numbers who do this, the way the world turns I guess.  It is a very rural part of the country extremely pretty in lots of parts, beautiful cattle because each one of them has a couple of acres of lush ground on which to graze unlike lots of our cattle 100 of them on ground not so lush.  Beautiful ground which seem underutilized to me but we all have our way I guess.  There are about half a million pilgrims per year, lots of them do the entire distance of around 800ks beginning on the French side of the Pyrenees.  They all need places to stay and there are hostals (their spelling) some better than others I can imagine.  I am sure no one can explain the journey and none of us at the end of what we did (and we did it very comfortably) could explain it either.  If anyone ever thinks I may do this I would not go past Walks in Spain but two things that should be thought about one does need to be fit and do a good all round program prior to leaving and take a smallish case that is paramount for oneself and also as a courtesy to the 2 Pauls.