Feb 2, 2017
Mom said go where it is warmer. Not sure I understood that until I was walking the Frances day two through the cold rain and very wet mud. The Camino Frances is known for the joy of walking on trails, through fields and pastures and not a lot of tarmac. This is often considered a good thing, however, when the trails, fields and pastures are under three inches of water it makes for awkward walking.
I am on the wrong Camino - the realization dawned during my 6km walk from Roncesvales to the Albergue Haizea: as they say . . . three fundamental truths at the exact same time
#1 I loved walking on the Norte and was only on the Frances because I thought I should walk the original,
#2 It was warmer on the Norte, 17 to 20 degrees in February which is amazing, and
#3 The Norte is a lot of road walking (quiet, deserted roads with no mud!)! So time to move up North.
I had a great journey from Pamplona to Santander and then out to my favourite oasis along the camino - Posada La Victoria. 2 days stretched into 4 as a storm rolled in and I felt the day would be much better spent sitting in front of the fire with a book, than walking along the Santander coast in winds strong enough to push me over.
Feb 6, 2017
On Monday I had my walk around the coast and this morning, Tuesday, I packed my bag and hopped another bus to Ribadeo.
I have 10 walking days left so I am going to 10 days out from Santiago. Hopefully I will find other pilgrims there, I am not looking for a solitary Camino.
Who knows. Flights to London are 39 Euros!
Feb 8, 2017
I got to the hostel in Ribadeo last night at 6:45pm, the sign said Credentials stamped at 7:15pm but it was 7:00pm when the Policia pulled up and took the money and stamped my passport. I was overjoyed at 7:10pm when 4 other pilgrims walked in, as the receipt book said that the last pilgrim at that hostel was Feb 1st.
I went out for dinner with John, Danny, Jamie and Genevieve and we had a great evening and returned to the hostel to sleep, that is when I realized that I didn't want to stay in the Albergue's alone. It is one thing to walk a solitary Camino when you have a choice, but when there is no one else around it becomes isolating.
So at 5am I decided new plan - hop on that plane to London and visit my family. Ester and Johan are having another baby any second now, and Dianne and Brian are further North with their son and his family and I haven't seen them all in 12 years!
So I hopped on a bus to Santiago de Compostela (got here the easy way!) and I will get a plane from here to Stansted.