- Time of past OR future Camino
- 2012, 2013, 2014.
On the 19th of May Jane and I said goodbye to friends and family and set of in the camper for our annual trek around France, Spain and Portugal. We arrived in Cherbourg after a calm night crossing of the channel. We always feel tired after the ferry trip even though we slept well, so when we arrived in Cherbourg at 16.30 we drove to the beautiful village of Carteret, a place we use as a rest stop before moving on.
As our trip was going to take us to the south of Portugal and we had explored the west coast of France many times we had decided to do some long drives to get to new territory. Our next stop on the way south was near Coulon, near Noirt, it is called “Venice Vert” because of all the canals draining the Marais. Houses have little jetties at the ends of their gardens with punts tied up and ready to go.
Next day we drove to Biarritz and met with Don (BiarritzDon) after we had settled in at the campsite.. We had a few beers and some Tapas and chatted and shared stories for an hour or two. It was a great pleasure to meet Don in person, it was great to put a face to a name. A gentleman.
After leaving Biarritz we had another longish drive to Burgos where we stayed at the campsite by the river just outside the city. You pass this site when you walk into Burgos by the river route. There were a few cycling pilgrims camped there while we were there. We cycled into Burgos later that day and had lunch/dinner in Plaza Mayor, there were a few pilgrims about but not as many as I would have thought. We met an American couple having a meal next to us and had a nice chat with them, they had started in St Jean, he was walking but she walked a little and then bussed or taxied ahead and engaged in some retail therapy. We had a good laugh with them. Nice people.
Our next stop was Salamanca and again we stayed in a lovely riverside campsite outside the city in which we had stayed before. We did not visit the city this time as we were both tired and wanted an early start again in the morning.
After leaving Salamanca the drive south through Spain was really beautiful, open grassland interspersed with cork oak trees, landscape I would love to explore on foot if there were walking trails. Our next stop was Caceres, the campsite was outside the city in an industrial area but having said that it was a really lovely, well maintained friendly site. The temp was now up to 34 c but with a nice cooling breeze.
On todays journey we stopped in Merida, a town with loads of Roman history, the aqueduct alone was worth the stop. There is also the remains of a amphitheatre and coliseum there which is well worth seeing.
After Merida we visited Elvas for more Roman remains, this area is dotted with historical sites.
We finally crossed into Portugal and stopped near the town called Evora. A French couple here advised us to go further south to the Algarve before we started our return trip north along the Coast, so that is what we decided to do. Jane got a Mossy bite just under her left eye last night and it is swollen and sore today, she is treating the bite with cream and the eye with cold tea bags.
We hit the Algarve at the town of Albuferia, nearly got the camper stuck in the narrow streets of the old town and after a few tense moments and a lot of perspiration we finally made our way to the port area and had a great lunch at a dockside restaurant.
For the next few weeks we slowly made our way up along the coast of Portugal, visiting Lisbon for the first time and revisiting Porto. After driving, cycling and some walking on the cobble roads north of Porto I can see why some pilgrims have problems with their feet, it took a hard toll on the camper and probably aged it several years.
We stopped in Caminha for a few hours as we really like this town before we crossed over into Spain.
Another stop was in Oia where there is fine food and a beautiful old closed up monastery. I think if I ever win the big European lottery I will buy it and reopen the church and also have a great albergue.
We reached Santiago on Sunday, June 7th. It was great to be back yet again, it felt like coming home somehow. Nate and Faith, who live close to the campsite met us and we had a lovely visit with them for a few hours. On Monday we spent the day in Santiago where we met pilgrim b and Perigrina band had a lovely few hours over coffee and a visit to The Pilgrim House to meet Nate and Faith again.
We said our goodbyes to pilgrim b and Perigrina b as they were heading to see Muxia before getting the flight home.
Later we met Ivar after he finished work and had a lovely visit with him. All in all we had a really lovely time in Santiago.
Several days later after visiting Finisterre, Muxia, A Coruna and Lugo we headed east along the Camino on our way home. We stopped in Moratinos and met Reb, Paddy and the dogs. After a lovely lunch Reb took us out the trail to visit the memorial plaque and tree for Methodist Pilgrim, one of our members who passed away while walking the Camino.
After leaving Reb we continued on the long trip home through Spain and France.
This is only a quick synopsis of our five week trip but we had a wonderful time and met many wonderful people and especially those mentioned above. It was great to meet those I know from the forum and find that they were as I had imagined they would be, warm, helpful, funny and above all, good people. I look forward to meeting them again sometime God willing.
We covered 6515 km on this "Camino". In this case we were camperinos but it was a great Camino none the less. Thank you to all we met and whose company we so appreciated and enjoyed.
Pat.
As our trip was going to take us to the south of Portugal and we had explored the west coast of France many times we had decided to do some long drives to get to new territory. Our next stop on the way south was near Coulon, near Noirt, it is called “Venice Vert” because of all the canals draining the Marais. Houses have little jetties at the ends of their gardens with punts tied up and ready to go.
Next day we drove to Biarritz and met with Don (BiarritzDon) after we had settled in at the campsite.. We had a few beers and some Tapas and chatted and shared stories for an hour or two. It was a great pleasure to meet Don in person, it was great to put a face to a name. A gentleman.
After leaving Biarritz we had another longish drive to Burgos where we stayed at the campsite by the river just outside the city. You pass this site when you walk into Burgos by the river route. There were a few cycling pilgrims camped there while we were there. We cycled into Burgos later that day and had lunch/dinner in Plaza Mayor, there were a few pilgrims about but not as many as I would have thought. We met an American couple having a meal next to us and had a nice chat with them, they had started in St Jean, he was walking but she walked a little and then bussed or taxied ahead and engaged in some retail therapy. We had a good laugh with them. Nice people.
Our next stop was Salamanca and again we stayed in a lovely riverside campsite outside the city in which we had stayed before. We did not visit the city this time as we were both tired and wanted an early start again in the morning.
After leaving Salamanca the drive south through Spain was really beautiful, open grassland interspersed with cork oak trees, landscape I would love to explore on foot if there were walking trails. Our next stop was Caceres, the campsite was outside the city in an industrial area but having said that it was a really lovely, well maintained friendly site. The temp was now up to 34 c but with a nice cooling breeze.
On todays journey we stopped in Merida, a town with loads of Roman history, the aqueduct alone was worth the stop. There is also the remains of a amphitheatre and coliseum there which is well worth seeing.
After Merida we visited Elvas for more Roman remains, this area is dotted with historical sites.
We finally crossed into Portugal and stopped near the town called Evora. A French couple here advised us to go further south to the Algarve before we started our return trip north along the Coast, so that is what we decided to do. Jane got a Mossy bite just under her left eye last night and it is swollen and sore today, she is treating the bite with cream and the eye with cold tea bags.
We hit the Algarve at the town of Albuferia, nearly got the camper stuck in the narrow streets of the old town and after a few tense moments and a lot of perspiration we finally made our way to the port area and had a great lunch at a dockside restaurant.
For the next few weeks we slowly made our way up along the coast of Portugal, visiting Lisbon for the first time and revisiting Porto. After driving, cycling and some walking on the cobble roads north of Porto I can see why some pilgrims have problems with their feet, it took a hard toll on the camper and probably aged it several years.
We stopped in Caminha for a few hours as we really like this town before we crossed over into Spain.
Another stop was in Oia where there is fine food and a beautiful old closed up monastery. I think if I ever win the big European lottery I will buy it and reopen the church and also have a great albergue.
We reached Santiago on Sunday, June 7th. It was great to be back yet again, it felt like coming home somehow. Nate and Faith, who live close to the campsite met us and we had a lovely visit with them for a few hours. On Monday we spent the day in Santiago where we met pilgrim b and Perigrina band had a lovely few hours over coffee and a visit to The Pilgrim House to meet Nate and Faith again.
We said our goodbyes to pilgrim b and Perigrina b as they were heading to see Muxia before getting the flight home.
Later we met Ivar after he finished work and had a lovely visit with him. All in all we had a really lovely time in Santiago.
Several days later after visiting Finisterre, Muxia, A Coruna and Lugo we headed east along the Camino on our way home. We stopped in Moratinos and met Reb, Paddy and the dogs. After a lovely lunch Reb took us out the trail to visit the memorial plaque and tree for Methodist Pilgrim, one of our members who passed away while walking the Camino.
After leaving Reb we continued on the long trip home through Spain and France.
This is only a quick synopsis of our five week trip but we had a wonderful time and met many wonderful people and especially those mentioned above. It was great to meet those I know from the forum and find that they were as I had imagined they would be, warm, helpful, funny and above all, good people. I look forward to meeting them again sometime God willing.
We covered 6515 km on this "Camino". In this case we were camperinos but it was a great Camino none the less. Thank you to all we met and whose company we so appreciated and enjoyed.
Pat.
