Camino Portuguese Easter 2009

[lckgj]

Hi all.

I am walking the camino Portuguese over Easter next year and was wondering if anyone has any experience of what to expect in terms of pilgrim numbers/accommodation availability at this time of year?

I will arrive in Porto on 1st April and may well be arriving in Santiago on Easter Sunday so all of the Easter holiday period walking will be in Spain rather than Portugal. I would prefer not to book accommodation in advance if possible as I don't walk to walk to a set timetable but neither do I want to find myself without a bed! I understand from Ivar that the whole of Easter week may well be busy, but how many days before Good Friday do things start to get busy and when do they return to more normal levels?

Thanks in advance for any insights.
Laura

 

[Peter Robins]

would doubt if it's a problem Laura. I walked from Tui, arriving in Santiago on the Wednesday of Holy Week, and saw precisely 1 other pilgrim - and I never actually met him to speak with, only saw him in the distance several times. Ok, that was in 2001, and no doubt there are more people about these days, but I would guess your main problem would be if you happened to walk at the same time as some large group. Then again, if you found the group congenial . . .

Although many Spaniards take the whole week off, the really big numbers start on Maundy Thursday. Numbers may be down next year due to the recession.

 

[Javier Martin]

Hi all.

I am walking the camino Portuguese over Easter next year and was wondering if anyone has any experience of what to expect in terms of pilgrim numbers/accommodation availability at this time of year?

Laura

Hi, Laura,

In my opinion you will have no problem, don't worry about.

Don't forget you can download a free guide for this Camino in http://www.amigosdelcamino.com, in spanish or portuguese.

Buen Camino,

Javier Martin
Madrid, Spain.

 

[gyro]

Hi all.

I am walking the camino Portuguese over Easter next year and was wondering if anyone has any experience of what to expect in terms of pilgrim numbers/accommodation availability at this time of year?

I will arrive in Porto on 1st April and may well be arriving in Santiago on Easter Sunday so all of the Easter holiday period walking will be in Spain rather than Portugal. I would prefer not to book accommodation in advance if possible as I don't walk to walk to a set timetable but neither do I want to find myself without a bed! I understand from Ivar that the whole of Easter week may well be busy, but how many days before Good Friday do things start to get busy and when do they return to more normal levels?

Thanks in advance for any insights.
Laura

Dear LAura,
You will be a few days ahead of me. Two German friends and I will arrive in Porto on 5th April. Perhaps circumstances will result in our meeting...perhaps not. In any event, buen camino.
Gyro

 

[lckgj]

Thanks for the the reassurrance folks! I am more apprehensive about this trip than I was before setting off on the Spanish caminos as I don't speak any portuguese - I will have to hope Santa brings me a phrase book for Christmas!
Thanks for the link Javier, I have had a quick look at the site and I can see that even with my limited Spanish I will be able to extract lots of useful info.
Gyro - I may well see you. I have to fly home on the 16th so will have several extra days to play with. I may walk from Finisterre to Muxia or I may dawdle along the portuguese route or perhaps enjoy the festivities in Santiago...who knows? -this is half the fun! Do you have a forum badge on your pack so I can spot you at a distance?

Thanks for your help, any further insights gratefully received!

Laura

 

[gyro]

Gyro - I may well see you. I have to fly home on the 16th so will have several extra days to play with. I may walk from Finisterre to Muxia or I may dawdle along the portuguese route or perhaps enjoy the festivities in Santiago...who knows? -this is half the fun! Do you have a forum badge on your pack so I can spot you at a distance?

Laura

I will make sure that I get one....but in any event, look out for two energetic, enthusiastic Germans and one lumbering Scot.
Gyro

 

[lckgj]

Gyro,
There was a Scot in a kilt on the Frances last year, you could follow suit and I'd be sure to spot you then! It was a great move on his part - he was the centre of attention everywhere he went.
As a Scots lass myself I too walk entirely clad in tartan (well, according to Johnnie Walker I do...)
Laura

 

[JohnnieWalker]

Any translators around?:

Och aye the noo, see yon lassie Laura wi' the tartan tammie in the bothy polishin her brogues again afore she goes oot fur some pan bried and a kerry oot because this wifie believes that many a mickle maks a muckle. She's gallus by the way.

 

[lckgj]

Gallus! I havn't heard that word for years!
(For those who have a limited experience of scots dialect, no it's not a compliment!!)
Thanks Johnnie. Lang may yer lum reek and all that...

 

[JohnnieWalker]

I beg to differ!

In my dictionary "gallus" is a term of "glowing approval" :

gallus - Term of glowing approval. Derives from description of that which is cheerfully bursting with self-confidence. The word comes from “gallows”, coined at at the hanging of a Glasgow thief and murderer known as Gentleman Jim, who had remained his smiling, cocksure and witty self right up until the drop.

 

[Rebekah Scott]

I bet I know who that kilt-wearing Scot was... likely Frank Farrell, longtime Rabanal hospitalero, long-distance hiker and biker, physicist, raconteur, and all-around Great Guy. He´s from Lockerbie, btw. Takes a good two days for me to start understanding what he´s saying under all that brogue! (and my name´s Scott, don´t cha know!)

Reb.

 

[lckgj]

Rebekah, the Scot in a kilt I met was called Jamie so not the same one... clearly, Gyro will now have to come up with a more original outfit -assuming of course he actually wants to stand out from the crowd!

Johnnie - on-line scots dictionary definition of "gallus"....

GALLUS
(ga-luss) Dialect, chiefly Scot. ~adj. 1, self-confident, daring; cheeky. 2. stylish, impressive (" See him, he's pure gallus, by the way") 3. Orig. derogatory, meaning wild; a rascal; deserving to be hanged ( from the gallows).

It would be a compliment if you had the "stylish and impressive" definition in mind but possibly less so if you meant "cheeky" and "deserving to be hanged".....

At least you didn't acuse me of being a glaikit wee scunner!

 

[gyro]

Dear Laura,
Re-invigorating a thread, I see that we have two or three weeks before our respective journeys.
I am still arriving in Porto on 5th April and will start the next day. I think that I am ready to go....
How are your plans developing? Are you still going to start on April 1st?

Best wishes
Gyro