Well that didn’t last long. The effects of the Post Camino Blues haven’t really been that severe this time, probably because when I came home and wanted/needed to talk about it, the lovely Scouse Spouse knew exactly what I was talking about and happily wallowed in sunny mountain memories with me. However, I must be selling this stuff very well, because my dear friend S now wants to go. Not for long, not far and not fast, but she wants to see what this is all about, and we have been walking together on lazy Sundays before on the Wirral Way. So yes! I’m in! (When would I ever not be?)
We were planning on having a planning session and then decide on dates and stages and all that, but in the end we (I) couldn’t wait and I started looking at tickets. And you can probably guess the end of that story. After a few hours where I could find nothing but expensive, albeit comfortable tickets (ie ones with short wait between them, leaving at a decent time in the day and arriving in time to get dinner at the other end) I asked David over at ClearskiesCamino how he got there and then it all fell into place, going via Dublin with Ryanair and AerLingus. I’d never have thought of that – thanks, David! I owe you a Guinness! We saved about £100 each, which will come in handy on our Camino.
And which Camino is that, I hear you say? Are you going back to Galicia again? Chilling in Rabanal, traipsing up to O Ceb and running gleefully down to Molinaseca like a colour coordinated loon? Freaking out over the Portomarin bridge and crying under the tree at Eireixe? Stopping for drinks at the reggae bar and pulpo at Melide?
Well no, I am not. I am going back to Ferrol, to walk the Camino Ingles! I last walked it in 2009, it was my first ever multi day walk and a great way to check if my kit and attitude were up to it. It must have been good, I have been walking ever since! According to the recent Johnnie Walker CSJ guide, pilgrim numbers have increased quite a lot in recent years, and also there are several new places to stay, so it should be easier to cut some of the long stages.
I am really looking forward to it, and the fact that I have sort of foggy distant memories of it only improves the situation – I want to go back to the Pasatiempo park and hopefully be less exhausted so I can enjoy it more; I want to eat more seafood, drink more albarinho (which I had no idea existed back then); check that there really was a Chinese warrior across the road from the dinosaur (no, not started the day with vodka) and I want to sit on the beach for a while unless it’s raining.
And while I wait, before the packing list posts start creeping into the blog, I will revisit my Camino Sola memories and finish the posts on that. My apologies – I seem to be as reluctant to finish the posts as I was to finish the walk. But the only cure is planning a new one so now I should be able to.
Have you walked the Camino Ingles lately? Any hints, tips, warnings, advice would be very much appreciated.
Somewhere Slowly 