We walked into Burgos yesterday and I decided I have had enough of the crowds in the alburgues, of the walking contest this has become, and of the noise. The pension in Burgos is actually a welcome change from all of this, but after a good night of sleep I still felt DONE. Tom wasn´t interested in continuing if I wasn´t and Cindy didn´t know what to think. After a call to Expedia (who booked our tickets) we realized we´d have to mortgage the house to change our flights so Tom suggested we bus north and walk the northern route along the coast. It gets much less traffic and would be new to him.
So. We bought a guidebook (in Spanish) and will head to the bus station tomorrow to catch a bus to Santander, which is on the map above. We´ll then bus west to a small town called Gijon to start walking again on Wednesday. Cindy has elected to continue on the traditional camino. We each have phones and calling each other is free so we´ll keep in touch. She´ll be having more of the ¨real Camino experience¨walking it on her own but if she decides there are too many people for her taste she can bus north and catch us. Either way, we should all reach Santiago at about the same time.
Martin Sheen´s movie has had quite an impact as far as the number of Americans walking. We´ve met 3 from Albuquerque and have seen another with a New Mexico flag sewn to his pack. And that´s just New Mexico! Plenty of others from California, Texas, Virginia, Michigan.....
Enough for now. I´ll try to include info about both routes as we progress.
BTW, I suspect Expedia was wrong in their estimate of the cost of changing our reservations, and since they put me on hold for 15 minutes with an overseas call I won´t be using their services again. That´s my rant for today.
Buen caminos!
Hey, it's an adventure and a vacation, not penance. Take care of yourselves and enjoy the trip!
ReplyDeleteQuality of life. When it's not quality, you change things! Hope the coast route is quieter, pretty and not too wet. We R outfitting our camper and heading for Alaska soon, I think. See Dr. on Friday & he has final say. I'm going to offer him a deal: I'll bring a stack of his business cards back here and put them in the clubhouse. I have had at least 5 people asking for a referral after seeing my miracle recovery! And I'll come back over for a final visit when we return in the fall. Stay dry & remember, now you all will have to take the documentation pictures of new route...
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