We squeezed a Camino in towards the end of this trip that revolved mostly around hiking in Southwest England and Wales. We got the idea from a fellow member of our Phoenix area Camino group (thanks, Cheryl) and found it to be fun, a bit challenging, and meaningful. It is short—about 120 KM or 75 miles. But it meets the 100 KM minimum to qualify for a Compostella, or Camino Certificate. Many (and I mean, MANY) people, who for various reasons, want to do only the minimum, start from Sarria on the Camino Frances which leads to crowding and chaos. We would recommend anyone who doesn’t want a long Camino walk this Camino Ingles or English Way.
We still met interesting people from places ranging from Spain to Singapore, along with some fellow Americans. And we did it without the crowding associated with the Sarria segment of the Camino Frances.
Our final day was only 16 KM (about 10 miles) and was quick. There’s a sense of excitement with any Camino as you approach the finish and enter into Cathedral square. It is so fun to experience and watch the emotions of people finishing journeys that may have been short, like ours, or involved many months and numerous countries.
This morning we engaged in one of our favorite post-Camino traditions and ate at the Parador which serves a fabulous breakfast, with a pilgrim discount. We walked through the square early and found it almost deserted—a first for us. And the sun was at a perfect angle to catch some great photos.
Click on the picture of the Cathedral de Santiago to the left or here to see Laurie’s final Relive video for this Camino.
Trip Update
While this part of our journey is over we do have some more traveling over here. Expect a post about “A Tale of Two Saint Michaels.”