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Talk on the Camino de Norte, Change in Venue
Submitted by am on Mon, 09/03/2009 - 21:27.
The next event being organised by the Walkers Association of Ireland is a talk on the Camino de Norte.
When: Thursday March 26th at 8pm
Where: Upstairs in the Yellow House Pub, Rathfarnham, Dublin 14.
John Cruise will be giving an illustrated talk on walking in Spain. The
full Camino del Norte is a walk of 756km (established in the 9th
century), however John tells us that there are many shorter sections.
John walks frequently in Wicklow and has also completed the Camino
Frances and Camino Portugues.
Please note that this is a change of venue from that originally advised.
Camino de Santiago
John Cruise's talk on the Camino del Norte
Dalan de Brí
I attended John Cruise's talk last night, enjoyed the photographs and John's sharing of his experience. A few comments:
Having walked the Camino Frances twice I was a bit disappointed, having driven up from Kildare, that there wasn't much content about the Camino del Norte - especially west of Bilbao. I hope to walk the Camino del Norte this year.
With regard to the Camino Frances:
Boots and Blisters: I disagree with John about boots not being suitable. I walked the Camino Frances in Meindls the first time, and a lighter boot last year, in comfort and without blisters. From the people I met the main causes of blisters were either not having walked in the boots they were wearing or else, and frequently, carrying too much weight. I would suggest a maximum 10kg, 8kg if possible. I met many people posting stuff home after the first few days in an attempt to lighten the load.
Albergues: I walked in September/October and never was there any problem getting a bed in an albergue. July and August is a different story of course.
Religous element: I found a strong religous element among many walkers, more so the first year, but there are many people walk the camino for religous reasons, especially the last 100km.
Nicest Parts of the Camino Frances. I would agree with John about the first two weeks from the Pyrenees to Burgos but would also recommend the section after León, particularly Astorga to Sarria, great country, terrific food and wines! The last 100km or so I'm afraid I found more tourism than Camino.
Spanish: While having Spanish certainly enriches the experience greatly, and makes life easier, I wouldn't put anyone off going for want of it. I met many people with not a word and they seemed to manage fairly well!
Thanks.
Response by Dalan de Brí to Talk by John Cruise
Go raibh míle maith agat, Dalan de Brí, as ucht do litir.
Thank you very much for your response to the Talk given by John Cruise on the Camino del Norte. The Talk was a resounding success, informative, enjoyable and addressed a broad spectrum of interests. The Talk was based on one man's personal experience which he kindly shared with us on a totally voluntary basis. It stimulated contributions and comments from the floor.
Your personal experiences would have contributed to the evening and comments were invited on the spot several times throughout the Talk.
WAI would be pleased to invite you to give a similar talk, based on your own experience on any topic which you and the WAI Committee would deem to have a broad interest to hikers.
Beir bua,
Jean
Dalan de Brí Fáilte
Dalan de Brí
Fáilte romhat.
I didn't intend to be critical. I enjoyed the talk but had hoped to learn a bit more about the Camino del Norte. I also think the boots issue is important.
Possibly I should have made a few points on the night but I didn't want to interrupt John's flow. I had intended to say a few things at the end but it was getting on, I had to be elsewhere and was already late!
The Camino del Norte is definitely on my agenda for this year. Maybe if I manage it I could share my experience at some time in the future?
Le dea-ghuí,
Dalan
Dalan de Brí comment on Camino talk
Delighted to hear you are off to the Camino this year again and indeed it would
be great if you shared your experience with a wider audience through WAI Winter Talks.
Perhaps we could put you on with another speaker, giving two topics, which is always interesting to have two items.
Beir bua!
Jean