An Introduction and A Question

[Bill Deutschman]

>Hi everybody, My name is Marisa and I am from the USA. My
sisters and I are
>planning to walk the Camino sometime soon. I am not
Catholic, but I think
>there are things to be gained from the pilgrimage anyway.

Marisa;

My wife & I are not even religeous but had a fantastic time
cycling the Camino last spring.  We attended masses, looked
at churches and were even blessed a few times by accident.
We had to explain to several priests that we were not
Catholic and that is why we didn't want to accompany them to
their chapel for mass.  No one seemed to mind.

Be sure to visit as many churches as you can.  The alters
are magnificant.  The art and stained glass windows
shouldn't be missed.  I wish I had taken a small bible as a
reference for many of the stories we heard/read along the
way.

>practical question though. About how much money is needed
along the way?
>How much would the cost per day be?

Only you will know how much money you will need.  We stayed
in small hotels at about $30/day for two.  The refugios
ranged from a $1 donation to about $5 or so per person.  We
ate yogurt, a banana and bread for breakfast; cheese, bread,
sausage and maybe a can of tuna or sardines for lunch.  All
restaurants have a tourist meal (two courses, bread and wine
or water) for about $6 or so.   We got along fine for about
$30/day/person and that included beer, extra wine,
mid-morning snacks and special dinners.  I guess a real
pilgrim could get by on $15 - $20 a day maybe less.  All of
the large towns have money machines.  The small towns did
not!  We had real trouble finding them in central France.  I
tried to have about $100 in local currency when we left a
big town.  Remember that everything closed from 12 to 2 or
2:30 and most stores & banks close at noon Saturday and all
day Sunday.  The machines operate 24/7.

Get the Confraternity guides as they list all of the
refugios and the towns that have money machines.  They were
the one guide I would not leave behind.  You can find
internet by asking the tourist office or going to the local
library.  We were able to find one every 60 km or so.

Be prepared for lots of people on the Camino as early as
late May.

bill
olcbillainternetcds.com