Children on the Camino

[Ed]

Fantastic.  I'm really very impressed!

It seems to me that mouldy oldies like me (i.e. over 50's) have more
troubles than the kids!

Best regards,
Ed
(Ware, Herts, UK)

----- Original Message -----
From: "Rod Mullen" <rodmaAMITYFOUNDATION.COM>
To: <GOCAMINOaPETE.URI.EDU>
Sent: Friday, August 08, 2003 1:53 PM
Subject: Re: Children on the Camino


> 1)Started at St. Jean PP; walked to Burgos....my grandson got a stomach
> virus, so we spent three days in Burgos recovering from that;  then took a
> bus to Leon (my granddaughter is extremely fair & I feared that she was
> prone to sunstroke); from there we walked to Santiago, and straight
through
> to Finisterre.
>
> 2) We averaged about 20km per day, probably---ranged from about 10 to
> 40---they got a lot stronger as the trip went  on (I didn't).
>
> 3) We had the three days in Burgos, one day in Astorga----those were our
> only full days off from walking, but we had some "easy days" with low
> mileage.
>
> 4) They had a very hard time sleeping in the Alburgues....so we did a
mixure
> of those, pensiones, and the occasional hotel; they got better with the
> Albergues as the trip progressed and actually preferred them usually---but
> as we approached Santiago they were jammed with Spanish highschoolers so
we
> mostly stayed in cheap (20-35 Euro) hotels.
>
> I love kids, but I've never spend 24/7 with kids in this way----gets a bit
> tiring at times and you have to remember to have a sense of humor, not got
> too caught up in the schedule,  and adjust to their needs (quite a few
stops
> and at least  four or five meals per day---they get very hungry).
Washing
> clothes is a drag.  They would rather walk 40 km than handwash clothes!
> After the first week there were virtually no complaints about backpacks or
> getting up so early (usually between 5:30 to 6:30am).   They need time to
> explore & play a bit.  We excavated rocks, got deeply into wheat and its
> ramifications, along with the trips into churches and cathederals.  Read a
> bit of the culture and history as we went along to give it all context.
>
> Rewards far outweigh any problems.  They complained little, entertained
each
> other and me, met some great people along the way, and have had an
> incredible cultural, physical and spiritual experience.
>
> Rod



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