Camino tips for first-timers

[Ignacio Franc és]

On Sat, 12 Jul 2003 13:49:27 +0000, Richard Ferguson <peregrinoaATT.NET>
wrote:

>A Camino Retrospective

I have enjoyed almost every word of your Retrospective. I wish I had read
such a good piece of "common sense" before I started my fist Camino.

I just want to give you an explanation to the fact that you were answered
in a local language when you made a question in spanish.
Almost any castillian-speaking spaniard can understand Gallego and Catalan
even if they cannot speak that Language.
The Camino walks through the rural Galicia and when they answer you in
Gallego they are using their native language asuming that you will
understand them.
That is true in a very high percentage with spaniards though it does not
hold true with other spanish-speaking nationals.

I myself speak english, french and can understand Catalan and Galego
without any difficulty and a little bit of Basque. This is not an
exception for urban spaniards under 40 years old but I completely agree
with you that a good knowledge of spanish would make the Camino experience
much richer for you as it would help you communicate with older non
english-speaking people that live in the villages you hike or are doing
their pilgrimage.

Congratulations for your retrospective !

Buen Camino amigo peregrino

Ignacio