Easter on Camino

[Jill Hill]

Dear Richard,
You must have been walking at the same time as me - I was in Portomarin on
Easter Sunday and the town was celebrating by way of an agua dente
festival - stalls selling white spirit being made on the spot in amazing
copper stills, flavoured with various things and served in little terracotta
cups.  It did not seem to have any religious significance.

The refugio was full.

Jill.

-----Original Message-----
From: Road to Santiago Pilgrimage [mailto:GOCAMINOaPETE.URI.EDU]On
Behalf Of Richard Ferguson
Sent: Sunday, 16 November 2003 4:56 AM
To: GOCAMINOaPETE.URI.EDU
Subject: Easter on Camino


I was walking the Camino during Easter 2002.  In fact, I arrived in Sarria
on the afternoon of
Easter, having been to midnight mass in Samos.  There were a lot of students
on the camino
the week before and the week after Easter.  We even joked about two
organized groups of
students, the "good" students and the "bad" students, with the difference
being the attitude.
However, even the "bad" students were not actually a problem.   The refugios
were full, but I
never had trouble getting a bed in a refugio when I wanted one.

Note that students only have a limited vacation, so it is possible that they
would be mostly
doing the later stages of the Camino.  My guess is that there would be fewer
students, just like
there are fewer other pilgrims, the further that you were from Santiago.
The impact of students
might be very low if you were 500 km from Santiago that week, as I think
that would be too far
to go during the Easter Holiday.

Easter was earlier that year, I think March 30, but I only had 3 days of
rain out of 14, and
reasonable weather.  However, I did speak to a bicyclist who crossed the
passes after I did
who got snowed on, so snow at higher elevations is possible in early April,
be prepared.

One disadvantage of arriving after Easter is that you will miss the
processions, special
masses, and other events.  One of the highlights of my pilgrimage were the
Palm Sunday
processions in Astorga;  I stayed an extra night in Astorga to see them,
well worth it.

However, the fly in the ointment may be the 2004 Holy year, which is
expected to dramatically
increase the number of pilgrims, so your milage will probably differ.

Richard