intro of new member (14 days to spend wisely)

[Frank Metcalf and Mary Doherty]

Hi Alberto,

I agree with Rosina that starting from Leon with two weeks for the
pilgrimage might be pushing it a bit. It depends on your experience,
conditioning, and pack weight. For a comparative example, we walked that
part comfortably in in 11 days, but had been under way before Leon for18
days, with lots of prior training and 12-15 lb packs. That's very different
from starting out cold. I'm sure you could do it, but Rosina's right, you
want to be able to enjoy the daily experience since that *is* the
pilgrimage.

However, O Cebreiro might be a little too close, given your timetable. We
arrived in Santiago (via Samos) only 6 days after leaving Ruitelan, which
is about where the climb up to O Cebreiro begins. The climb up isn't nearly
as daunting as it's cracked up to be, just a bracing hike in the hills (in
quite a storm for us) yet a memorable camino experience. I would suggest
beginning at Astorga if possible, or else Ponferrada. Astorga was 9 days
away from Santiago for us, and the beautiful ascent from there to the Iron
Cross was one of the highlights of the camino.

The other suggestion I have is that you might consider walking onward the 3
days to Finisterre, since that was, for us, such an incredible physical end
to the pilgrimage: the empty ocean horizon, stretching off toward the
Americas. But that would mean shortening your time on the main part, before
Santiago, a bit, and you wouldn't want to just arrive in Santiago, and then
have to catch a plane, without having two or three days to enjoy that
special city.

You'll just have to keep coming back, as Rosina said. Walking to Burgos is
not to be missed, and so is the sublime meseta between Burgos and Leon.
After our walk from Le Puy to Pamplona this spring (leaving Vancouver May
9), we're going to hop the bus to Santiago via favorite points in between,
before visiting friends in La Coruna and Bilbao. Spain gets in your blood.

Frank Metcalf


>Date:    Sun, 18 Apr 2004 10:27:47 -0400
>From:    Alberto De Leon <mexmanaCOMCAST.NET>
>Subject: intro of new member
>
>Hi everybody!
>My name is Alberto De Leon.  I am from Grand Prairie, TX.  I will be 49
>when I do my walk.  The walk will start about the 9th of August.  I will
>have two weeks to do the walk and will start in Leon.  I cannot wait to
>start.  I have enjoyed reading the letters here.  I have found good
>information that will help during my walk.  Talk to you later.  Alberto
>
>------------------------------
>
>Date:    Sun, 18 Apr 2004 11:27:01 EDT
>From:    Rosina Lila <BlaroliaAOL.COM>
>Subject: (no subject)
>
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>Hi Alberto, and welcome,
>If I were you, on my first Camino pilgrimage, and had only two weeks at my
>disposal I would not start from Leon.  Even although that city is only 300
>kilometers away from Santiago (app. 200 miles), the route is up and down
>and up and
>down and it faces the daunting ascent to O Cebreiro.  You may find yourself
>racing the calendar and missing most of what the Camino holds.
>Why not start from O Cebreiro?  You can walk down from there and have enough
>time to savor all the aspects of the pilgrimage:. your fellow pilgrims,  the
>spellbinding nearby monuments, monasteries and churches, (in the tiny town of
>Furelos and its little church you are likely to want to linger for hours
>before
>its mind-awing Crucifix) , and your own sitting-on-the-side-of-the-road
>solitude with its wealth of unique insights.
>You can visit Leon and its fabulous Cathedral and museum (don't miss it!), go
>to Ponferrada by bus, visit the Templars' castle, then take a bus to
>Villafranca on your way to O Cebreiro, and then walk to Santiago.
>Surely, like most of us, you will be going back, again and again, and somehow
>someday you will find the time to make a longer pilgrimage.
>Warm regards,
>Rosina