Further Down the Way


In my last post, I gloried mainly in the landscape – and that hasn’t got old. I am still loving the birds (greenfinches, probably, as well as yellowhammers and/or goldfinches now) and sort of wish I had packed my bird book. I am revelling in the changes of scene. Snow and mountains today – and not just snow in the distance but snowing on me as I stepped outside.

But I paid less attention to the people we meet in my last post. Before we left, I was asked if I really thought we would have much contact with others and, while I have not kept a record, the reality has far exceeded my expectations. We are lucky that English is the language of the camino, albeit there are pockets where only Spanish is spoken. Most of those on the Way are well educated people from Northern Europe or North America. Exchanges tend to focus on ‘where are you from’ and ‘where are you going’ but many range across a much wider range of topics. I have had the opportunity to run my spiel highlighting Calne as the most important town in the universe and Preston North End as the greatest football team (albeit in 1889) and I have also had some interesting conversations when sober. I do listen as well as bore and there have been so many delightful and illuminating exchanges.

By way of illustration, I recall one 48-hour period where we dined with two Koreans, two South Africans and two Germans, and spoke to them all. That was followed by a late-night drink with a young man from the USA, breakfast exchanges with two young Germans. The following day it was dinner with two Aussies, a German, a Belgian, a Frenchwoman and three Spaniards, though only one of the latter spoke with us. Sandwiched between those dinners was lunch next to the French group that included my namesake - a female Laurence. It goes on and on and it’s great; if travelling broadens the mind, travellers' conversation deepens one’s world view. Let’s hope it continues.

One other brief observation: I am now fighting a mindset that just gets us to the end. It’s tricky now that the end is almost in sight. I still want to enjoy what we see but I didn’t pause to see much in Astorga and my tours of our stopping places are getting briefer (though snow does tend to reduce one’s options). There is in fact a long way to go – roughly 150 miles – so it won’t be over quickly!

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