Arzúa to O Pedrouzo, 19Km
The Camino del Norte finished in Arzúa and now I’m on the Camino Frances for the duration. It will take me quite a while to digest the Camino del Norte. There’s a lot to like about it. Beautiful coastal and rural scenery, a reasonable number of fellow walkers and a sense of the real Spain. And yet there was something missing. Where was the spirit or the sense of pilgrimage? My expectations were too high. It was a tough walk made all the harder by the difficulties of eating and sleeping and I got a little tired and grumpy towards the end. Now that it’s over I need time to reflect on all the positives and there were many.
I loved the Camino Frances in 2016. It was very popular back then and today, more so. Three times as many people are walking it now. This morning I took an excellent breakfast in the local bar and watched a never ending flow of pilgrims passing by. Soon I joined in and was swept along the path. Few of them looked like they had come from the Pyrenees let along the Norte or Primitivo. Never mind, they are enjoying themselves. I would never say whether this Camino is better than that one. It depends what you want.
The Camino Frances is no more like Spain than the Costa del Sol. You must accept it for what it is. In 2016 there were plenty of bars, now there are many more and none of them resemble the traditional Spanish bars dotted along the Norte. Every bar has an extensive menu in English and you can eat when you’re hungry, not when it’s bedtime.
I didn’t recognise today’s walk, probably because it poured with rain in 2016 and today was hot and sunny. Every nook and cranny has been converted into a cafe and they are popular. Several catering trucks trundle along the roads delivering food and drink for the army of pilgrims that come every day. The Camino has brought prosperity to this corridor of Northern Spain. I visited a lot of these places in 1990 and I have a photo of the miracle church in O’Cebreiro on the Frances with chickens running free outside. In 2016 it had all been paved over and there were bars, restaurants and albergues jostling for business. The only chickens were on the menu.
It’s not surprising that the Norte pilgrims were bewildered by the abrupt transition to the Frances. Some of us found each other and we huddled together at a bar watching as the hordes passed, uploading a thousand photos into Instagram.
We all arrive in Santiago tomorrow. It’s just 20Km away. I hope to celebrate with some old and new Norte friends before we all go our separate ways.
Pilgrimage 
Oh dear…it never rains but it pours. Hard not to lament what was, whether immediate past or further back.
I was glad to read your comment about being ‘grumpy’! That’s what I thought but wasn’t going to say, as of course I know all that is involved in these undertakings. Least you realise it & as you say, can reflect when all is said & done. The beauty of your blogs is they are written in the moment, warts & all, not with the rose-coloured glasses of time. Well done Tim…enjoy tomorrow for what & how it is. 🤗
Thanks for those good points. I do write whatever is in my head, always what I feel at the time. I’m on top of the world now