None So Queer As Folk

Charlotte. I am now awake having had a snooze, I was going cross eyed due to lack of sleep. We thought we would tell you about some of the people we have encountered along the Way. We have said before that one of the extraordinary aspects of this journey is the brief friendships that are formed each day, some last a few days as our paths criss cross. we have some pictures of the most memorable and lovely pilgrims we have spent time with and some we did not get pictures of, for instance two lovely Canadian men, Leo and Bill who we met in Orrisson and also Cecelia and Suzy two seventy year olds who are walking from Puy in France. We are still crossing paths with them.

 This is Ingo who was from Germany and whom we met at Biarritz and who we shared a taxi with into Beyonne  and whom we met again in Orisson. He was very friendly, travelling on his own and made us feel confident in making friends along the Way. We assume he is streaks ahead of us now.

This is Darren from South Africa, our lovely companion who we crossed the Pyrenees with, he was worried about doing this bit on his own and called us the "English Ladies". We are still following him on his blog when we can, however he is definitely following us geographically!

We first met Ann and Michael from the USA in our posh hotel in Pamplona and our journey forward coincided with them for some days, they were very funny, friendly people and it was always a pleasure to meet up with them. They had sent all their cold weather clothing back home and were regretting their decision as the weather was so much colder than they had anticipated. We assume they are ahead of us as we have not bumped into them again.

Francoise on the left and Claude on the right, both French women were travelling on their own and we met up with them individually and then we all met up at a lovely Albergue at Villafranca, Jane had great opportunity to speak French, Francoise had very good English but Claude had none. They are both ahead of us as Francoise was speeding towards Leon and Claude took a train to Sarria. Though a transient meeting we really connected with Francoise in particular and it was sad to say goodbye.

Bethany (left) and Jenny, Bethany from Hawaii was travelling on her own and we first encountered her walking out from Roncevalles, her pack had been so heavy that the Pilgrim´s Office in St. Jean advised her not to attempt to carry it. She was having it portered till she could post a huge parcel back home. Bethany was a vivacious, funny, charming person who made friends easily and called us "The British Ladies", We bumped into her many times along our way. She met up and travelled with Jenny from Germany, a kindred spirit. But both are now walking seperately due to their own personal timetables. We have had many a laugh with these two and we are still seeing Jenny now and again.

Our latest encounter was in Burgos at the hotel, Terrance and his wife Kate from Australia were at breakfast and we thought they were British until Jane spoke to Terrance. They were both academics researching cultural aspects of the Camino Way for their Universities. Kate had travelled the CW herself in 2010. They were tremendous fun, we had our last evening meal with them and it was , we all agreed, delightful. Two incredibly interesting folk it was hard to say goodbye and in other circumstances we could imagine longterm friendship would/could form.

These are some of the more significant encounters. We also have fleeting conversations, eg a lad from Telford today, who packed his job in and is walking the CW and then continuing to Lisbon. His journey inspired by  "The Way", Martin Sheen´s film.

In contrast there have been a few po faced unfriendly people who you cannot help but wonder why they are on the CW!

Thats all for now, love to everyone and more blogs soon.