Happy weekend pilgrims. We at Clearskies Camino.com woke up with good news and with our Weekend Watch series, We want to show you a video (Weekend Watch #80) ! This used to be a weekly tradition – I might even start this back – YouTube has come alive with new content. In time, we may see some videos of pilgrims on the Camino again! The news from the Spanish media that mobility restrictions have been relaxed has reinvigorated me. There is a real possiblility that the Camino is opening to pilgrims this Summer. Following my previous post, I thought I would post this short video podcast from Kevin Donohue – an American pilgrim. He looks into his crystal ball and talks about what the next few months will be like in Spain for pilgrims. As I mentioned in my previous post, there is high demand from pilgrims to travel as soon as possible and I hope common sense will prevail until the vaccination rate in Spain is higher.

The podcast does a good job at explaining that each country is experiencing Covid differently and that we should should quite rightly respect those countries restrictions. That said, the EU Commission have voted on the green digital pass which will be introduced before the Summer. This will allow international non-essential travel for vaccinated pilgrims or those who can show a negative pcr test.

The news today from Spain was a added bonus. The Spanish government now has removed mobility restrictions which essentially allows Spanish pilgrims walk any route to Santiago. The Camino de Santiago is slowly opening up to more pilgrims and it is just a matter of time before we see crowds in front of the cathedral in Santiago. I look forward to the day! Until then, it is slowly, slowly!

You can view more including this one (Weekend Watch #80) in the “Weekend Watch” series here and feel free to subscribe to my newsletter on ClearskiesCamino.com if you enjoyed my post.

Buen Camino!

Last October and November, I started a whole host of podcasts with pilgrims around the world. They were great as they were informal, short, and had great information. I loved making them and I want to make more. I managed to upload 9 before real-life came catching up on me. I always knew I was never going to maintain the podcast on a weekly basis due to work etc. So I think the plan is to upload when I have the time and when there is interest. That said, I was delighted to speak to Adam from England last November and he is my next guest on the podcast.

Adam was one of my pilgrim buddies from my 2017 Camino from Burgos. I often compare meeting pilgrims to an elastic band. You might not meet each other for days but you have this constant connection. Adam and I would meet every three or four days and usually stay in donativo albergues. He had a much different attitude to me on the Camino. At the time, I would start very early in the morning much to my detriment, while he was very much laid back and he would take his time, which is the right way to do it. We both stayed in “Albergue parroquial Santa María” in Carrion de los Condes that year and it was personally one of my most enjoyable experiences. While I finished in Astorga that particular year, Adam continued to Santiago de Compostela.

You can listen to my conversation with Adam from England below. Please like it if you enjoyed it and feel free to subscribe on your podcast player of choice.

Happy weekend pilgrims. I hope you are well. Here in Ireland, the sun is shining and spring has sprung. It is time to post another weekend watch and an Irish pilgrim on the Camino Francés. Daniel Kenny walked the Camino Francés during January and February of 2020, before the pandemic. It is interesting to compare between the winter months and the months I like to walk. I might give it a try sometime! You can view more of Daniel’s Camino here.

View more videos like this here on my list of Camino videos.

As always, feel free to let me know what you think, especially if you are an Irish pilgrim on the Camino.

It was May 2019. It felt like a lifetime ago. Myself and my brother started out from Ferrol at the end of May and a few days later walked into Santiago having detoured to A Coruna. It was a short sweet Camino and one I would love to walk again, but maybe from Ferrol.

Efren, who makes quality videos from the Camino, walked from Ferrol one week before we started out. He starts out from Ferrol here but below is a summary of his 5 day trip to Santiago.

Definitely one to walk instead of the hustle and bustle of Sarria. Enjoy.

My previous post was looking forward to a re-arranged Camino in April 2021. With flights booked and nothing much else, I got back to the tasks at hand for the day. With no Camino to walk this year, what else had I to look forward to. A return to normality following the worst pandemic in 100 years? A democratically elected President in the United States? Let’s hope so. Nope, something else.

I dropped by my parents’ house on Sunday week for a socially-distant visit. It was great to see them as I hadn’t seen them since March. My brother was there too and he is no stranger of walking in Spain having walked to Santiago on two occasions. Imagine that, having two compostelas from two walks. But he is very much like me. He doesn’t mind where he walks, he just likes to get away. So he asked could he join me next April.

So we walk from Coimbra for two weeks next April. Until then we will walk in Ireland getting used to our packs and the distances. I hope you will follow us.