Love on the way
St Leonards photographer meets partner hiking Spain’s Camino de Santiago
Last month In February [Issue 169 and Issue 170), HIP covered Hastings pensioner Rosamund Parker’s extraordinary 2,000-mile Appalachian Trail hike across the north-eastern states of America. But she isn’t the only local who made the wise decision to go hiking just before the outbreak of the pandemic. By Martin Dickie
Puente la Reina
Lester Hill, a props master and photographer who now lives in St Leonards, decided in September 2019 that he needed time out from the film industry, packed his backpack and headed to Spain to embark on the 900km pilgrimage known as the Camino de Santiago. At the same time, Stef Frimmer, an executive assistant from Munich in Germany, was having the same idea. From different parts of the world, and totally unaware of each other’s existence, they happened to set off from one of the trek’s starting points, Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port, on the same day. Fate would bring them together five days later over lunch in a small town called Estella.
In this first part, they tell us about the allure of the Camino and how fate brought them together. Then, in our next issue, their adventure continues and we find out how the hike – and Covid-19 – changed their lives forever…
Camino de Santiago
What is the Camino de Santiago?
Lester: The Camino de Santiago, also known as the Way of St. James, is a network of pilgrims’ ways leading to the shrine of the apostle Saint James the Great in the Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela in Galicia, northwestern Spain. We walked the Camino Frances, probably the most famous path, which starts in Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port. We didn’t finish in Santiago de Compostela, but we continued walking to Cape Finisterre, which is about 900km.
Stef: My plan was to walk to Santiago de Compostela, but I changed my mind after I met Lester. I decided to finish the Camino with him in Cape Finisterre.
Day 2
What attracted you to it?
Stef: The Way of St. James is very well known in Germany and has always fascinated me. My dad passing away made me realise how fleeting life can be, but helped me reflect on how unhappy and dissatisfied I was in my life. I tried to change something on the outside to become happier – without success. One evening I saw the film The Way on Netflix and I knew that was it. The Camino had cast its spell on me. A week later, I quit my job and booked my flight.
Lester: I’d always wanted to undertake an epic adventure, but had never left time for one. I started working in the film industry at 16, and all of my time was devoted to my work. I had also seen The Way a few years before, and had researched the Camino after seeing it, so was pretty sure this was what I wanted to do with my upcoming time off.
Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port
So how did you meet?
Lester: I arrived a day earlier than Stef in Pamplona and had planned to get a bus to Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port, but my bag was lost during the flight, so I started a day later than planned. Without my bag being lost, I would’ve been a day ahead of Stef, and we probably wouldn’t have met.
Stef: Even though we set off on the same day, it wasn’t until five days later that we actually met. It was in a bar, in a town called Estella. We’d both ended up there for lunch. I was sitting with two friends I’d met the day before and who’d met Lester in Pamplona, and it was they who invited him to join us when they spotted him walking in.
• There’ll be more romance, adventure and stunning photo-graphy in the next issue of HIP, when the pair tackle the final leg of their journey, overcoming broken bones and the looming threat of a global pandemic.
• All photos taken by Lester Hill. You can find more of his photography on Instagram @stleonardsstreets
• Read part 2 here
Camino Familie
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