Camino de Santiago de Compostela

[Kiwi-family]

I've just read on a few blogs things along the lines of "there was nowhere to eat until we'd walked 8km" OR "once I realised we didn't need breakfast, I was much more calm"

I fear we would not get to the point of being calm! We do not embark on any adventures without filling our tummies with a bowl of porridge or (in South East Asia) noodle soup or lamb's tail tea in Mongolia.....I cannot imagine asking my kids to walk for two hours on empty stomachs. Are there really stretches where you cannot plan ahead to have at least a loaf or two of bread and some cheese for the morning? (in particular from Astorga onwards)

[CaminoGen]

I always bought my orange juice and chocolate croissant the night before. You'll soon realize that you always have stuff to eat in your bag, be it leftovers from lunch or the wonderful cherries you bought from an old lady on the side of the road. I understand that feeding and lodging 11 can necessitate a little planning, I'm guessing you'll easily get into a comfortable routine. I've never had trouble getting food along the Camino. One hint, buy any food before 2 PM, even if you have not reached your destination for the day. Waiting until 5 PM to eat lunch may be asking a lot of the kids and teenagers with hollow legs.

[Abbeydore]

I guess you'll be carry'n emergency vidals to keep the hollow legs @ bay, no much worse than a grumpy child,

[dougfitz]

If you plan carefully (more carefully than perhaps I did) you should not have to do without breakfast before you start off each day.

When I got into a pattern, I made sure that I had a piece of fruit, some bread and some dried fruit and nuts available for the following morning so that I could have something to eat irrespective of when I started out.

If you plan on preparing your own, just make sure that you have shopped early enough to get everything you need. Bread might be an issue, particularly in smaller towns where shop-keepers may not have much more than they need for their local customers. A few times I found that they didn't have any if I shopped later in the day. This was not an issue in the bigger towns.

I relied on bars and cafes for coffee. If the albergue didn't serve breakfast, I needed to walk to the first open bar. Most places seemed to open about 8.30am, so I often had a pleasant walk for an hour before my first coffee & toast. I don't recall any long stretches from Astorga without a bar. You can always carry your own tea or coffee makings, and make sure you stay where there is a kitchen you can use.

If the alburgue provides breakfast, it won't always be available early. At la Faba, the hospitalera must have set out breakfast the previous evening, because it was available when I got up at about 6.30am. In contrast, at Granon there was a communal breakfast at 8.00am, and I didn't get started until about 8.30am that day.

[jastrace]

Here's an idea: if you are concerned about a particular stretch of the Camino (or all of it), then plan ahead. You can do this mid walk if need be and you may have to give up some flexibility. So you pick the days that you are concerned about, book accommodation for each night ahead of time, have a bag/pack filled with supplies you need and have them transported for you each day to your planned destination. I'm sure someone in the group would be happy to volunteer to have their pack transported for them for a day. If you book accommodation some will even prepare something for you to take with you if you ask (and pay for it). There are plenty of people who can provide this service or coordinate it for you and I can even recommend some that I have used.

Another idea is to start after 7am. When we started walking at 5.30ish we would pass many cafes that were all closed until 7.30-8.30 ish and so if we had not have planned ahead we would have gone hungry for a couple of hours. Also we made some new friends a couple of days as we shared the extra we carried (just in case) with those who we're quite as organised.

No doubt these sorts of ideas will not appeal to some but they are not going to walk the Camino for you so you should feel free to do it your way.



Cheers,

Jason.

[falcon269]

Desayuno is normally bread, butter, and jam with coffee and/or orange juice. It will be available about 80% of the mornings at the albergue or in a nearby bar. Croissants and tortilla de patata, a sort of potato omelet, may also be available regularly. No porridge. No noodles. No eggs. No bacon. No lamb. No yak. When the cook arrives, usually sometime before noon, omelets may be available. Ask for a tortilla francesa. Often you can add cheese and/or ham. It will be served as a sandwich unless you ask for it on a plate.

A lack of protein drains my energy, so I try for an omelet as soon as possible. Tins of pate or sardines are available in the supermarkets, so I keep a couple in my pack. Also, you can buy eggs in the markets and hard boil them in the evening at the albergue. They last several days, and provide an excellent protein boost.

In general though, a hot breakfast cannot be found in Spain.

[dplandis]

I tried to stay in albergues with kitchens whenever possible, so I could prepare my breakfast food and coffee. Whenever I had the chance I would make bacon and eggs (got some jealous looks from hungry pilgrims off to try their luck for a croissant in a bar...). Sometimes I hardboiled eggs the night before for quicker eating. Muesli and milk was another simple filling breakfast. Bread and cheese also does the trick. I would also make my own coffee as I'm really not awake until I've had some.

A few times I splurged on breakfast in a bar, and just found that a couple tiny slices of toast was not enough to keep me going. The Spanish tortilla wedges were more filling.

I always had at least a few emergency granola bars handy, especially if I stayed in an albergue without a kitchen. Remember that many shops are closed on Sundays, so it's worth renewing your emergency food reserves the day before.

[daesdaemar]

I've always bought some fruit the night before and ate it on the go as I start walking in the morning.

[nellpilgrim]

......and, as in any emergency scenario, there's always chocolate!

[Tia Valeria]

Depends on if there is any food in your albergue and the time you set off.
Each afternoon we bought water and supplies for next morning. This gave us a snack if there was no convenient bar mid-morning and also could be used as breakfast if needed. We never had to start without breakfast, usually available after 7.00, but the extra mid morning snack was often needed as well as coffeess etc in the bars along the route.

[Kiwi-family]

Thank you for your reassuring replies. It certainly sounds that it is not ESSENTIAL to go for half a day before eating anything. I am not against planning ahead and even carrying supplies for an extra day if it means everyone will be happy in the morning. We don't need something cooked - just SOMETHING to eat. I now feel confident that this is entirely possible. In fact, it sounds like fantastic fare.

[SabineP]

http://www.mundicamino.com/ruta.cfm?p=T ... es=Tiendas

Tiendas on the Camino

[annakappa]

I tried to stay in albergues with kitchens whenever possible, so I could prepare my breakfast food and coffee. Whenever I had the chance I would make bacon and eggs (got some jealous looks from hungry pilgrims .

Crikey! Frying up bacon and eggs in the Albergue in the morning? I'm not sure how the hospitaleros felt about that! They need everyone out ASAP , with the kitchen clean and tidy!
Anyway Kiwi family - I realize your dilemma, because you need to cater for your whole family, the old and the young! My advice would be to always keep a few emergency dry rations on hand, sufficient for everyone. You will soon work it out, because of you all having travelled all over the world , you know the routine, far, but far better than many of us! Also once you have reached Ponferrada, you will find that the villages are closer together, so you should always find a shop or bar.
There is also the bread man, who passes from village to village in his van, sounding his horn as he enters the village. Anne

[Kiwi-family]

OOOH the bread man - just like in France, and like the vege and fish trucks in Greece. So much to look forward to. My fears have been allayed, and I will not be packing an emergency supply to take from NZ.

[Tia Valeria]

The only late opening day we found was a Sunday, even in our pension. Coffee was available in the bar quite early, but breakfast on Sunday was 9.00am and we needed to be away before that as we had a long day ahead. Sometimes one bar will open in the larger places and take their rest day/late morning another day.
However on Saturdays we bought bread etc in the supermarket/shops even before we checked out the position with Sunday breakfast. I cannot go far without something to eat! Otherwise all was fine. Tempted by the bread man on occasions but for 2 the loaves were often too big. Great for a family though. We often bought some bread and carried a tin of sardines in case of need anyway