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Just wondering what your elevation is at home? If it is much higher than the Camino, perhaps you have lost your acclimatization to the higher altitude?
We just walked 3 weeks on the Camino del Norte. We had altus rain ponchos and no other rain gear. (New for us.) We ran into rain here and there and chilly weather and they worked beautifully.
We've always brought rain jackets in the past but we did not miss them at all. It's true that you look...
In Hondarribia, which is the town next to Irun where the airport is actually located, we stayed at Hotel Palacete. It is a lovely hotel within easy walking distance of the airport. Hondarribia is amazing and a great place to start the Camino del Norte. Hotel Palacete is storing a suitcase for...
Tap water everywhere is safe and delicious. That would include bar bathrooms and albergue and hotel taps. I think it tastes a lot better than the water from plastic bottles. Certainly more environmentally friendly. I think water at fountains is safe as long as you don't see a sign that says it...
I've found it helps to search on Google Maps for "alimentacion" which will bring up tiny food stores that are often open on Sunday. (They don't always show up when I search for "grocery" or "supermarket".)
We were in Santander this past Sunday and found a China store alimentacion. A first for...
We stayed there in early March two years ago. We were the only ones there. We had been there twice before (2013 and 2014) when it was quite full. They were such welcoming hosts. (Photo: https://photos.app.goo.gl/uwiLE845SNNEfD8X9 )
They told us they did not own the albergue but work for someone...
I agree. We spent some time in Seville a few years ago and didn't enjoy the coffee as much there. They might use more of the terrefacto coffee down there?
Regarding returning empty cup and saucer to the counter. I'm always torn about this. Don't want to cause more work, etc. But this morning (on the Camino del Norte), we were leaving a busy bar and I left the cups on the table. My husband went outside while I went to the bar to pay. While I was...
Yesterday, we were walking in the rain on the Camino del Norte between Castro Urdiales and Islares. When the rain stopped, we took off our Altus rain coats and hung them from our backpacks so they could dry while we continued to walk. I thought I'd stuffed mine down far enough so it wouldn't...
If the coffee is particularly good, when leaving, I like to tell the barista how good I thought it was. Almost without fail this brings a happy smile. One time, on the Camino Finisterre, when we did that (raving about how great the coffee was), the bar-owner asked us to wait and went to the...
This is similar to what we have decided to do. I bought some hi-viz nylon fabric and put an elastic drawstring through one long edge so it can be worn kind of like a little apron when needed. (It's 7 or 8 inches wide, I think.) In this photo, it wraps all the way around to the back around the...
Hmmm. Definitely slow while surfing. I'm having trouble remembering about maps. Probably a little slow but I'm not sure. If you want to use it for maps, you might pre-load the maps when you have wifi.
We have found that T-Mobile's free data in Spain is slow. But, of course, usually you have wi-fi when you need to do heavy-duty use of data so that might not be too much of a problem.
Last time I checked, my T-mobile plan had free data and texts, but calls were 25 cents per minute. I do plan to get a vodafone card for use in Spain. But wanted people to be able to reach me on my T-Mobile phone from the US in emergencies.
We do plan to get Spanish SIM cards after we get there because the T-Mobile data is slow and I think calls are 25 cents a minute (and Vodafone is so inexpensive these days). But, I wanted to be sure my family could use our US numbers as an alternate way to reach us, especially before we get our...
I was wanting to let my family here in the US know how to reach me while I am in Spain. Our T-Mobile phone numbers should work there. Do you know ... if someone is calling me, do they just call my number as they would if I were in the United States with the phone? I.e., just dial the number...
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