Just realized I'm starting w/o a scallop shell...oops

[skotzko]

Somehow this is the one thing I forgot to pack. Is there somewhere to get one early on the CF? Heading to SJPP and then starting walk on Monday.

 

[MinaKamina]

Somehow this is the one thing I forgot to pack. Is there somewhere to get one early on the CF? Heading to SJPP and then starting walk on Monday.

The Pilgrim's Office in SJPP is the place to be!

 

[Bradypus]

It's not obligatory to carry a scallop shell. The older tradition was that pilgrims received their shell after finishing their journey in Santiago. I didn't carry one on my first Camino as I felt I had not yet earned that privilege.

 

[donalomahony]

Somehow this is the one thing I forgot to pack. Is there somewhere to get one early on the CF? Heading to SJPP and then starting walk on Monday.

Millions of them in SJPP.

 

[CWBuff]

As stated Millions of them in SJPdP.
If you don't find the one you like the albergue in Roncesvalles sells the ones with Santiago Cross on them for around 2 Euros

 

[Icacos]

Or you can be contrary like me and not ever get one.

 

[Icacos]

Sorry to jump into your thread. I have a question and can’t figure out how to make a brand new post. Also don’t know which thread to post in. Will a moderator re-position a question thats in the wrong thread? Again, sorry for sidetracking this.

Towards the top of the screen on the right there should be an orange rectangle that says ‘post thread.’ I think that’s it.

 

[FRM]

Walked on the Camino a number of times. I’ve never had a shell (though many/most do). The backpack will clearly identify your purpose until you find one.

 

[truthseeker]

A friend gave me one she had found on the beach here on Cape Cod. I carried it with pride, and it's still hanging up in my kitchen to remind me of my journey, which, of course, does not end at Santiago.

 

[ChrisPB]

Somehow this is the one thing I forgot to pack. Is there somewhere to get one early on the CF? Heading to SJPP and then starting walk on Monday.

You and God both know you are a Pilgrim so why bother with one. Many people, including me, don't carry them.

 

[adam lapp]

Have never felt the need to walk with one, but I know from being in the sjpp pilgrims office they have the real authentic ones from the ocean, where each looks unique. Rather than the mass produced, super white versions.

 

[Ultreia et Suseia!]

Don't worry, you can don other things that will identify you as pilgrim :

 

[david g]

I added one to my pack that I picked up on the beach in Finisterre. It’s always felt to me that a shell was earned, in a way, by walking the Camino, but that’s just me. Just don’t add one of those pilgrim gourds to your pack. I find that to be similar to wearing Mickey Mouse ears at Disneyland.

 

[Bad Pilgrim]

Never had one. Ultralight means ultralight...

 

[Anthony Rocco]

Somehow this is the one thing I forgot to pack. Is there somewhere to get one early on the CF? Heading to SJPP and then starting walk on Monday.

You can get one in SJPDP or just about anywhere on the camino, but why not be a true peregrino? For most of the history of the camino, the shell was what you obtained in Santiago and was a sign that you had completed the camino. Of course, in those days, you had to walk back home, so wearing the shell was truly a badge of honor. These days, the shell is a mark that you are a peregrino. So...it's your choice: be traditional or be modern. Nothing to fret about.

 

[RJM]

I never carried one hanging off my pack but did gather a few to take home as gifts for friends and family and have one sitting on my desk at home.
The only one I've ever carried on the Camino was a small shell pendant on a piece of cord around my neck. Got it from the blacksmith selling his wares near Irache (wine fountain). It's really cool, made of iron.

 

[naplesdon]

Go out for dinner and order Coquilles Saint-Jacques, it will give a great memory to share about how you aquired your shell(s)

 

[RJM]

Never had one. Ultralight means ultralight...

I know what you mean. A few years ago on the Portuguese my pack felt heavier than expected. This surprised me as I made it a point to shave off every gram. A pack inventory was called for and revealed the culprit. I originally weighed my pack with a planned amount of aspirin tablets. Forty to be exact. Well sure enough I had packed a brand new aspirin bottle, unopened and containing fifty aspirin tablets. I immediately disposed of the excess ten aspirin tablets, repacked my pack and voila, made all the difference.
Yes, ultralight means ultralight.

 

[Kimtom]

Never had one. Ultralight means ultralight...

I made one out of wool.
It’s very light. It weighs .25 oz.
A real one can weigh around 2.5 oz.

 

[taigirl]

Somehow this is the one thing I forgot to pack. Is there somewhere to get one early on the CF? Heading to SJPP and then starting walk on Monday.

You get them from pilgrims office in SJPDP when you pick up your passport.

 

[Leaderene]

It's not obligatory to carry a scallop shell. The older tradition was that pilgrims received their shell after finishing their journey in Santiago. I didn't carry one on my first Camino as I felt I had not yet earned that privilege.

Me too.

 

[Roland49]

Started in SJPdP w/o a shell, too.
Brought it back from SdC like in the old days.

Have fun!
BC

 

[LTfit]

A shell is definitely not required. I guess that I've never felt the need to carry one on my pack...20+ times on

 

[Juno]

Two reasons to get a shell, in my case I received pilgrims menus when waiters saw it, secondly it was used to drink the wine at the Irache fountain on the French Way and I also gave a pilgrim on the Via de la Plata my spare shell for walking me over a very narrow bridge! ( My hero). You never know when they could come in handy.

 

[Canche]

Somehow this is the one thing I forgot to pack. Is there somewhere to get one early on the CF? Heading to SJPP and then starting walk on Monday.

The shell is something you are supposed to receive in Santiago signifying that you completed the Camino. Not before

 

[Ste66]

You can buy a scallop shell anywhere along the camino, on my first camino I bought mine in Burgos, I have used the same one ever since.
Buen camino

 

[trecile]

The shell is something you are supposed to receive in Santiago signifying that you completed the Camino. Not before

That was true in medieval times. The Compostela certificate has replaced the shell as proof that you have reached Santiago. Now pilgrims wear the shell on their journey to show that they are pilgrims.

It has given me joy to see pilgrims wearing the shell and being able to wish them a buen Camino during my 2+ weeks convalescing with a broken arm in Porto.

My husband thinks that I am slightly crazy when I go out of my way to say "buen Camino" to what he considers to be random strangers, but to me, they are my people.

 

[Antonius Vaessen]

I walked 6 caminos and still haven't got one

 

[Jeff Crawley]

And don't forget, a scallop shell is for life, not just the Camino . . .




(13th century pilgrim's grave, London)

 

[Jeff Crawley]

That was true in medieval times. The Compostela certificate has replaced the shell as proof that you have reached Santiago. Now pilgrims wear the shell on their journey to show that they are pilgrims.

It has given me joy to see pilgrims wearing the shell and being able to wish them a buen Camino during my 2+ weeks convalescing with a broken arm in Porto.

My husband thinks that I am slightly crazy when I go out of my way to say "buen Camino" to what he considers to be random strangers, but to me, they are my people.

My problem is I keep saying it to strangers when I got back to the UK, that and "gracias" to checkout people in shops!

 

[Pilgrim9]

Somehow this is the one thing I forgot to pack. Is there somewhere to get one early on the CF? Heading to SJPP and then starting walk on Monday.

I found one on the ground today, hundreds of kilometres from the sea. A bit too big to carry around, so I left it where I found it.

It is at 40.4198707, -3.6831611

I am sure it is still there, for those who are interested.

 

[CWBuff]

Camino Provides!

 

[Jeff Crawley]

I found one on the ground today, hundreds of kilometres from the sea. A bit too big to carry around, so I left it where I found it.

It is at 40.4198707, -3.6831611

I am sure it is still there, for those who are interested.

Think you're gonna need a bigger pack . . . .

 

[CanadianBarb]

We got ours on our beach in front of our house, as a bringing something important from home, knowing that our Camino started even before we get on the plane to Spain and will continue on afterwards. Just like the Camino, I believe that we all walk our own Caminos in our own ways and it is all okay...

 

[Peregrinopaul]

Maybe go for a really old one! Specimen I photographed in a palaeontology museum in Balazuc, north of Nîmes in 2019.

 

[FourSeasons]

Somehow this is the one thing I forgot to pack. Is there somewhere to get one early on the CF? Heading to SJPP and then starting walk on Monday.

On my first Camino (2013) the train arrived late in SJPdP. I didn’t even think to get a shell while playing pantomime with the volunteers on where some of us would sleep that night. I slept in an attack of an albergue (see photo) with an Irishman.
Not to worry, upon my 7:00P.M. arrival in Roncesvillas the next day the host picked out a shell for me. He told me it was for fast pilgrims. I’m not sure about that but I arrived in Santiago the same morning as those who started with me whom some took taxis and buses. Some thought I would never make it. 34 days every step (includes one rest day). On my second Camino (2016) the hospitalero in Logrono gave me a most beautiful shell for my birthday. Let the magic begin and Buen Camino!

 

[Pilgrim9]

Think you're gonna need a bigger pack . . . .

Indeed, but it is a bit too ostentatious for me.

 

[Leaderene]

It's not obligatory to carry a scallop shell. The older tradition was that pilgrims received their shell after finishing their journey in Santiago. I didn't carry one on my first Camino as I felt I had not yet earned that privilege.

That was my take too so I now wear it with pride knowing I earned it.