Private accommodation in O Cebreiro?

[Anniesantiago]

Has anyone had any experience booking private lodgings in O Cebreiro?
(good or bad?)

 

[mspath]

Annie,

Be sure to check out the comments on O Cebreiro spots in these two earlier Forum threads on accommodation and hostels-hotels.

Adjacent to the church the original pilgrim refuge which was later called the San Giraldo de Aurillac is now the Hotel Cebreiro. This is run by the family of the late Don Elias Valina Sampedro, the local priest who mid twentieth century renovated the idea of the Camino and painted the first yellow arrows which we pilgrims now follow. He is buried in the church cemetery. The Valina family also run a separate bar/restaurant near the church and serve a very good menu de dia. Above that bar are additional guest rooms with baths. ...On an earlier camino I was VERY ill when staggering up to O Cebreiro and into their bar. Luckily a room was available and I happily spent two nights in clean, cozy HEATED comfort. What bliss!

Margaret

 

[domigee]

We too stayed in that hotel on our last camino. Very nice. My favourite though is Venta Celta. They have a restaurant but the rooms are in a separate house, right opposite the road with the view on the mountains. We pilgrims had the whole house, with a lovely sitting room, very pleasant.

 

[peregrina2000]

We too stayed in that hotel on our last camino. Very nice. My favourite though is Venta Celta. They have a restaurant but the rooms are in a separate house, right opposite the road with the view on the mountains. We pilgrims had the whole house, with a lovely sitting room, very pleasant.

I've also stayed at both the hotel next to the church and the Venta Celta, but it was years ago. At that time, anyway, the Venta Celta also had rooms above the restaurant, so there may be a larger number of rooms (Annie, are you looking for your group?). The rooms at the hotel are fine, but the walls are very thin and you can hear everything going on in all directions (at least that was the case at the time).

The last time I was at the Venta Celta was probably 2005, and at that time they had what I thought was a fabulous meal set-up, I still remember the details -- caldo gallego, followed by tortilla espanola and a huge wonderful salad, topped off with a dessert of queijo O Cebreiro with local honey. It was heaven. I'm hoping that they still do something like that, because it was simple, homemade with high quality ingredients and nourishing. But it's been a long time, and I know things change. Laurie

 

[shubertj]

We stayed at the Casa Carolo last September . It was a very nice place especially considering the 30k we put in that day. It has a bar and restaurant with a separate building with private lodging. The pilgrim meal is served upstairs in their restaurant and it was very good.

Jack

 

[Anniesantiago]

I'll see if I can find an email address or web page for Venta Celta.
Thanks

 

[peregrina2000]

Found a phone and address:
Calle Cebreiro, 19, 27670 Pedrafita do Cebreiro, Lugo
Teléfono:667 55 30 06

And here's a way to contact with the owner: http://www.miscasasrurales.com/casas-rurales/venta-celta/3922

On the web it says 6 double rooms, 36 euros a night. Good luck Annie.

 

[domigee]

Oh you star, peregrina2000! And I just wanted to say, yes, I remember I had the BEST caldo gallego in their restaurant , the meal was wonderful , I nearly mentioned it but then again, I thought maybe it was just me try and book early Annie santiago, this year it was full. (Mind you it was in August!).

 

[Pelegrin]

[
The last time I was at the Venta Celta was probably 2005, and at that time they had what I thought was a fabulous meal set-up, I still remember the details -- caldo gallego, followed by tortilla espanola and a huge wonderful salad, topped off with a dessert of queijo O Cebreiro with local honey. It was heaven. I'm hoping that they still do something like that, because it was simple, homemade with high quality ingredients and nourishing. But it's been a long time, and I know things change. Laurie[/quote]


You were lucky to find a good caldo gallego in a restaurant, what's not easy.
As I consider you high standard travellers, I dare to correct that particular mistake.
Queijo is portuguese. The gallego word for cheese is queixo. These words have also different pronounciations. The "j" in queijo sounds more or less like "G"" in Geography, whereas the "x" in queixo sounds exactly the same as "SH" in Shirt.

 

[domigee]

Oh be like that then! I speak Castellano spanish fluently (or used to) but struggle in Galicia (and other places) lol! I have never managed to pronounce the x correctly so thank you!

 

[Anniesantiago]

You were lucky to find a good caldo gallego in a restaurant, what's not easy.
As I consider you high standard travellers, I dare to correct that particular mistake.
Queijo is portuguese. The gallego word for cheese is queixo. These words have also different pronounciations. The "j" in queijo sounds more or less like "G"" in Geography, whereas the "x" in queixo sounds exactly the same as "SH" in Shirt.

Depends on where you are I guess.
My family is Portuguese and we pronounce queijo more like "kay'-zhu"
The "zhu" doesn't sound anything like "geography" but is much softer.
Here is a link where you can listen to the pronunciation both from Portugal and Brazil.
http://www.forvo.com/word/pão_de_queijo/

This link allows you to hear the word in Portuguese and in Galicia, but spelled queixo in both places:

http://www.forvo.com/search/queixo/gl/

I've noticed a HUGE similarity in both the food and the language between Portugal and Galicia. We call the Caldo Verde "querves" which is the word for "kale." It almost sounds like "kwayvsh" and can be 1 or 2 syllables, depending on locality. It is basically the same yummy soup though it can sometimes be made vegetarian or be made with different types of meat.

 

[Pelegrin]

Domigee

The sound "SH" doesn't exist in Spanish. As an anecdote it is funny to hear the pronunciation of the CC.OO leader Ignacio F. TOXO (who is from Ferrol) on the media here in Madrid. Most times you can hear TOSO, TOKSO, TOCHO or even TOJO and a few times the correct pronunciation TOSHO.

Annisantiago:

Yes, I said more or less Geography. I couldn´t find the right sound as you did. In food i agree that we have a lot of similarities, but cod is much less important in Galicia.

 

[AshaDasi]

Has anyone had any experience booking private lodgings in O Cebreiro?
(good or bad?)

I stayed at the O'Cebreiro Hotel, Annie and it was really lovely. Go for it. Its not too expensive. I paid about 40 euro for a double room.

 

[rickster]

Highly second the O'Cebreiro Hotel next to the church.

 

[Anniesantiago]

Yes, I said more or less Geography. I couldn´t find the right sound as you did. In food i agree that we have a lot of similarities, but cod is much less important in Galicia.

That's true!
We have 365 ways to cook bacalau!
Poached, stewed, fried, baked or grilled, I can eat it all day!


Funny story about cod. On my Camino in 2012, I went to an open market in a village and surprise of all surprises, there was a stall selling salted cod. I picked up a few pieces and handed them to the vendor. He shook his head vigorously, and said, "No! No! NO GOOD eating!" I replied, "Yes! Yes! I want it!" He said, "No good to eat, salty!" I laughed and said in my poor Spanish, "Yes! Salty, and I know how to cook it!" He continued to argue quite vigorously, but I stood my ground.

Finally, he gave up and sold me the cod.

When I got to the albergue, I put it in a bowl to soak for a few hours, changing the water maybe twice. Then I poached it. I cooked it up that night with a sauce made of fresh tomatoes, onions, and garlic. The pilgrims were all salivating and saying 'Oh! That smells so good!" I shared what I could and wished I'd bought more.