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Recent content by BROWNCOUNTYBOB

  1. BROWNCOUNTYBOB

    Managing a Camino budget

    For our first camino, my wife and I mostly stayed in municipal albergues, and ate pilgrim's meals each night. I kept a detailed log of our expenses and we spent 35 euros per person. For our second camino, we walked with my brother and his wife. We mostly stayed in quad rooms (two bunk beds)...
  2. BROWNCOUNTYBOB

    Poll Which Camino are you planning next?

    We will walk our fourth Camino this fall (Sept-Oct) and once again will hike camino frances. Each time we hike, we have memories of prior caminos, and staying at some of our favorite albergues and eating in our favorite restaurants are like daily homecoming parties. That said, each camino, we...
  3. BROWNCOUNTYBOB

    Booked our flights at a good rate

    I've been checking round trip air fares periodically from our home in Indianapolis to Madrid, departing mid Sept and returning late October (2021). The rate has consistently been $1,100 to $1,200 per person which is the rate we paid for our cancelled 2020 camino (fortunately we received cash...
  4. BROWNCOUNTYBOB

    Preventing Black Toe ?

    Good news that all four toenails have grown back to their original state. One painful surprise as the toe nails on my big toes grew back, both of them grew into in-grown toe nails. They became quite sensitive and painful when touched or bumped. I oftentimes covered each with a band aid and...
  5. BROWNCOUNTYBOB

    How do you train for the Camino?

    Prior to our first camino in 2015 (age 57), my wife and I decided we would not engage in any specialized training for the camino. We both were fit for our age, working out on the treadmill or elliptical in our basement for 30 minutes, five days a week. Our thinking was that if we were fit, we...
  6. BROWNCOUNTYBOB

    Storm Filomena: Spain sees 'exceptional' snowfall

    In the mid-90s, we lived in Geneva for three years. Each yearend we celebrated Christmas in Geneva, then headed to Spain for a winter vacation. One year we were driving from Valencia to Madrid and encountered some fairly light snow. Cars were pulling off the highway, to allow the kids to get...
  7. BROWNCOUNTYBOB

    Do top bunks stop bed bugs?

    My wife and I have walked the Camino Frances three times, St Jean to Santiago. To my knowledge, we've not experienced any bed bugs. Precautions we've used which may have helped: Several days prior to travel, I sprayed permethrin on the inside and outside of our backpacks and day packs...
  8. BROWNCOUNTYBOB

    Leaving dog home question

    "Curious George" is the fifth beagle we've owned since we married 38+ years ago. We would never consider boarding our beagle due to an incident that happened a long time ago at a kennel. We returned from vacation and our beagle had a bad back injury, which we are sure happened at the kennel...
  9. BROWNCOUNTYBOB

    Silly Christmas Tradition

    Slightly off topic - a New Year's Eve tradition in my family. During my career, we relocated to Geneva, Switzerland in the mid-90s. Each Christmas, we celebrated at our home, then the next day, headed to Spain with our three kids for 7 to 10 days. We mostly stayed in paradors. The first...
  10. BROWNCOUNTYBOB

    Have you been married a long time?

    Married 38 years, after dating four years. Met our senior year at private colleges. Both of us spent the spring semester abroad our junior year (she in France, me in Spain). Before we met, both our plans were to attend the same graduate school to get an MBA. We both were lucky to get two...
  11. BROWNCOUNTYBOB

    2021 Camino Frances - will be more expensive !

    During our first Camino Frances (2015), my wife and I spent on average 35 euros / day / person. We mostly stayed in municipal albergues, and only a few overnights in hotels or private albergues. During our second camino (2017), we hiked with my brother and his wife. We stayed mostly in "quad...
  12. BROWNCOUNTYBOB

    Parador(s) detour from Sarria?

    Several years ago, I promised my wife that at the end of a camino, we'd stay in the parador in Santiago. Planning our 2021 camino, I checked the rate for the parador in Santiago and it was shockingly high - twice the rate that I've paid at other paradors or other very nice places in Santiago...
  13. BROWNCOUNTYBOB

    Parador(s) detour from Sarria?

    Two other places we stayed at which were as nice as paradors and also very rich in history were Hotel San Anton Abad in Villafranca de Montes de Oca and Hotel Real Colegiata San Isidro in Leon. We stayed at the parador in Leon twice. The first time (2015) it was fabulous. Our room overlooked...
  14. BROWNCOUNTYBOB

    Video Maria and Belen from Hornillos - their Casa Rural & 2020

    Great video! My wife and I have also stayed at La Casa del Abuelo twice, in 2017 and 2019. One of our favorites on the Camino Frances. We stayed in a private room with private bath. The bar / cafeteria out back is great to have lunch and also to enjoy the outside patio. We've also had our...
  15. BROWNCOUNTYBOB

    Parador(s) detour from Sarria?

    During my career with a Fortune 500 company, we lived in Geneva, Switzerland for three years. We celebrated Christmas in Geneva, then travelled to Spain with our three young children for 10 days after Christmas. Each time we travelled throughout Spain, mostly staying in paradors. We...
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