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Recent content by NorthernLight

  1. NorthernLight

    Bank verification with Spanish SIM

    I was advised by my bank to put my Canadian sim back into my phone, use wifi for the banking app, the text message would come to me with the code, complete my banking and then put the Spanish sim back into the phone. Receiving the text was cost free, but don’t answer any calls or send...
  2. NorthernLight

    How to address other Spanish speakers, Formal or Informal?

    I’d use Señor or Señora. They are working and likely would appreciate the respect. Perhaps that’s the reason the waitress at a certain restaurant served me before a pile of pilgrims who had gotten there before me….
  3. NorthernLight

    Is it possible to walk from Barcelona to Santiago?

    If you decide against starting in Barcelona, and think getting to SJPDP is too complicated, consider starting at Somport and following the Camino Aragones. It has infrastructure, gorgeous scenery and is only a train to Jaca and a bus up to Somport.
  4. NorthernLight

    URGENT HELP NEEDED

    I’m bumping this for the weekend crowd to see.
  5. NorthernLight

    URGENT HELP NEEDED

    Email sent. It’s too late in the day for a phone call today, but tomorrow is coming … does their number do whatsapp?
  6. NorthernLight

    European SIM - data-only or talk/text?

    You may want to confirm that your talk and data plan includes or excludes sms. My Orange plan in Spain did not include text messages and I struggled with Whatsapp for a while and accidentally sent text messages. Prep your loved ones at home to use Whatapp and you can phone them using your data.
  7. NorthernLight

    Women’s 100% merino long sleeve back at Costco

    I picked up a couple a few weeks ago. They used to be made by Cloudveil, but this batch are by Segments. So far they are good.
  8. NorthernLight

    Last night I learned I snore...

    I had a post nasal drip thing going on that caused me to cough (only at night) and apparently snore during one part of one of my caminos. I ‘cured’ it by adding to my pillow so that I was more elevated. But before I discovered that solution and before knowing I was snoring, I experienced the...
  9. NorthernLight

    Santiago Matamoros stamp on Compostela?

    My 2013 Compostella does not have Santiago Matamoros on it. The stamp appears to be Santiago’s casket. This is the first time I’ve looked at the 2013 Compostella in a decade; it is a lighter-weight paper than my later editions and has the same monochromatic reddish/sepia-ish coloured ink as...
  10. NorthernLight

    Travelling from Borda to Roncesvalles

    The road option is only 400 metres longer than the steep downhill option. The road option may take you past horses, but definitely takes you along beautiful views and past the Ibañeta Chapel, and ends with a stroll through the woods to bring you to the door of the albergue.
  11. NorthernLight

    Villafranca Montes de Oca - plans to reopen the municipal albergue

    I recall in 2013 (and in subsequent years) that the locals wanted the municipal to be operational, and were quite angry with the closure of the muni, but in 2013 the big hotel had opened a new albergue and were charging the same £ amount as the muni, so pilgrims were heading to the new one. I...
  12. NorthernLight

    Villafranca Montes de Oca - plans to reopen the municipal albergue

    Good news! This albergue was a needed resource and when they were forced to shut down it was a sad day for pilgrims.
  13. NorthernLight

    Changes to the Camino

    On my first Frances in 2013, I was forever having to listen to a woman strumming her ukulele - I’d try to get away from her but kept failing. On the same camino, I endured a group that would sing loudly, the same group of songs to which they did not know the words - again I struggled to escape...
  14. NorthernLight

    Light sleeping bag or silk liner?

    A liner was fine for me on the Le Puy, even in early November; gîtes had blankets. In Spain, I want the sleeping bag/quilt.
  15. NorthernLight

    Rescue of peregrina lost in fog on the Route Napoleon

    On a nice clear day I encountered a small group of folks from Japan who were standing at a marker sign at a spot where the trail crosses another trail (which looked well traveled). They had no English or Spanish and no idea which trail to follow - no yellow arrows and the signs had Basque names...
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