Niggling hates (dislikes) on Camino

[David]

Hi, I love the Camino, especially where it throngs with pilgrims, I like the evening tribalness of it all and the close interaction, balanced with long periods of solitude of course, but! - there are a few things that niggle at me, not really hates as I don't do hate ... but ... well...

That trail of pure white toilet tissues left by female pilgrims all the way along by clumps of trees and bushes (unless it is just one poor woman with a serious bladder problem who goes Camino every year).
Missing sink plugs.
Whatever that incredibly thin unidentifiable fried meat is in most pilgrim meals.
The Spanish (God bless them) way of making tea! (tepid water in a thick small cup with a disastrously weak tea bag).
Missing clothes pegs - who takes them? (I have often bought a pack of clothes pegs to 'feed' the washing line at a refugio and usually half are missing the next morning).

Yours ....... ???

 

[Barbara]

+1 for the TP trail and horrible tea. I'll add bag rustlers at silly o'clock, head torches in the dorm, rabid non drinkers. Non judgemental non drinkers are fine. I try to sit next to them.
Now for some likes to balance. People who yomp past without comment on my slow pace.
The feeling of relief when I can sit down and have a good view as an excuse, as opposed to having to sit down at a bus stop because I'm knackered. Sunshine on my shoulders. That first beer on arrival. Everyone who has ever walked me back to the track after getting lost. Probably another thousand or so things that don't occur to me at the moment.

 

[Antnix1]

I carry a silicone sink plug.
I usually avoid lomo- I believe that's how that meat is usually described on the menu.
TP, absolutely.. an exceptionally horrible form of littering.
Clothes pegs... No harm to carry a few.
And tea. The Spanish aren't tea drinkers..best carry your own teabags. I carry sachets of coffee

 

[J Willhaus]

Hills...

 

[BROWNCOUNTYBOB]

A few camino pet peeves: Pilgrims that use trekking poles without rubber tips, making loud click, click, click noise particularly on asphalt or solid surfaces. One time we were just behind a pilgrim with metal tips that click clacked all the way up and down the green railroad overpass entering into Astorga. So annoying! Another is pilgrims that walk slowly on the senda path or even stop side by side blocking the path of other pilgrims right behind them!
Bob

 

[Rebekah Scott]

Loud people in quiet places.

 

[musicman]

Hi, I love the Camino, especially where it throngs with pilgrims, I like the evening tribalness of it all and the close interaction, balanced with long periods of solitude of course, but! - there are a few things that niggle at me, not really hates as I don't do hate ... but ... well...

That trail of pure white toilet tissues left by female pilgrims all the way along by clumps of trees and bushes (unless it is just one poor woman with a serious bladder problem who goes Camino every year).
Missing sink plugs.
Whatever that incredibly thin unidentifiable fried meat is in most pilgrim meals.
The Spanish (God bless them) way of making tea! (tepid water in a thick small cup with a disastrously weak tea bag).
Missing clothes pegs - who takes them? (I have often bought a pack of clothes pegs to 'feed' the washing line at a refugio and usually half are missing the next morning).

Yours ....... ???

Spot on about the tea - almost worth taking your own mug!

 

[Bradypus]

Drones, selfie sticks and luggage vans.

 

[Turga]

Loud people in quiet places.

Quiet places with loud people aren't quiet places

 

[davejsy]

+1 for litter of any type, and on a similar theme people who have little respect for the path or people of whose country they are lucky enough to be walking through.

 

[Paladina]

Drones, selfie sticks and luggage vans.

I try not to be judgmental about the baggage transport, but I have no problem denouncing the drones and selfie sticks. My tolerance is further tested by pilgrims who monopolise limited cooking and washing facilities in albergues.

 

[maryloufrommadison]

People playing music without ear pods.

 

[Bradypus]

I try not to be judgmental about the baggage transport,

Please do not misunderstand me. I freely recognise that people may use any service which is legally available to them. They do not need my permission or my approval for their choices and I will not criticise any individual who decides to use the services which exist. But that doesn't mean that I personally have to pretend to like the status quo.

 

[HopefulServant]

All the graffiti. Make a cairn of stones, tuck a wildflower or even a note on paper into a sign or meaningful place, but for heaven's sake, where do people get off permanently defacing markers/signs/walkways/trees/what have you with spray paint or sharpies?

 

[Bert45]

Just forget tea on the Camino. Or anywhere in Spain, for that matter. Of course, I have not asked for tea everywhere I've been in Spain. And I haven't even been to everywhere in Spain. I stopped asking for tea in Spain years ago after a few unpleasant experiences. The same goes for America and France. But the coffee in Spain is so nice! Even their instant coffee is drinkable, much better than ours.
"Non judgemental non drinkers are fine. I try to sit next to them." -- yes, good idea, especially when the restaurant does not give a whole bottle of wine with the menú peregrino to each diner.
Missing sink plugs -- yes, agreed. I take two of different sizes.
People using a big wooden staff: one of my niggles. Does it really help? Or are you just trying to look "authentic". It looks to me like a heavy weight to carry needlessly.
Oh yes! The graffiti!!! "Love wins" on every blessed mojón. For a start: No, it doesn't. And who gave you permission to deface every flat surface with your infantile gibberish?
Another niggle: stones on every mojón. Why? Not why is it a niggle, but why would anyone put a stone on a random mojón? Stones at Cruz de Ferro, I can understand (though I wouldn't put one there myself). Are you going to go back next year to check that your stone is still there? It won't be, if I have passed by.

 

[Jarrad]

Ugh -- that blasted group from France that left the only sink in the albergue covered with crusty and bloody toe bandages. Worse, they were so damn nice to me!

 

[kathyandthomas]

Agreed on the toilet paper, but otherwise loved the experience too much to nitpick.

 

[Tandem Graham]

Pilgrims who grumble about other Pilgrims' annoying habits without 'fessing up to their own.

 

[Frankybaby66]

Café owners who remove the toilet seats . .
I agree, the tea in Spain is almost as bad as the coffee in the UK

 

[Icacos]

Pilgrims who grumble about other Pilgrims' annoying habits without 'fessing up to their own.

I wish someone would tell me what my annoying habits are because as far as I am concerned I have none.

 

[tomwins]

...
I usually avoid lomo- I believe that's how that meat is usually described on the menu.
...

"lomo" is "loin" and can be beef, lamb, or pork. I agree that it is best avoided. The best I can say about it is that it can add some flavor to a dish. I personally don't like to eat it.

 

[Antnix1]

All the graffiti. Make a cairn of stones, tuck a wildflower or even a note on paper into a sign or meaningful place, but for heaven's sake, where do people get off permanently defacing markers/signs/walkways/trees/what have you with spray paint or sharpies?

Don't with the stones.

Leave no trace.

 

[Harland2019]

People playing music without ear pods.

Agree and those that play music with ear pods!

 

[Dougie]

Hi, I love the Camino, especially where it throngs with pilgrims, I like the evening tribalness of it all and the close interaction, balanced with long periods of solitude of course, but! - there are a few things that niggle at me, not really hates as I don't do hate ... but ... well...

That trail of pure white toilet tissues left by female pilgrims all the way along by clumps of trees and bushes (unless it is just one poor woman with a serious bladder problem who goes Camino every year).
Missing sink plugs.
Whatever that incredibly thin unidentifiable fried meat is in most pilgrim meals.
The Spanish (God bless them) way of making tea! (tepid water in a thick small cup with a disastrously weak tea bag).
Missing clothes pegs - who takes them? (I have often bought a pack of clothes pegs to 'feed' the washing line at a refugio and usually half are missing the next morning).

Yours ....... ???

I have to agree with the toilet paper, especially after Sarria, but I also dislike it when you read about all the false information from pilgrims on forums like this on wild camping and how they always say that it's illegal in Spain when it's not and how they are oblivious to the fact that many people especially the ones that can't afford paid accommodation each night do wild camp it's just that they are oblivious to it as most wild campers are a lot more considerate than the waste toilet tissue polluters and leave no trace.

 

[trecile]

Agree and those that play music with ear pods!

And how does that affect you?

 

[alexwalker]

I wish someone would tell me what my annoying habits are because as far as I am concerned I have none.

I enjoy all my bad habits.

 

[Icacos]

I enjoy all my bad habits.

I probably do the same, and just don’t know it.

 

[TravellingMan22]

Just forget tea on the Camino. Or anywhere in Spain, for that matter. Of course, I have not asked for tea everywhere I've been in Spain. And I haven't even been to everywhere in Spain. I stopped asking for tea in Spain years ago after a few unpleasant experiences. The same goes for America and France. But the coffee in Spain is so nice! Even their instant coffee is drinkable, much better than ours.
"Non judgemental non drinkers are fine. I try to sit next to them." -- yes, good idea, especially when the restaurant does not give a whole bottle of wine with the menú peregrino to each diner.
Missing sink plugs -- yes, agreed. I take two of different sizes.
People using a big wooden staff: one of my niggles. Does it really help? Or are you just trying to look "authentic". It looks to me like a heavy weight to carry needlessly.
Oh yes! The graffiti!!! "Love wins" on every blessed mojón. For a start: No, it doesn't. And who gave you permission to deface every flat surface with your infantile gibberish?
Another niggle: stones on every mojón. Why? Not why is it a niggle, but why would anyone put a stone on a random mojón? Stones at Cruz de Ferro, I can understand (though I wouldn't put one there myself). Are you going to go back next year to check that your stone is still there? It won't be, if I have passed by.

Tea, or shall we say Hot Tea, is quite a rarity in many (I would say a significant majority of ) countries, despite its popularity in the UK!

 

[Harland2019]

And how does that affect you?

They either don't hear you coming so they don't move off the track to let you pass and frequently ignore a friendly Buen Camino as presumably they can't hear the comment.
I guess that, deep down, it is my perception that they are missing so much of the sounds of nature around them (or even the quiet) that they feel they must listen to music to get them through the day although they may be listening to something more religious or a message from home. My problem, not theirs - it doesn't spoil my day! Each to their own.

 

[J Willhaus]

They either don't hear you coming so they don't move off the track to let you pass and frequently ignore a friendly Buen Camino as presumably they can't hear the comment.
I guess that, deep down, it is my perception that they are missing so much of the sounds of nature around them (or even the quiet) that they feel they must listen to music to get them through the day although they may be listening to something more religious or a message from home. My problem, not theirs - it doesn't spoil my day! Each to their own.

I always have to tell my husband "If they have their earbuds in, it means they don't want to talk to you right now." and he cheerfully ignores me and tries to strike up a conversation anyway!

 

[ApproachingBliss]

no good tea in spain?

 

[Jodean]

People doing their feet at a restaurant. Just because the table is outside does not mean the rest of us want to see your bloody, blistery feet or watch you cut your toe nails. Keep your feet off the chairs too. This goes for trains too.

Stop brushing your hair over the sink. If you do, please be kind and wipe it out with a bit of TP. This gags me when I want to brush my teeth.

 

[Tincatinker]

I get really annoyed with people who seem to still think that Camino should be like they imagine it should be especially after they’ve spent far too much time on this forum researching what it could be.

Oh, and people who think I snore out of spite

 

[dreaming]

Having to press that button for water in the shower at the same time as waving my hand to make the light turn back on. All part of the fun. Grateful to be finished and having a shower and a bed

 

[donalomahony]

Bikes with no bells...

 

[Tincatinker]

Bikes with no bells...

Just imagine how hazardous life would be if there were bells without bikes

 

[Bradypus]

Just imagine how hazardous life would be if there were bells without bikes

As a species we managed to survive that for a few centuries without much trouble.

 

[Frankybaby66]

Just imagine how hazardous life would be if there were bells without bikes

Cathedrals?

 

[trecile]

Other than allow people to vent, threads like this really serve no good purpose. Those of us who don't know better than to litter the trail with trash and TP, to click-clack along the Camino without rubber tips on their poles, or to deface signs and mojones won't be reading here anyway.

As far as things a like proper cup of tea, if you want all the comforts of home then why go on Camino?

 

[alexwalker]

All the stupid things people do that others waste their time to get irritated about... Live and let live, and just walk on in peace. Let stupid be stupid, and just walk away.

There's quite a few of those out there, not least politicians, and pilgrims too:

Dunning–Kruger effect - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

A quote by Arabian

He who knows not, and knows not that he knows not,is a fool; shun him.He who knows not,and knows that he knows not, is a student; Teach him.He wh...

www.goodreads.com

 

[MickMac]

Hi, I love the Camino, especially where it throngs with pilgrims, I like the evening tribalness of it all and the close interaction, balanced with long periods of solitude of course, but! - there are a few things that niggle at me, not really hates as I don't do hate ... but ... well...

That trail of pure white toilet tissues left by female pilgrims all the way along by clumps of trees and bushes (unless it is just one poor woman with a serious bladder problem who goes Camino every year).
Missing sink plugs.
Whatever that incredibly thin unidentifiable fried meat is in most pilgrim meals.
The Spanish (God bless them) way of making tea! (tepid water in a thick small cup with a disastrously weak tea bag).
Missing clothes pegs - who takes them? (I have often bought a pack of clothes pegs to 'feed' the washing line at a refugio and usually half are missing the next morning).

Yours ....... ???

Pretty obvious bit less these days the old moan on "bikes" no bells, or whistles, whizzing by, no Buen Camino, to be fair they recently rescued a friend walking on her own near Granada who had fallen and was badly injured, so they have there uses.
Only joking but it would be nice to be warned of approaching bikers they are part of the landscape of the Camino now.

 

[Dani7]

Thank you so much @David and all other members who have such a great sense of humour. I haven’t ever belly laughed so hard on any thread in this forum EVER

 

[Jarrad]

Pilgrims who grumble about other Pilgrims' annoying habits without 'fessing up to their own.

Here here!! In that spirit and with a somewhat contrite heart, I confess to bag rustling in dark, crowded and otherwise quiet albergues; excessive use of hot water; and no end of singing in the shower.

 

[alexwalker]

I confess:

I like cold beer.
I like breaks (with a cold beer and tortilla).
I like orujo with a coffee.
I like communal meals.
I like getting to know other pilgrims.
I like conversations, spiritual or whatever.
I like to explore and do food in the albergue kitchens.
I sometimes snore.

I don't think I have other sins. If I have, I have been walking so many times to Santiago that all my sins must have been forgiven for all of my lives.

I always try to learn, and not judge. And I dislike pilgrims who dislike others, and who want to teach me a better Way than my own.

 

[Barbara]

Other than allow people to vent, threads like this really serve no good purpose. Those of us who don't know better than to litter the trail with trash and TP, to click-clack along the Camino without rubber tips on their poles, or to deface signs and mojones won't be reading here anyway.

As far as things a like proper cup of tea, if you want all the comforts of home then why go on Camino?

Venting is good for reducing blood pressure. Tea isn't really a problem if one carries a few tea bags. Anyway, lots of threads serve no good purpose, so why pick on this one? If people aren't interested it will die all by itself. Probably. Unless it gets resurrected in five years. Which happens.

 

[C clearly]

Venting is good for reducing blood pressure.

I have serious doubts about that.

why pick on this one?

Because it is here, now, and it fosters criticism and negativity, which is known to shorten our life spans.

That is my short vent and it definitely has not reduced my blood pressure.

 

[David]

Other than allow people to vent, threads like this really serve no good purpose. Those of us who don't know better than to litter the trail with trash and TP, to click-clack along the Camino without rubber tips on their poles, or to deface signs and mojones won't be reading here anyway.

As far as things a like proper cup of tea, if you want all the comforts of home then why go on Camino?

Trecile, it does serve a purpose, it promotes human connection, community, the give and take, humour - which most humans delight in - ... it is still late winter and I posted to help keep the forum alive, and I think the responses have been quite funny at times .... and do you really think that I care about missing a good cup of tea for a few weeks? It is humour, observational humour .... and I do think that such comments as "if you want all the comforts of home then why go on Camino?" completely misses the point of the thread (and is also rather dismissive and rude).

 

[Walkalong]

Day packs covering benches needed by others, and the indignance when asked to move them. The Camino is an odd place for indifference to others.

 

[FourSeasons]

Tea, or shall we say Hot Tea, is quite a rarity in many (I would say a significant majority of ) countries, despite its popularity in the UK!

Turkey, Istanbul might be a runner up to the UK as far as tea goes. It’s good and available everywhere and I mean everywhere. While visiting a friend in Istanbul we parked curbside at a storefront. This young boy came running up to the passenger car window asking if we wanted tea (cay). My friend ordered two with sugar. The boy quickly ran away only to return minutes later with his swinging tray carrying two cups of hot tea, sugar cubes and tiny spoons. We sat in the car enjoying our cup of tea, it was the best experience, obviously one I’ll never forget.

Now about the Camino and the irritants. I like to be positive and tolerant but sometimes you just want to stand up and scream. Quiet down, stop rustling your bags, turn off your alarm, STOP SNORING!! Buen Camino!

 

[AussieSunnygirl]

Day packs covering benches needed by others, and the indignance when asked to move them. The Camino is an odd place for indifference to others.

Goes for regular backpacks too.

 

[cecelia]

I remind all women that the easiest thing is to carry at least one roll of biodegradable doggie poop bags with her, pick up any paper and waste, and carry it to the next garbage tin. In addition - same goes for any man whose poop schedule is irregular enough to have to occasionally use the bushes. We are all grateful to those who do!!

 

[Peter Fransiscus]

no good tea in spain?

Stay home or bring your own kettle and tea.

 

[dick bird]

Lots. Unfortunately, they are not confined to the camino.

 

[Turga]

That the side of the path that I am walking on is always the more rough and uneven.

 

[Kathar1na]

it is still late winter and I posted to help keep the forum alive, and I think the responses have been quite funny at times

I was going to say that I am counting the days until the spring equinox on 20 March when there will be not need for toilet humour to keep the forum alive and to cheer us up ("That trail of pure white toilet tissues left by female pilgrims all the way along by clumps of trees and bushes (unless it is just one poor woman with a serious bladder problem who goes Camino every year" - so funny) when I looked out of the window and thought, hold on, it is March already and spring is here.

Indeed, says Wikipedia, meteorological spring is here - In the United States and United Kingdom, spring months are March, April, and May. This cheered me up no end.

 

[Turga]

Trecile, it does serve a purpose, it promotes human connection, community, the give and take, humour - which most humans delight in - ... it is still late winter and I posted to help keep the forum alive, and I think the responses have been quite funny at times .... and do you really think that I care about missing a good cup of tea for a few weeks? It is humour, observational humour .... and I do think that such comments as "if you want all the comforts of home then why go on Camino?" completely misses the point of the thread (and is also rather dismissive and rude).

I, for one, appreciate your effort, winter, spring or whatever.

 

[David]

I was going to say that I am counting the days until the spring equinox on 20 March when there will be not need for toilet humour to keep the forum alive and to cheer us up ("That trail of pure white toilet tissues left by female pilgrims all the way along by clumps of trees and bushes (unless it is just one poor woman with a serious bladder problem who goes Camino every year" - so funny) when I looked out of the window and thought, hold on, it is March already and spring is here.

Indeed, says Wikipedia, meteorological spring is here - In the United States and United Kingdom, spring months are March, April, and May. This cheered me up no end.

Me too re spring! Have been keeping my eye on the long range weather forecast, wondering, as we have had such a mild, warm, wet, windy winter over here if I could actually go earlier than April 10th ... but ... opened my curtains this morning to see this! but! - Hang on! it is March now!!
(Note: Australians - this is called snow and is made in the sky out of water droplets)

 

[Bradypus]

(Note: Australians - this is called snow and is made in the sky out of water droplets)

Oddly enough Australians get more and better snow than we do! Seen Glenshee or the Cairngorms this year?

 

[Kathar1na]

Me too re spring! Have been keeping my eye on the long range weather forecast, wondering, as we have had such a warm, wet, windy winter over here if I could actually go earlier than April 10th ... but ... opened my curtains this morning to see this! but! - Hang on! it is March now!!
(Note: Australians - this is called snow and is made in the sky out of water droplets)
View attachment 165341

Very pretty - snow in England ! Will it last for more than a day?

 

[dick bird]

this is called snow and is made in the sky out of water droplets

And that big yellow burny thing up in the sky is called a sun. Oh, forgot, you probably don´t see it that often.

 

[Silvermomma]

Bikes with no bells...

Bikers who refuse to use the bells.

 

[Dani7]

I remind all women that the easiest thing is to carry at least one roll of biodegradable doggie poop bags with her, pick up any paper and waste, and carry it to the next garbage tin. In addition - same goes for any man whose poop schedule is irregular enough to have to occasionally use the bushes. We are all grateful to those who do!!

Agreed. Pick up your « stuff » and leave no trace.

 

[Helen Robinson]

Hi, I love the Camino, especially where it throngs with pilgrims, I like the evening tribalness of it all and the close interaction, balanced with long periods of solitude of course, but! - there are a few things that niggle at me, not really hates as I don't do hate ... but ... well...

That trail of pure white toilet tissues left by female pilgrims all the way along by clumps of trees and bushes (unless it is just one poor woman with a serious bladder problem who goes Camino every year).
Missing sink plugs.
Whatever that incredibly thin unidentifiable fried meat is in most pilgrim meals.
The Spanish (God bless them) way of making tea! (tepid water in a thick small cup with a disastrously weak tea bag).
Missing clothes pegs - who takes them? (I have often bought a pack of clothes pegs to 'feed' the washing line at a refugio and usually half are missing the next morning).

Yours ....... ???

It isn't just ladies. There are often brown tissues.

 

[RobOH]

All the graffiti. Make a cairn of stones, tuck a wildflower or even a note on paper into a sign or meaningful place, but for heaven's sake, where do people get off permanently defacing markers/signs/walkways/trees/what have you with spray paint or sharpies?

Please don’t make cairns. It’s a huge problem in the States because once fool does it, the next hundred must as well. It disrupts natural hiding and breeding places for wildlife. Maybe it’s just Americans but I know we’re not unique.

Leave no trace. Or minimize your impact.

 

[duncanwhyte]

On the vdlp today, by the road, a cairn made of pieces of tarmac!

One shudders to think.

 

[Gerard Griffin]

Another great forum thread, glad it hasn't been closed yet. This one is a relief from the relentless positivity and gratitude pilgrims are require to evince in all circumstance.

Nothing really bothers me on the Camino, apart from the mandatory 8am start which munis and parrochials require for no reason that I can see. Yes, the place has to be cleaned, but privados do that too.

What's amazing is that so many varied types of people who would be at daggers drawn get along so smoothly on the Camino. It is on fact magical.

I don't snore or litter or do graffiti, but the snoring no longer bothers me, litter is a tiny part of a landscape and I enjoy the graffiti. I do other things that I know annoy people but I like doing them and I think they should be let slide.

But I have to defend the poor cyclists who once again are in the frame. I cycle, I have a bell but I don't use it often. Instead, I rely on loud music to notify walkers or my approach. Why? If you're on a rough trail controlling the handlebars is tough and you need your eyes up, so groping for the bell is often dangerous. Loud music helps you to keep the rhythm and takes your mind off the pain. It allows you mischievously to enjoy the disapproving glances and pursed lips of some walkers as well as the grins of those who like music and know that earbuds are just not the same as real sound.

If I get annoyed I know that the Camino is giving me a lesson in tolerance and patience which I need to learn. And if you're a Camino addict like me you have to face the fact that some day you'll either have to stop walking or else take to two wheels, so there's a chance that you too will be a cyclist one day. So why not cut them some slack now?

 

[John1]

Agree and those that play music with ear pods!

Oh dear..

 

[Flog]

Very pretty - snow in England ! Will it last for more than a day?

On the Irish East Coast yesterday morning, we got a whole twelve hours out of it.. this morning, hardly a trace.

 

[Morning Waters]

Loud people in quiet places.

Or people who feel the need to verbalize EVERY single thought or question that passes through their head.

 

[bullingtonce]

Trecile, it does serve a purpose, it promotes human connection, community, the give and take, humour - which most humans delight in - ... it is still late winter and I posted to help keep the forum alive, and I think the responses have been quite funny at times .... and do you really think that I care about missing a good cup of tea for a few weeks? It is humour, observational humour .... and I do think that such comments as "if you want all the comforts of home then why go on Camino?" completely misses the point of the thread (and is also rather dismissive and rude).

Communal venting serves a good purpose and is emotionally, mentally, and physically healthy. Keeping too much inside for too long . . . not good. I believe I read somewhere where Jesus on at least one occasion vented about God, His Father, because as we all know, there has never been a perfect father (or mother).
I get some pleasure with venting with someone who has a similar take on life as it is easier to vent then to argue/debate with another person who has different views although it is also healthy to do this because it makes you examine yourself; that is, if you are will to self-examine.
And yes, I totally believe it is not only fine but absolutely necessarily periodically vent with God over how dissatisfied one can get with the world He put us in.

 

[Morning Waters]

Bikers who refuse to use the bells.

Knock Knock
Who's there ?
Isabelle
Isabelle who?
Is a bell necessary on a bicycle???

HAHAHAHAHA

 

[t2andreo]

Bring only charity and patience. Leave with only photographs and memories. Leave nothing of substance behind.

 

[maladjusted]

Bring only charity and patience. Leave with only photographs and memories. Leave nothing of substance behind.

Try doing that after an undercooked chicken from Mercadona’s delicatessen!!!!!

 

[t2andreo]

Try doing that after an undercooked chicken from Mercadona’s delicatessen!!!!!

You DO make a good point. I would take your experience as a lesson in caution - to check and not eat something that appears to be undercooked, or unrefrigerated too long.

I have observed over the years that, physical death aside, the WORST thing that can befall a pilgrim is a Gastrointestinal illness - of any type - in any place - and at any time.

I feel your pain!

 

[maladjusted]

You DO make a good point. I would take your experience as a lesson in caution - to check and not eat something that appears to be undercooked, or unrefrigerated too long.

I have observed over the years that, physical death aside, the WORST thing that can befall a pilgrim is a Gastrointestinal illness - of any type - in any place - and at any time.

I feel your pain!

There’s no Compeed
When your stomach’s in need

 

[Mito]

Hi, I love the Camino, especially where it throngs with pilgrims, I like the evening tribalness of it all and the close interaction, balanced with long periods of solitude of course, but! - there are a few things that niggle at me, not really hates as I don't do hate ... but ... well...

That trail of pure white toilet tissues left by female pilgrims all the way along by clumps of trees and bushes (unless it is just one poor woman with a serious bladder problem who goes Camino every year).
Missing sink plugs.
Whatever that incredibly thin unidentifiable fried meat is in most pilgrim meals.
The Spanish (God bless them) way of making tea! (tepid water in a thick small cup with a disastrously weak tea bag).
Missing clothes pegs - who takes them? (I have often bought a pack of clothes pegs to 'feed' the washing line at a refugio and usually half are missing the next morning).

Yours ....... ???

Arriving at an albergue to find that a tour group with monster suitcases has taken over. And then getting condescending comments from them about carrying my own pack. Yes. This has happened to me!

 

[NYSE]

Hills...

Yep, there isn’t a hill I haven’t cursed.

 

[Michael-FL]

Hi, I love the Camino, especially where it throngs with pilgrims, I like the evening tribalness of it all and the close interaction, balanced with long periods of solitude of course, but! - there are a few things that niggle at me, not really hates as I don't do hate ... but ... well...

That trail of pure white toilet tissues left by female pilgrims all the way along by clumps of trees and bushes (unless it is just one poor woman with a serious bladder problem who goes Camino every year).
Missing sink plugs.
Whatever that incredibly thin unidentifiable fried meat is in most pilgrim meals.
The Spanish (God bless them) way of making tea! (tepid water in a thick small cup with a disastrously weak tea bag).
Missing clothes pegs - who takes them? (I have often bought a pack of clothes pegs to 'feed' the washing line at a refugio and usually half are missing the next morning).

Yours ....... ???

OK, just a couple peeves and likes:
Peeves
I’m an avid cyclist, but the “pedal-grinos” who suddenly come up behind you without warning.
Definitely the TP pollution. Don’t they realize how nasty it gets?
Likes
Simple acts of kindness
The fellowship of drinks and meals with new found friends.

 

[Jim]

Spot on about the tea - almost worth taking your own mug!

Agree with comments about regular tea. However, infusions of manzanilla (Chamomile) with honey and/or lemon are generally wonderful! Also have had some truly wonderful homemade infusions of fruit pectins on those cold rainy days while doing a camino in late autumn. I remember being on the Sanabres route on a lonely stretch during a severe torrential type rain storm when I spotted a cafe up ahead. Walked in and was welcomed to a table by a fireplace and most welcomed to seat myself and warm up a bit. I rambled off a request for lunch-- thought caldo de gallego would be good, ditto some chamomile. The waiter said "uh-huh" to all of my requests, and then said he didn't have any of those things, but not to worry, he would bring me something that I would like. He came back with a tureen of a very good soup-- who knows what it was called but it was just what I needed that day. Some warm bread! He brought out a dish of homemade sachets of dried fruits-- wonderful tasting-- along with honey. It was just what I needed that day!
N.B. I did make the mistake a couple of times of asking for "te de manzanilla" thinking that was the correct translation for chamomile "tea" and while most figured that I really meant just chamomile, I was served a tea with a bag containing chamomile plus another bag with their regular tea! Had learned that the request is better understood if stated as "una manzanilla, por favor!" Ah, the memories of my first camino or two!

 

[wayfarer]

When I travel abroad I try not to compare everything with home, it's a recipe for disaster. If you are going to do that.. better to stay at home.

 

[Tincatinker]

Here here!! In that spirit and with a somewhat contrite heart, I confess to bag rustling in dark, crowded and otherwise quiet albergues; excessive use of hot water; and no end of singing in the shower.

Ah, so, it was you was it? And all these years I thought it was me

 

[David]

It isn't just ladies. There are often brown tissues.

Ah, but I wrote "pure white tissues" which are urine wiping, so female. (I don't even want to think about the brown ones!!!).

 

[David]

Would like to point out, re tea, real tea, that all those who drink fruit and perfume infusions they 'call' tea are Marxists. I know this as I once read that Marx said on a number of occasions that "Proper tea was theft".
... errmm .. or something like that ...

 

[J Willhaus]

I am personally more of a coffee snob than a tea snob. I really only like iced tea (no sugar). (As a child that is that we drank every night at the dinner table with our meals.) As a hospitalera, I try to have tea available, but I am told that the black tea brands largely available in Spain are not well liked by hot tea drinkers.

 

[Flog]

It isn't just ladies. There are often brown tissues.

Ah, but I wrote "pure white tissues" which are urine wiping, so female. (I don't even want to think about the brown ones!!!).

I'm not remotely prudish, but do we really need all this detail? I for one, don't..

 

[Gerard Griffin]

Great tread, amusing and informative. I thought myself a Marxist still, unchanged since my student days, but now I realise that my love of Yorkshire tea and my loathing of the rubbish on offer on the Camino means that I've lost my ideological purity, and with it the last sad vestige of my youth. So the revolution is now indefinitely postponed.

 

[FourSeasons]

I gotta say. If I would have started a thread like this I would have been chastised, flogged and thrown to the wolves. Oh and called entitled. Mhmmm. That being said. In my personal experience trying to get away from a loud group on the trail. You know the ones with 5 or 6, maybe more pilgrims who are behind you playing music, laughing, talking loudly. As they approach, I stop for a sip from my bottle to let them pass. I wait until they are pretty far ahead. Then I’ll start walking only to catch and pass them while they decide to stop and take off jackets, etc. The seesaw begins.

 

[Katykay]

Hi, I love the Camino, especially where it throngs with pilgrims, I like the evening tribalness of it all and the close interaction, balanced with long periods of solitude of course, but! - there are a few things that niggle at me, not really hates as I don't do hate ... but ... well...

That trail of pure white toilet tissues left by female pilgrims all the way along by clumps of trees and bushes (unless it is just one poor woman with a serious bladder problem who goes Camino every year).
Missing sink plugs.
Whatever that incredibly thin unidentifiable fried meat is in most pilgrim meals.
The Spanish (God bless them) way of making tea! (tepid water in a thick small cup with a disastrously weak tea bag).
Missing clothes pegs - who takes them? (I have often bought a pack of clothes pegs to 'feed' the washing line at a refugio and usually half are missing the next morning).

Yours ....... ???

Men wearing next to nothing in albergues. Perhaps wear shorts even if you must go shirtless…

 

[TravellingMan22]

I gotta say. If I would have started a thread like this I would have been chastised, flogged and thrown to the wolves. Oh and called entitled. Mhmmm. That being said. In my personal experience trying to get away from a loud group on the trail. You know the ones with 5 or 6, maybe more pilgrims who are behind you playing music, laughing, talking loudly. As they approach, I stop for a sip from my bottle to let them pass. I wait until they are pretty far ahead. Then I’ll start walking only to catch and pass them while they decide to stop and take off jackets, etc. The seesaw begins.

Who would have chastised you?

Anyway worth making the point that Spanish folks are amongst the loudest in the world, for a whole host of cultural and even medical reasons though I appreciate that not all the loudishness comes from Spanish folks!

 

[BoulderGT3]

Entitled frequent walkers who start every conversation with "how good it used to be".

 

[Brissy]

Other than allow people to vent, threads like this really serve no good purpose. Those of us who don't know better than to litter the trail with trash and TP, to click-clack along the Camino without rubber tips on their poles, or to deface signs and mojones won't be reading here anyway.

As far as things a like proper cup of tea, if you want all the comforts of home then why go on Camino?

I think these threads serve a great purpose! They make me laugh and I enjoy the fun of it and the memories.

 

[J Willhaus]

I think these threads serve a great purpose! They make me laugh and I enjoy the fun of it and the memories.

I am not sure how welcoming they are for new pilgrims who might be reading and looking for kind advice though.

 

[judydaisy]

Tea made by a Spaniard... Not recommended. I had tepid tea made for me with hot tap water and hot, and I mean hot, milk. I leave it to your imagination

 

[WGroleau]

Drones, selfie sticks and luggage vans.

https://www.caminodesantiago.me/community/threads/coming-to-the-camino-frances-a-flood-of-tour-groups.82858/#post-1180032

 

[WGroleau]

no good tea in spain?

We had good tea in Villamayor de Monjardín. Maybe because the albergue was run by Dutchies?

 

[David61]

Don't with the stones.

Leave no trace.

You don't like stone cairns? Well, next time you get to Cruz de Ferro you are going to be heartily disappointed with people!! Although I have heard it has been recently "landscaped" so the cairn may be no more

 

[Shazenalan]

Well - we love Spanish tea - black, Ceylon, and in some areas with cinnamon….. but the Spanish drink tea black - so if you happen to like your tea with milk then you smother the flavours with ‘bovine lactose’

We all irritate and get irritated I guess…. but the tea was good to me. I’ll concede to TP - what do they think happens to it…?!

 

[dougfitz]

Or people who feel the need to verbalize EVERY single thought or question that passes through their head.

What an apt description of why I find threads like this so annoying.

And now I can be annoyed at myself for responding!

 

[DwainS]

Yep, there isn’t a hill I haven’t cursed.

I was walking with a man from the UK and I said these hills are relentless there everywhere. We both laughed and continued are climb.

 

[dick bird]

Yes, the place has to be cleaned, but privados do that too.

Privados normally have more than one person running the place, and they generally work shifts. Public pilgrim albergues, whether fixed charge or donativo, municipal or parochial, are run either by very poorly paid council workers or, more often, volunteers who basically work from when they get up to when they go to bed. For nothing. Between finishing the cleaning and opening up is the only rest and respite they get. Please do not begrudge them this.