Last night I was pontificating about the Camino Frances and San Bol came to mind. Years ago San Bol had a version of 'Snakes and Ladders' game painted on the walls outside, The goose featured quite frequently. At first I thought it had some sort of Pagan like origins but then I was treated to a...
20 years ago on my first Camino a fellow pilgrim told me that the first six pilgrims queing at the staff entrance in the morning armed with their compostela certificates would be treated to a full breakfast. Anyone know or is it just folklore?
If you look through my posts you will find my other postings.
I cannot tell you why but we went though a week or so with almost no Pilgrims checking in at all and it was mid summer. although we did have a cold spell.
This gave my hospitalero partner the opportunity to mountain bike into...
I have a few members of our family that are vegans. I do not understand it but I really do not want to be ignorant. I have seen a chicken moved of the dinner as it has an offensive smell , yet the same person ate meat for 30 years?
In today's times it just seems so difficult to please everyone -...
Further more to my 'Beggar in Pamplona' Post ' I recall about 12 years ago a young man who was in his underwear fishing just after the well known Pamplona city bridge , the Gaurda took him away , obviously he was a 'vagrant' or was he?Hopefully he was taken out of town and sent on his way? He...
...I dug into my pocket and gave him €50. His eyes lit up and he suddenly had hope.
Now as little as I am , I can be an assertive little bug***r. I told him that there was a condition , it was that he threw his sign away and started walking right NOW!! Which he did , I had given him enough to...
I am going to break my experiences up into chapters.
Smack in the middle of the 2016 summer solstice I was most privileged to be assigned a hospitalero post at what must be one of THE MAGIC Albergues in the world! A no frills 12 bed albergue within the ruins of ancient monastery/ convent. Very...
So , most of the time when feasting on a pilgrims menu , it ends off with a small tub of yogurt or an ice cream? my advice is ask for an alternative , a flan which most restaurants and bars have.
My best flan ever was in a small town 10 miles from Burgos , a goat's milk flan - I thought I had...
Just for fun , here are my three albergues that in my experience blossomed unexpectedly.
1.) The Paroquial at Villamayor de Monjárin - 2010 - the roof fell in a few years back.
It had opened up for the first day of the season and the solitary hospitalero had just arrived with 20...
Hi there all. At last I have €20 in my PayPal account , as promised , I would like it to go to a struggling Albergue.
I have only ever supported one Albergue and that an unofficial Albergue in all these 20 camino years.
I keep thinking of Ovideio and San Anton and Acacio y Orietta , the...
I often think 'How true is the current Frances route?' There are some parts that I have walked many times and each time I have questioned 'Why this route' Did it really follow the same route through the Meseta as it does today?
I have had disagreements with others that say most of the Camino is...
Not much has changed in over 100 years as far as the bus station is concerned. My guess is that instead of going through the very top of town , pilgrims would take this route as it was the only main road to Logrono. I doubt weather they visited the Ermita de Cuevas? The second view is at least...
I started thinking about this a day or so back - How spartan was the cuisine?
After some very basic research it seems as if the menu may have not been so elaborate but there was almost as much variety then as now. Rice may have not quite reached Iberian peninsular and potatoes had to wait...
When I first joined the forum there was only discussion on the Camino Frances. Slowly, over the years, pilgrims have started to experience other Caminos , especially within Spain. The Camino Portuguese has really taken off! I guess that I am a creature of habit and chained to the CF. If I did...
In 2003 somewhere close to Palas Del Rei in Lugo I stumbled across a Hostal in the dark. It was the day that daylight saving commenced at the end of October. It had rained ALL day and by 7pm it was dark. At 8pm I squelched into the adjoining bar and ordered a brandy. The young lady asked me if I...
I was wondering if I could make my own personal Credential for the Camino - a hand painted and self produced document that I use from the start ......with the same donation mind you , which is by no means prohibitive. Can you imagine the ornate document that can be produced? I'm sure one could...
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