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  1. B

    Cancelling Camino - Soliciting Advice

    6 days before I was due to leave for Spain I found myself in great pain after doing just 12 miles. I have come nevertheless, with had two long but relaxed days on the train. I started walking yesterday and have done a couple of slow 10k days. Doing OK and enjoying stopping to smell the jasmine...
  2. B

    Inviting reflections on the wider costs of walking a Camino

    I've often considered this, but never had the courage to start a thread. There are many thoughtful responses. About 20 years ago colleagues and I calculated our carbon footprints and I found that I could reduce mine most by not flying. It helped that I never liked getting on aeroplanes, but as...
  3. B

    How often do you take a break?

    The friend with whom I first walked followed a 1 hour walk: 10 minutes rest regime, so I did too. Sometimes those breaks coincided with a coffee, orange juice or tortilla stop and were rather longer. After she had to go home I stopped taking such regular breaks, but after a few days found myself...
  4. B

    Lunch in Madrid

    I understood that the OP is travelling from Chamartin station, which is quite a long way from Madrid's other main station at Atocha. It is Atocha station which is close to the excellent Museo Reina Sophia. If at Atocha, Reina Sophia is an excellent idea. Remember too that lunch is eaten late in...
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    Lunch in Madrid

    I ate at Cerveceria Pepe earlier this year when between trains at Chamartin and recommend it. It has a wide clientele, usually a good sign, and does an excellent and reasonable menu del dia. About 10 minutes from the station at ground level.
  6. B

    Look behind you!!

    As someone described by a fellow pilgrim as having “a special talent for losing things” I feel qualified to contribute. For Camino earlier this year I made myself a robe to sleep in. I bought special lightweight silk, tie dyed it, made a pattern, made bias binding from offcuts and sewed a...
  7. B

    BBC Radio 4 "Last Word" - John Brierley

    A short but good tribute. Thank you for posting.
  8. B

    Caution to the wind or planning safely? Which way should we travel?

    You asked for pros and cons. I'm an arch planner and usually set off on solo trips with a detailed day to day schedule. I was horrified when the friend who invited me to go with her on my first Camino insisted that we should take it as it came apart from booking a first night at Roncesvalles. On...
  9. B

    Documenting the Journey

    Like many others I prefer to stay in the moment and don't want to spend time on my phone. And am fortunate (others may think otherwise) in not having people in my life who need to know what I'm up to all the time. And (ditto) not thinking that anyone else should be interested in what I'm doing...
  10. B

    Succinct advice

    Go with open mind and light pack
  11. B

    Luggage Transport - Why?

    I'm very glad that pack transfer services are available and flexible, not needing advance booking and organisation. They are vital in making walking or finishing a camino possible for many. But as well as the flexibility that other posters have referred to, there are other advantages to...
  12. B

    Options: what to do after arriving in Santiago

    I had a lot of very helpful replies to a query about what to do with spare time in Santiago a couple of months ago here . Hope you find something that works for you.
  13. B

    Water Sources. Fonts, accommodation taps, bottled water

    I've often asked if a bar would top up my water bottle. They have always obliged, with a smile. Only when I've bought something there of course.
  14. B

    The Forum has become the home to "lost glasses"

    If anyone has the skills and time, a synopsis of the referenced article on the impact of footwear and packweight would be a very useful contribution to this forum.
  15. B

    Are you always allowed to handwash your clothes?

    Hostel Bulwark in Valenca doesn't allow handwashing, but will machine wash for a 5 euros line dry it on their small balcony. As it was only the day's underwear, socks and blouse that needed washing and I enjoyed this regular daily task, I was a bit put out. But they also don't have much outdoor...
  16. B

    A day (or evening) in the life of an albergue

    Its the norn that people shower in the afternoon/evening. Anyone wanting a morning shower please make sure there are bathrooms free for other people. I stayed in an albergue that had twenty beds and just two bathrooms, each containing a shower, sink and toilet. There was a queue of very...
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    Getting Compostela several days after arriving in Santiago - any problems?

    For complex reasons I am planning to arrive in Santiago, with credential duly stamped, but will then leave immediately to visit other places. I am returning to SdC for transport home and I would like to visit the Pilgrim Office then. Is there any problem if I go to the pilgrims office several...
  18. B

    A time apart from daily life?

    That's fine, C clearly. I felt it was a shame because people weren't talking to each other, or just being. But maybe that's not so different to people choosing to walk alone in silence and relishing it (which was me most of the time).
  19. B

    A time apart from daily life?

    This forum is a fabulous resource of practical information and moral support for those planning a potentially tough walk, in what is for many an unfamiliar continent. But I wonder how many of the anxieties shared here, about kit and brands, communications, baggage transport and the availability...
  20. B

    All the single ladies, all the single ladies

    One of the advantages of being an elderly solo female walker is that the sort of "attention" which can be very annoying if not frightening hardly affects you. When I was young and travelling alone in foreign places, if I encountered such attention I would ask a family, or a man old enough to be...

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