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Albergue opening and Forum member first pilgrim!

LTfit

Veteran Member
How great is this? I decided to open my albergue on Monday and my first pilgrim since the lockdown was a Forum member! For privacy reasons I won't mention his name but you know who you are ☺

Then today a Dutch woman who is also a Forum member is staying with us. Two members in a row in two days!
On both occasions they said that they were pleased to be able to help me out after almost 4 months being closed. This brings me great joy🙏

Both are very happy to be back on the Camino and are being respectful of the regulations.

I just wanted to give thanks.
 
Ideal sleeping bag liner whether we want to add a thermal plus to our bag, or if we want to use it alone to sleep in shelters or hostels. Thanks to its mummy shape, it adapts perfectly to our body.

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A selection of Camino Jewellery
I know Paul Garland is probably headed your way soon. I'll drop him a line that you are open. He was part of the Luz relay walk and was in Moratinos a few days with Reb and I assume headed to SdC.
 
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That’s great news, Lee 😉
 
The one from Galicia (the round) and the one from Castilla & Leon. Individually numbered and made by the same people that make the ones you see on your walk.
How great is this? I decided to open my albergue on Monday and my first pilgrim since the lockdown was a Forum member! For privacy reasons I won't mention his name but you know who you are ☺

Then today a Dutch woman who is also a Forum member is staying with us. Two members in a row in two days!
On both occasions they said that they were pleased to be able to help me out after almost 4 months being closed. This brings me great joy🙏

Both are very happy to be back on the Camino and are being respectful of the regulations.

I just wanted to give thanks.
So happy for you ..
Such a long wait for you to start .. but now you’ll be busy catching up ..
Big smiles from me.
 
Ideal sleeping bag liner whether we want to add a thermal plus to our bag, or if we want to use it alone to sleep in shelters or hostels. Thanks to its mummy shape, it adapts perfectly to our body.

€46,-
I know Paul Garland is probably headed your way soon. I'll drop him a line that you are open. He was part of the Luz relay walk and was in Moratinos a few days with Reb and I assume headed to SdC.

Hi Don,
I'm in contact with Paul but after his walk from Mansilla to León I think that he will be returning to Fontanillas de Castro. I'll just miss him cause I will be participating in La Luz del Camino from Villar de Mazarife to Astorga on July 12th.
 
How great is this? I decided to open my albergue on Monday and my first pilgrim since the lockdown was a Forum member! For privacy reasons I won't mention his name but you know who you are ☺

Then today a Dutch woman who is also a Forum member is staying with us. Two members in a row in two days!
On both occasions they said that they were pleased to be able to help me out after almost 4 months being closed. This brings me great joy🙏

Both are very happy to be back on the Camino and are being respectful of the regulations.

I just wanted to give thanks.
So happy for you.
 
3rd Edition. More content, training & pack guides avoid common mistakes, bed bugs etc
@LTfit (Lee) is a very long time veteran member of the forum and friend of the Camino.
She realized a dream and purchased the Villares de Orbigo albergue (from Christine for those who remember her) .....just days before the Camino was shut down for the Covid 19 pandemic.
The albergue has been closed for almost 4 months with no pilgrims and,naturally,no income:eek:,
It is brilliant that the albergue is now open again and is receiving EU pilgrims.

Lee is an American who has lived for many years in the Netherlands

The Albergue Website:
 
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Get a spanish phone number with Airalo. eSim, so no physical SIM card. Easy to use app to add more funds if needed.
@LTfitShe realized a dream and purchased the Villar de Mazarife albergue (from Christine for those who remember her.
I remember Christine... Surreal... The albergue is beautiful, with a cozy pateo inside. A bargaign. I wish @LTfit all, all the best. Things will improve. Just hang in there: you have realized your dream, hang on to it: The pilgrims will come again. I will, too, as soon as it is possible.

Edit: @grayland : Not Vilar de Mazarife, but Villares de Orbigo, some 2-3 kms further on from Hospital de Orbigo. This is a peaceful village for the night's stay.

Actually, on the way out of Leon, take left towards Vilar de Mazarife instead of following the terrible road route, and next day, stay in Villares de Orbigo with @LTfit . The next day is an easy walk to Astorga, the chocolate capital of Spain. Then take on Cruz de Ferro. A good plan, IMHO.
 
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The focus is on reducing the risk of failure through being well prepared. 2nd ed.
See you next year, Lee. So wish I could be there now.

I first stayed there in 2014 – I think it was still Albergue Pablo y Belen.

Then I took my group of 12 there in 2017.

Last year, in Feb 2019, Christine told me it’s the only group that has ever stayed.

Next year, May, I’ve booked Lee’s private room for my husband and myself – he doesn’t “do” albergues, so it’s a compromise.

It’s a great place – well worth the stopover.
 
See you next year, Lee. So wish I could be there now.

I first stayed there in 2014 – I think it was still Albergue Pablo y Belen.

Then I took my group of 12 there in 2017.

Last year, in Feb 2019, Christine told me it’s the only group that has ever stayed.

Next year, May, I’ve booked Lee’s private room for my husband and myself – he doesn’t “do” albergues, so it’s a compromise.

It’s a great place – well worth the stopover.

I look forward to your visit:)
 
I had a rather epic night there, as we found ourselves in the company of someone who challenged rather than cherished his fellow peregrinos. I've stayed in touch with Christine since then, and have been in contact with Lee too, making a contribution to her through Ivar's "Help an Albergue" scheme. I am very much looking forward to an opportunity to visit there again.
 
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This is the story of what happened that night, which gave me the title for my Camino book.


It’s often said that walking the Camino is a form of therapy, enabling a person to think, to consider, to evaluate and hopefully to develop in some way as the miles crunch away under the feet.

It’s certainly been that way for me, as I’ve given thought to a great many things over the last 20 mornings, bathed in dawn sunshine, extended to the height of a giant in shadow, with only curious cows, sparrows and insects for company, and halted only by the occasional stranded snail or caterpillar.

It’s a gift to be able to examine oneself in this manner - in peace, at one with nature and with no distractions.

But not everyone on the Camino is capable of appreciating the value of this gift.

This afternoon took me to the fabulous Albergue Villares de Órbigo, run by a magisterial Belgian called Christine and although I’d covered less than 20km in the day, this seemed the perfect place for me to stop.

Present already was Eamonn from Northern Ireland who, after the usual pilgrim greetings, then proceeded to put away an entire bottle of Bushmills in an afternoon, with some fairly awkward moments in the conversation developing as a result.

Christine and I did our best to mollify Eamonn as his whiskey-addled mind slowly unravelled, until he felt the call of his bed around 4pm.

Later that afternoon Bob and Rivka arrived – the two lovely Americans I’d been in company with the previous night in Mazarife – along with Aoife from Ireland and Freddie from Germany, and we were all looking forward to a pleasant (non-vegetarian) meal.

Then Eamonn reappeared.

The dinner conversation was somewhat tricky at times, given the circumstances, but there was one outstanding element to it.

Bob was 74 and runs marathons in less than four hours.

Eamonn was currently having difficulty in going up and down the stairs.

But both were alcoholics.

One had recognised his problem 24 years ago and had done something about it, while the other simply would not, with all the loss that entailed.

We all tried, in our own way, to nudge Eamonn towards the apparent evidence of the benefits of one path that he could take, sitting right across the table from him.

But he resisted all our entreaties and instead, he tried to offer Bob a glass of wine, perhaps to drag Bob back down to his own level.

Bob’s grace and quiet dignity offered a stark contrast to Eamonn’s recklessness, and we all knew that our efforts would be futile.

If ever there was a chance for Eamonn to look beyond his present and to see an alternative future, it was presented to him here.

But, as we all do, he’ll go his own way.

Today’s walk took me along a 10km ramrod straight route out of Mazarife, then a few more kilometres before crossing a gorgeous bridge at Hospital de Órbigo and finally curving around a bit here and there until arriving at Villares de Órbigo.

Very little of note occurred.

All the drama came later.

Albergue Report:

Albergue Villares de Órbigo

Beautifully presented, lovely patio area, outstandingly good food, very comfortable in every sense and wonderfully run by Christine – a gem.

Health Report:

All departments: A-OK

Trips, Slips and Falls: 0 (3)

Snails Rescued From Fiery Roadside Death: 4 (perhaps I can be excused for my previous butterfly murder now)

Wrong turns taken: 0 (3)

Number of times “Buen Camino” was said: About 6 – a very quiet day

Song Repeatedly Played By My Brain: Go Your Own Way by Fleetwood Mac
 
The first edition came out in 2003 and has become the go-to-guide for many pilgrims over the years. It is shipping with a Pilgrim Passport (Credential) from the cathedral in Santiago de Compostela.

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