LIVE from the Camino Avoiding "standard" stops

[MargLav]

Hi everyone!! I think we are about Day 8 and settling down for the night in Ventosa at a lovely Albergue. The wine festival around Logrono has thrown accommodation into a bit of a spin considering we also appear to be in an incredibly busy bubble. However, things are slowing down and crowds thinning out and we are just loving these stays either side of main stages. The "favourite" Albergue list resource has been wonderful in addition to info being shared along the way. Meeting some wonderful friends!! Weather is finally much cooler (almost cold) since our original start with 34 degrees! The rain threatens but so far so good!! Xxx

 

[C clearly]

Good to hear! I thought Ventosa looked like a nice place to stay, but I just stopped for coffee and didn't walk into the village.

 

[CdnDreamer]

That is a really nice albergue. They have a lovely kitchen, great courtyard and a little store. There is also a wonderful bed and breakfast in that town as well. Today you are probably walking on to Azofra - another great albergue. Enjoy the cooler weather. Buen Camino.

 

[MargLav]

That is a really nice albergue. They have a lovely kitchen, great courtyard and a little store. There is also a wonderful bed and breakfast in that town as well. Today you are probably walking on to Azofra - another great albergue. Enjoy the cooler weather. Buen Camino.

We went onto Ciruena - 29 kms - not a very nice place unfortunately - onto better things tomorrow!

 

[CdnDreamer]

I stopped at the golf course as you enter Ciruena. They had a really nice bar where you could sit and watch the golfers. It is really beautiful there - a little oasis surrounded by empty buildings.

 

[MargLav]

We went onto Ciruena - 29 kms - not a very nice place unfortunately - onto better things tomorrow!

I stopped at the golf course as you enter Ciruena. They had a really nice bar where you could sit and watch the golfers. It is really beautiful there - a little oasis surrounded by empty buildings.

I'm glad you had a good experience. Our host is lovely at Casa Victoria but the woman running the bar at the playa is outright hostile to pilgrims..and well known to the locals as such. So much potential ..her loss!!

 

[hargru]

I'm glad you had a good experience. Our host is lovely at Casa Victoria but the woman running the bar at the playa is outright hostile to pilgrims..and well known to the locals as such. So much potential ..her loss!!

Seems we had almost identical experiences almost exactly a year apart, MargLav! Early last October I struggled to find accommodation in a very busy Logrono (it was a holiday weekend I think), but was rewarded with the beautiful Ventosa albergue the following night. The night after we powered on through to Ciruena and met the lovely Casa Victoria host - although was less warmly welcomed by the woman in the nearby bar. Sound familiar?!

So comforting to know these shared experiences lives on in more than memories. Buen Camino!

 

[jsalt]

Hi, Ciruena albergue was on the SJPDP handout pamphlet as being open until “tous les saints” (All Saints Day on 1 Nov) but when I got there on 21 October (2013) it was well and truly shut closed GO AWAY, so, having already walked 29kms from Ventosa, I knocked on the door at Casa Victoria. What a lovely lady! Jill

 

[Felipe]

As I walked alongside this Cirueña golf course, I saw dozens of golf balls on the Camino. And they are hard, you know...

 

[Tina M.]

MargLav - where are you now? My husband (from Florida) is walking with a guy he met near Pamplona (guy from England) and they will arrive in Burgos on Monday. Buen camino!!

 

[Deleted member 56069]

Hi, Ciruena albergue was on the SJPDP handout pamphlet as being open until “tous les saints” (All Saints Day on 1 Nov) but when I got there on 21 October (2013) it was well and truly shut closed GO AWAY, so, having already walked 29kms from Ventosa, I knocked on the door at Casa Victoria. What a lovely lady! Jill

Just as we were entering Çiruena in early April this year we were hit with a gale force rain storm. We had planned to stay at the Casa Victoria based on signage seen earlier in the day.
By the time we got to the door I think my wife was into the early stages of hypothermia. Even with rain gear we were totally soaked through.
The kind lady showed us a room and we felt like a guest in a friend's house. She cranked up the heat in our room and gave us a chance to get cleaned up and into dry clothes before we even signed in.
Very nice meal that night and one of the more memorable nights of our Camino this year.
She was a Camino angel for sure.

 

[MargLav]

MargLav - where are you now? My husband (from Florida) is walking with a guy he met near Pamplona (guy from England) and they will arrive in Burgos on Monday. Buen camino!!

Hi Tina... Just leaving Burgos after a big sleep in. It's a beautiful town. We may already have met your husband along the way... What is his name?

 

[Tina M.]

Hi Tina... Just leaving Burgos after a big sleep in. It's a beautiful town. We may already have met your husband along the way... What is his name?

His name is Joe (from Florida). He is in Ages today and will get into Burgos tomorrow. He's walking with a guy, Nick, from Liverpool. They're staying two days in Burgos to sight see then continue on the camino on Wednesday.