Boadilla del Camino

[Deleted member 88565]

Buen Camino!

 

[Deleted member 67185]

Hi, Marathonman, and a warm welcome to the Forum

 

[Deleted member 88565]

OK...please feel free to delete my post. I thought I was being helpful - I can assure you that I remained calm and polite throughout the process but as my post content is 'frowned' upon, please delete as I do not wish to misguide.

 

[Deleted member 88565]

And, for the record, I am not a demanding tourist....I am a Pilgrim who is most thankful for the Albergues, businesses and locals who are helping me on my way. I am also a person who pays his way and should, reasonably, be afforded the courtesy of good service and product value.

 

[Deleted member 67185]

It is not incumbent on me, as a pilgrim, to expect anything. On a pilgrimage, it is incumbent on me to be thankful for everything. Even when I perceive bad service, I can be thankful for a lesson in patience, humility, and, yes, the fact that I did, in fact, receive something that met my needs of food and/or shelter.

 

[Via2010]

I can only add: walk another, less touristic camino. This may change your point of view.

There may be situations, in which you feel grateful for being offered "old" bread because it is preferable to having no breakfast at all.

It is also important to understand, that most spanish bakers do not start baking during the night, but do it during normal working hours. So it is unlikely to get fresh bread in a bar before 10 or 11 in the morning. This also explains why magdalenas and tostadas are so popular for breakfast.

On Sundays and Holidays it is even more difficult. I can remember desperate attempts to find an open bar for coffee, but everything was closed.

The more Caminos I walked the less demanding I became. It is not nice to have no coffee and no fresh bread in the morning, but it won´t kill you.

And you may experience unexpected kindness. I can remember that we tried to buy some fresh bread in a "tienda" (small Supermarket) in Calzadilla de los Barros on Via de la Plata. The owner explained to us, that there was no bread left from the previous day, so our choice was to buy magdalenas or walk hungry, as new bread would not be delivered before noon and there was no bar open in this village. When I explained that my father (then 74) did not like sweets for breakfast and would be grumbling the rest of this day without a proper breakfast, she phoned her daughter who was the owner of the local discotheque. Her daughter agreed to reopen her discotheque and to make some coffee for us. So she sent us to the discotheque. The daughter prepared some coffee and had brought all the remaining bread she had found at her house. It was only one and a half bocadillo for the three of us and it was old bread which she had to toast for us. But nevertheless it was great!

BC
Alexandra

 

[wayfarer]

Welcome Marathonman, many members on the forum give both good and bad reviews of places they have stayed or incidents they have encountered, both are welcome as long as they are first hand. Whether you are a tourist or pilgrim you are entitled to respect IMO.
Buen Camino and enjoy the rest of your Camino.

 

[Kathar1na]

I can only add: walk another, less touristic camino. This may change your point of view.

There may be situations, in which you feel grateful for being offered "old" bread because it is preferable to having no breakfast at all.

It is also important to understand, that most spanish bakers do not start baking during the night, but do it during normal working hours. So it is unlikely to get fresh bread in a bar before 10 or 11 in the morning. This also explains why magdalenas and tostadas are so popular for breakfast.

On Sundays and Holidays it is even more difficult. I can remember desperate attempts to find an open bar for coffee, but everything was closed.

The more Caminos I walked the less demanding I became. It is not nice to have no coffee and no fresh bread in the morning, but it won´t kill you.

And you may experience unexpected kindness. I can remember that we tried to buy some fresh bread in a "tienda" (small Supermarket) in Calzadilla de los Barros on Via de la Plata. The owner explained to us, that there was no bread left from the previous day, so our choice was to buy magdalenas or walk hungry, as new bread would not be delivered before noon and there was no bar open in this village. When I explained that my did not like sweets for breakfast and would be grumbling the rest of this day without a proper breakfast, she phoned her daughter who was the owner of the local discotheque. Her daughter agreed to reopen her discotheque and to make some coffee for us. So she sent us to the discotheque. The daughter prepared some coffee and had brought all the remaining bread she had found at her house. It was only one and a half bocadillo for the three of us and it was old bread which she had to toast for us. But nevertheless it was great!

BC
Alexandra

@Via2010, I’m not sure that I’m getting the moral of your story ... other than that you prefer stale bread for breakfast instead of magdalenas? Because I’d assume that the model humble pilgrim - who never demands, is grateful for everything and wouldn’t dream of mentioning something that was not wonderful on the Camino to a soul on this earth - would buy and eat the magdalenas on offer without further ado when there’s no bread for sale in the shop? Or is this the message of the story: when you do not accept immediately and gratefully something better will be offered???

 

[Via2010]

@Via2010, I’m not sure that I’m getting the moral of your story ... other than that you prefer stale bread for breakfast instead of magdalenas? Because I’d assume that the model humble pilgrim - who never demands, is grateful for everything and wouldn’t dream of mentioning something that was not wonderful on the Camino to a soul on this earth - would buy and eat the magdalenas on offer without further ado when there’s no bread for sale in the shop? Or is this the message of the story: when you do not accept immediately and gratefully something better will be offered???

Sorry Kathar1na,

you seem to have misunderstood the whole story.

I only wanted to express, that there are situations, in which you feel extremely grateful, because you would not have expected anything at all.

Being a modest and humble pilgrim does not mean, that you are not allowed to ask for something else which suits more to your specific needs. But you should appreciate any attempt to fulfil your requirements.

Such was this situation. We saw that there was no bread and asked, when the baker would arrive or if there was a bar (which we had not seen so far) in this village. The shop-owner told us that we should wait and went to the phone.

As you state, it seemed to be a take-it-or-leave-it-situation. We were prepared to buy some "magdalenas" of "tostadas" (ready-roasted bread) instead, when the shop-owner herself came up with the idea that her daughter might do us a breakfast.

We did not expect this at all, but it was impossible to refuse this offer and I would never have thought of complaining about the old bread or that the breakfast offered was not sufficient for three hungry pilgrims.

If you have learnt from this story, that it is worth to be demanding, as you might be offered a "better" alternative, then you have got it wrong.

I learnt, that it is best not to expect anything and that the local people are extremely willing to help pilgrims who have brought themselves in an uncomfortable situation.

We could have easily avoided our "problem" by buying some bread the previous day. But as we had choosen not to do so we were not entitled to be disappointed, that we did not find what my dad considered a proper breakfast.

Marathonman should also take into consideration, if he had asked for bread at an unusual time/unusual place (an albergue is no bakery).

BC
Alexandra

 

[Kathar1na]

Marathon man should also take into consideration, if he had asked for bread at an unusual time/unusual place (an albergue is no bakery).

I remember the “Albergue Titas” in Boadilla because we stopped there for drinks. I also checked up on it right now. It’s a bar/restaurant with a few pilgrim beds attached to it, it’s not exclusively for pilgrims but claims to be “oriented towards pilgrims” which I think is business code for cheap beds and meals.

I find it a pity that @Marathonman has erased the initial post in this thread but it doesn’t completely surprise me, given the subsequent posts - well meaning as they are no doubt.

Pity.

 

[Rebekah Scott]

I don't understand why Marathon Man was shut down for making a negative post. There are TONS of those on the forum, and if you do a search of Albergue Titas, you will see this guy has built himself a pretty bad rep over the years.
Ivar is not in the advertising/PR business. If you serve me an overpriced, nasty lunch and treat me badly, I will tell everyone I can to stay away. That's reality.
It's personal attacks, and "bedbug alerts," and "I came down with a bad stomach here so the water is poisoned" posts that can really hurt a business. Let the pilgrim beware.

 

[wayfarer]

Well said Reb.

 

[C clearly]

@Marathonman took the effort to sign up as a new member on the Camino forum and then make a first post to report on the indignity of a stale bocadillo and grumpy server. I wonder if that was the only reportable event on his Camino.

 

[Bala]

Buen Camino!

 

[Telboyo]

I can only add: walk another, less touristic camino. This may change your point of view.

There may be situations, in which you feel grateful for being offered "old" bread because it is preferable to having no breakfast at all.

It is also important to understand, that most spanish bakers do not start baking during the night, but do it during normal working hours. So it is unlikely to get fresh bread in a bar before 10 or 11 in the morning. This also explains why magdalenas and tostadas are so popular for breakfast.

On Sundays and Holidays it is even more difficult. I can remember desperate attempts to find an open bar for coffee, but everything was closed.

The more Caminos I walked the less demanding I became. It is not nice to have no coffee and no fresh bread in the morning, but it won´t kill you.

And you may experience unexpected kindness. I can remember that we tried to buy some fresh bread in a "tienda" (small Supermarket) in Calzadilla de los Barros on Via de la Plata. The owner explained to us, that there was no bread left from the previous day, so our choice was to buy magdalenas or walk hungry, as new bread would not be delivered before noon and there was no bar open in this village. When I explained that my father (then 74) did not like sweets for breakfast and would be grumbling the rest of this day without a proper breakfast, she phoned her daughter who was the owner of the local discotheque. Her daughter agreed to reopen her discotheque and to make some coffee for us. So she sent us to the discotheque. The daughter prepared some coffee and had brought all the remaining bread she had found at her house. It was only one and a half bocadillo for the three of us and it was old bread which she had to toast for us. But nevertheless it was great!

BC
Alexandra

When I was a child (aged about 5 years old) we had periods of "lack of wealth" I was the youngest of 5, one day I complained about the bread being hard. My father replied that it would be harder if there were none. He was not angry, he just said it in a resigned sort of way, I still remember that 50 years later when I consider complaining about the lot in my life.

 

[Deleted member 73526]

I've eaten less than appetizing meals in a spirit of gratitude and humility. No problem with that. I'm also no stranger to hard, dry, bread . Peasant thrift dictates that I reheat it, make a pudding out of it, or do something else to make the best use of it rather than throwing it away.
But if I were charged a high price for stale bread and ignored when I raise the issue, the phrase "Don't p**** on my leg and tell me it's raining," would cross my mind. I might not say it out loud, but there it is. I'm not pilgrim enough to accept being ripped off by people who think that passing trade is there for them to exploit as the Camino's gracious lesson.