Favorite Sello?

[Rambler]

My favorite sello from the Camino Frances is from the Museo del Chocolate in Astorga. My daughter and I got it on a layover day when we were not sure if she would want to continue the Camino. There had been lots of tears and soul searching (and that was just me!!!)
But the museum was a great break and we learned about Astorga's role in the early chocolate industry and enjoyed a few samples to boot.

Which made me wonder...
What is YOUR favorite sello that you collected and why?

Rambler

 

[Mark Lee]

This one from a small albergue in Hornillas Del Camino. It was the residence of a really nice couple. We had homemade paella with them that evening for dinner.
The stamp took up about 1/4 of that page in my credentials. Next time I'm going to get two sets of credentials and get sellos at every albergue, tourist info office, bar, restaurant, church, etc.

 

[peregrina2000]

I don´t have any images of any of my favorite sellos, but I do have a sello-related comment. It has to do with an item I saw last week in the window of the Last Stamp albergue in Santiago.

There is a white ceramic mug in the window that has a variety of sellos painted on it. The mugs are personalized, here´s how it works according to the women inside the albergue. The albergue scans your credential and makes a copy. You circle your favorite sellos. They then send the mug to an artist somewhere who hand paints the sellos you´ve chosen onto the mug. It is then sent to you wherever you are. Not cheap -- they said the mug price was usually around 28 euros, plus shipping, but what a nice idea.

My only criticism was that they should also offer a taller mug option for those of us who drink a BIG cup of coffee in the morning. This one struck me as on the small side as far as mugs go.

 

[Rambler]

Next time I'm going to get two sets of credentials and get sellos at every albergue, tourist info office, bar, restaurant, church, etc.

Mark:
We did that very thing on our camino. Any restaurant, church, store, or albergue we stopped, we would get a sello. That was 6-8 per day. Instead of taking 2 credentials with you, I would recommend getting new ones as you walk. Most the bigger albergues had them for sale so we got a second one that way. Plus if you get the American Pilgrim one to start (since you are estadounidense), you can have a Spanish one with its different pages.

Rambler

 

[Rambler]

I don´t have any images of any of my favorite sellos, but I do have a sello-related comment. It has to do with an item I saw last week in the window of the Last Stamp albergue in Santiago.

There is a white ceramic mug in the window that has a variety of sellos painted on it. The mugs are personalized, here´s how it works according to the women inside the albergue. The albergue scans your credential and makes a copy. You circle your favorite sellos. They then send the mug to an artist somewhere who hand paints the sellos you´ve chosen onto the mug. It is then sent to you wherever you are. Not cheap -- they said the mug price was usually around 28 euros, plus shipping, but what a nice idea.

My only criticism was that they should also offer a taller mug option for those of us who drink a BIG cup of coffee in the morning. This one struck me as on the small side as far as mugs go.

Peregrina:
I just ordered a similar mug from Marc @ Camino Estrella and LOVE IT!!!
http://caminoestrella.com/
Marc takes scans of your credential and then puts them on the mug for you. He was great to work with because we had over 90 sellos, so we had to choose the ones we wanted just as you described. He also has clean versions of the more popular ones in case yours is not that good.

It is pricey and I agree a bigger mug could be a good alternative, but I would highly recommend them. I gave my daughter one as a graduation gift from university. She thought it was very nice.

Rambler

(I am not affiliated with Marc or Camino Estrella)

 

[peregrina2000]

View attachment 10102
Peregrina:
I just ordered a similar mug from Marc @ Camino Estrella and LOVE IT!!!
http://caminoestrella.com/
Marc takes scans of your credential and then puts them on the mug for you. He was great to work with because we had over 90 sellos, so we had to choose the ones we wanted just as you described. He also has clean versions of the more popular ones in case yours is not that good.

It is pricey and I agree a bigger mug could be a good alternative, but I would highly recommend them. I gave my daughter one as a graduation gift from university. She thought it was very nice.

Rambler

(I am not affiliated with Marc or Camino Estrella)

Hi, Rambler, based on the other things I saw on his website, I am pretty sure it's the same guy. Because in the Last Stamp albergue they were also selling the other mugs (not custom made) that you can see on his website. I think I will write and ask about a bigger mug! Thanks for the link, Laurie

 

[Desmond Walsh]

My favorite sello from the Camino Frances is from the Museo del Chocolate in Astorga. My daughter and I got it on a layover day when we were not sure if she would want to continue the Camino. There had been lots of tears and soul searching (and that was just me!!!)
But the museum was a great break and we learned about Astorga's role in the early chocolate industry and enjoyed a few samples to boot.
View attachment 10100
Which made me wonder...
What is YOUR favorite sello that you collected and why?

Rambler

Here is mine from a private albergue in the small hilltop village of Zirauki. It was designed by the owner who also serves an incredible meatballs and spaghetti meal. Thank you to kerryman Tom for guiding us there for a memorable evening in October 2013

 

[Icacos]

Not necessarily my favourite sello, but certainly my most memorable .....

After the evening Mass in Najera, the attendant pilgrims were invited to the priest's office to have their credentials stamped. I realized that I had left my credential in my backpack at the albergue (the last time I did that!) and, since I was without even a scrap of paper, I thought I was going to have to miss out on this opportunity. Not so ..... a French peregrino with us insisted that I accept a page he tore from his own credential to use for my sello.

The priest gave each of us a customized sello; see mine below. Note the peregrina with the Canadian flag! (I later cut out my sello and pasted it into my credential.)

As to the generous peregrino who urged me to accept his very kind offer ..... all he would ask in return was that if I got to Santiago would I please pray for him. I did, and I still do.