Food on the Road

[Deborah]

I saw the post where Silly said it costs 1 Euro per km to travel but I can't read Spanish. Is that for lodging and food both? Or is that just lodging?

Also, I eat mostly a raw food diet. Are there groceries along the way where I can purchase raw fruits and vegetables for my food?

Sorry for all the questions. I'm getting excited..

Lastly, if anyone has a "Pounder" sleeping bag they want to sell - I'm looking. Maybe we should have a "For Sale Used Equipment" section in the forum where people who want to buy/sell could connect?

 

[sillydoll]

Budget for the Camino

Hi Deb,

Yes - the budget of E1 for each 1 km includes simple daily food, lodging in refuges etc.
Simple food means eating 'peregrino' food such as bocadillos (long rolls with cheese or salad or ham etc) or "Menu del Peregrinos" - special pilgrim 3 course meals are offered in many little cafes, private homes and bars for about E7. I am a vegetarian and eat mainly raw foods and although it was sometimes difficult to order vegetarian foods from menus, (it seems to be a foreign concept for the Spanish who are a carnivorous people) I coped well on fruits, salads and buying the odd veg pack that I cooked using my spiral heater.
Besides being able to purchase fresh foods from the travelling fruit and vegetable van, baker, fishmonger and butcher, you will pass through ± 250 towns and villages and 4 fairly large cities where you can buy almost anything from the 'supermecadio'.
I was pleased to get back to my home food but I didn't starve in France or Spain.
Good luck!

 

[Artemis]

Sillydoll,
I have seen you mention your spiral heater several times and it sounds like a good idea. I can't seem to find one anywhere. Is there another name for it?

Artemis

 

[Deborah]

Spiral Coil Heater, clothing, and Vegetables/Fruits

Thanks Sillydoll! I'm happy to know I'll be able to buy fresh produce along the way.

I think the heater thingie is called a coil heater. I have found them online mostly at travel stores. If you do a google search on travel store or travel supplies, then search sites for "plug in heating coil" or "coil heater" you might find one. Seems like I've seen them for about $13 online. I see them constantly at yard sales for 50 cents. I actually tossed two last year.. now I'm hanging out in Goodwill looking for another one. Can't make myself pay $13 on my budget.

By the way, I found ALL of my coolmax and quikdry clothing at Goodwill stores. Didn't pay more than $4.99 for anything. I even found Joe a brand new quikdry shirt with the tags still on for $12. Today I picked up a pair of TravelSmith hiking pants for $2.50 and a dress for $5 which I'm cutting the top off of. I'll put elastic in the waist so I'll have a quick skirt to pull on for going into cathedrals and churches.

I found a VERY cool backpack on sale called a Arc'teryx. I have a very super small torso and even the small Ospreys didn't fit me. This one is perfect and only weighs 2.5 pounds unpacked. I just love it.

I got a Mountain Hard Wear jacket that is featherlite and VERY warm so I'm no longer afraid of being cold. With that under my Goretex Jacket I'll be toasty in the worst weather. And it stuffs into a tiny bag.

I'm stoked! Only thing left to buy/find is a sleeping bag. My mom is offering to buy me the Pounder bag. I wonder if it will be heavy enough? I'm also considering making a fleece bag as someone on here suggested, but it's heavier to carry.... any feedback? I looked at the photos on another site and it appears that most of the refugios are very nice hostel style places with good mattresses. Can't imagine I'd be very cold, even in the Fall.

Oh yeah, and shoes. I went to Oregon Mountain Supply and talked to them about shoes. They said if you're not carrying a heavy pack, there's no reason to purchase hiking shoes. I wrote a letter to New Balance and told them of my walk. They wrote back and suggested a shoe for my high-instep, wide food... so I'm going with that. Hopefully my feet won't get soaked in a running shoe.

Bought my tickets yesterday.
Now looking for inexpensive flight from Lisbon back to Amsterdam.
Wrote Rick Steves and got a reply I need to read.
Ok.. I'm rambling.
Off to make more plans.

 

[sillydoll]

Spiral Heater

Hi peregrinos,
The spiral heater is also called an immersion heater. It is available at almost all airports - just look for a stand with those travel goodies, money bags, neck pillows, luggage straps, and - usually, travel spiral heaters. The other place you can buy them is as the Automobile Association (or equivalent) shops. Mine cost about $6. Don't forget the plug for Spain.

Debbie, you and I seem to be kindred spirits! I walked 1 800 kms from Durban to Cape Town in South Africa, Long Distance paths in England, trails across France and two caminos in New Balance All Terrain shoes. Sure, the shoes get wet but they always seem to dry before the morning - either in the sun or propped up next to a heater. If you are comfortable in them, you go for them.

 

[Deborah]

Sil & Carvalho/Carballo

Immersion heater.. that's right! Sometimes with this MCS I get brain fog and forget the simplest things.

Hey Sil, did you read my post about the Whiz for Women?

We do seem to have a lot in common.. maybe I'll meet you someday on the Camino! If I make this one ok, then I'm planning to walk the Portuguese and Spanish routes.

My heritage is Portuguese. My family came here two generations agin from the Azores. I'm fascinated that along the way to Finesterre is a village called Carballo. My last name is Carvalho - sounds awfully similar. Maybe not, I know Carvalho means "oak" but I can't find the word Carballo in any Portuguese or Spanish dictionary and I'm wondering if it is the same word, just maybe spelled phonetically...

The shoes.. yes... they are VERY comfortable.

I have two questions for you Sil, since you've done this camino.

1. Do I need to take Tevas for after walking or will thongs suffice?

2. Do you think a fleece sleeping bag (homemade) would be enough?

I've heard a lot of opinions, but can't recall if you've posted yours.

Thanks again, and thanks to Ivan for hosting this forum. It's indispensible for those of us planning our trip!

 

[ivar]

Hi there ladies (I feel like I am jumping in to your conversation here

Carballo means oak in Galicia... I thought it was castellano, but if you have checked and it is not it has to be Gallego. (I am still working on learning both Gallego and Castellano, so I mix the two sometimes). Gallego is what is spoken in Galicia. It is a mix between Castellano and Portuguese.

Un saludo,
Ivar

 

[sillydoll]

Santiago-Today

Ivar my dear, you are our Hospitalero and can jump in any time! Whenever I feel nostalgic for the camino, I just log on to Santigo-Today and visit with all the wonderful pilgrims who drop in at your 'albergue'.
I last did the camino in 2004 but feel that I am still connected through this forum. I travel from St Jean, or from Leon, I rejoice in the excitement and anticipation of each pilgrim and feel that I am on still the road.
There is an ancient Hasidic saying that all pilgrims can identify with:

“When you walk across the fields with your mind pure, then from all the stones and all growing things, and all animals, the sparks of their soul come out and cling to you and become a holy fire in you”.

Hope that you all feel the sparks!

 

[Deborah]

Re: Santiago-Today

“When you walk across the fields with your mind pure, then from all the stones and all growing things, and all animals, the sparks of their soul come out and cling to you and become a holy fire in you”.


Sil, you have made me cry. You have no idea what your quote means to Joe and I, who have made a 7 year study of Kabalah and are just beginning... We will carry this quote with us and meditate on it each day along with our other prayers.

Ivar.. thank you for the translation! I had a strong feeling it was the same as my last name. I MUST visit this village now, as the legend is that our family (who are light skinned, auburn haired Portuguese) came to the Azores from the "northern country" where they lived in a village of relatives by the same name, that their last name was changed to "oak" when the Jews were forced to become Catholic. Maybe that's also why I'm so fascinated with Hebrew and why our family recipes are SO close to Basque. We even speak a varied dialect of Portuguese, pronouncing certain constonants with a "lisp" like in Barcelona. We'll see... maybe I'll find distant cousins and more information on my heritage. YAY!

Sil... did you ever put together that list of open refugios?

 

[sillydoll]

Happy Birthday Santiago Today

Yes - I did up-date the albergue list. Anyone can mail me for a copy.

By the way, if I remember correctly Santiago Today came on line about 2 years ago this month? Or was it April 2004?

Happy birthday!

 

[ivar]

It was April 2004 I started. Much has happened since then... This was the first story:
http://www.santiago-today.com/santiago_ ... m?art_id=3

The first post in the forum (October 2004):
viewtopic.php?t=2

...when we hit 1000 members I will be serving virtual tapas!

 

[leslie]

hi
if you're going between may and september the fleece sleeping bag will definitely be warm enough, sometimes even too warm and you'll have to sleep with it open

by the way, what's a pounder sleeping bag?

get all leather, rather than leather and mesh new balances (speaking from personal experience here) and spray them with silicone before you go. on rainy days pick up a newspaper somewhere along the way so you can stuff them in your shoes at night. the paper draws the water out of the shoes, especially if you can change it once or twice.

i walked in 2000 and it appears there are a lot more pilgrims now, so there are probably more amenities too, but i didn't always find it easy to buy food. in small towns, the grocery store was often just a room in someone's house that was open only a few hours a day. if you weren't there when the store was open, you were out of luck. you'll probably have to plan ahead a little more and carry some food with you just in case. my vegetarian friends even had a hard time getting ensalada mixta without the tuna on it.

in the summer you'll find spanish peanuts, olives, raisins, spanish melon, watermelon, and those funny flat peaches--yum yum yum

 

[Deborah]

Leslie - Pounder

Hi Leslie,
I'll be traveling BEGINNING September 1st and through mid October. What do you think about the fleece?

The Pounder is a sleeping bag made by Marmot. It weighs one pound and packs really small.

 

[leslie]

good question
that's the same time i'm planning to go
everybody just says the weather is "variable" at that time of year
myself, i'm thinking the fleece will probably be enough but i'll definitely check out the "pounder"

 

[Deborah]

Cool Beans

Cool Beans, Leslie! maybe I'll see you on the Camino.
Depending on time, weather, and how well I hold up, we may continue DOWN the Camino to Lisbon.

 

[xuanca]

Peregrino en Praga

Ciao everyone making this trip.

I hope to be making it during June, and only during this month. I must get to Mexico to my sister's wedding, which is July 8.

I don't know if I should do it this way, but I feel it will be one of a few opportunities to do this.

Anyhow, I want to do it, but I'm a bit intimidated. This forum has helped, but I hope that all of you out there might be able to provide advice on how much it would cost and the cheapest way to get from Prague(where I currently am) to Barcelona or to Roncesvalles or Pamplona.

I will be researching that information here too. But if you have any advice. Please feel free to share. Also if you know any pilgrims from these parts, please pass on the word. And if anyone near the Czech Republic is willing to talk or meet, feel free to contact me.

 

[cally]

September 1st? Me too, perhaps!

Hello, Deborah!
Couldn't help but notice that you're starting the pilgrimage around the same time as I HOPE to! I'm originally from Seattle, but am currently living in the south of France. I would begin the pilgrimage in SW France, near the city of Cahors. Where are you starting from? And are you and your partner traveling alone? I'm looking for others to make the journey with!
Looking forward to your reply!
Cally