For 2024 Pilgrims: €50,- donation = 1 year with no ads on the forum + 90% off any 2024 Guide. More here. (Discount code sent to you by Private Message after your donation) |
---|
Arn ,This is both good news and sad news.
As I was scanning recent posts (quickly I might add) I saw:
"Free Wine in 2015"
Stopping right there, I reread the thread title...Drat!
The Dr is IN: rain is water from the heavens. It nourishes the grain, provides drinking water, washes the streets, clothes, fills the lakes ( seen Porto Marin lately), the streams and the occasional vineyard ( vinotinto anyone).I have to smile at the suggestion that not finding wifi is considered one of a pilgrim's biggest problems. Don't get me wrong - I took a phone so I could blog. But really, *inconvenience* is the word that springs to mind for those days there was no internet connection. Now if only they could do something about the rain;-)
Unfortunately for this philistine, it all tastes like sour grapes to me.Arn ,
The wine doesn't really need to be free in Spain though. Prices are so reasonable.
Really? I found it to be one of the biggest blessingsOne of the biggest problems for pilgrims on the long journey is the lack of internet connection.
Why do I like free wifi? Why do I use it on the Camino? Well often I encounter someone who wants to stay in touch during our Caminos with a view to meeting up soon/later and they don't want to incur phone costs. Also useful if I want to check on someone I know is struggling.
We do not plan to take a smart phone. Is the WiFi robust enough for Skype, Google Hang out, etc. or what programs are people using to contact loved ones? In the States, Free WiFi at a hotel, etc. often does not have enough "umph" to be used for a reliable connection. Are you just emailing home or are you actually using voice/video?Also, with the near extinction of the pay-phone, it was the only way I had to call my wife each day. It was so much easier than using pay-phones, too. I did that on my Portuguese Camino in 2012 and I wasted a lot of time doing so.
We do not plan to take a smart phone. Is the WiFi robust enough for Skype, Google Hang out, etc. or what programs are people using to contact loved ones? In the States, Free WiFi at a hotel, etc. often does not have enough "umph" to be used for a reliable connection. Are you just emailing home or are you actually using voice/video?
Good to know. Our eyes are just too old and our fingers too fat to do much with our smart phones. We are hoping to take a compact tablet like a Kindle 6 inch or something lighter. Can put our Camino books and maps, a translating app, etc. on it and also use it to call back or email back home. We will use a burn phone in Spain to make any calls needed.I'd say that 85 percent of the establishments where I found WiFi, it was able to support Skype conversations. If it doesn't work in one place, try another. I found that even the smallest villages I stopped in had a place where I could use WiFi. If it didn't work in the albergue, then there were bars or cafes that had WiFi that would work. The only place where I stopped that didn't have WiFi at all was Orrison. There a nice German fellow let me use his smart phone to e-mail my wife to tell her I was okay.
New York City today unveiled an ambitious plan to roll out a free city-wide municipal Wi-Fi network that officials say will be the fastest and most wide-reaching network of its kind in the world.
At a press conference at City Hall, the city unveiled LinkNYC, which will rely on thousands of kiosks that will be deployed at locations currently occupied by pay phones. The kiosks will be installed in as many as 10,000 locations throughout the five boroughs and will offer Wi-Fi service of one gigabit per second within a radius of 150 feet. They’ll also offer free domestic voice calls to all 50 states. The first of the kiosks is expected to begin service in late 2015.
I walked the Portugese last year,the Ingles this year and travelled after that for one month through Portugal and found wifi everywhere I wanted for my needs.Great news! I wonder if those of you who have walked the Portuguese found it to be be well "connected"??!
Where are you going to start ? Lisbon or Porto ?Thanks Albertinho! I am so looking forward to walking the Portuguese!!
I have a bit of time, Michael, so will work on these and a few other phrases I found useful on the Frances...I don't know about the Russian accent though...As has been said before, you won't need to speak any Portuguese on the route from Lisbon but it helps. A knowledge of Spanish can be a decent substitute, particularly if you can speak it with a Russian accent (I'm ducking for cover now). As always, pick up and use what you can along the walk but learn at least how to say "thank you", "please", "hello", "goodbye", "I'm dying for a coffee", "do you have anything other than ham and cheese sandwiches", and the other important words. Bom Caminho!
In 2013 we used only skype as communication, both within Spain and without. It worked fine. Additional wifi would only make that easier (but we rarely found it difficult as it was).This is really good news. Do you who have recent 2014ish experience on the CF think that with this additional coverage it would be safe to expect to use Skype or KaoTalk type apps as the primary means of communication back home to the U.S. Of course I'd have international-roaming-type cell coverage if needed in a bind, but I would really be excited to avoid the hassle of changing SIM cards and all of that!
We use cookies and similar technologies for the following purposes:
Do you accept cookies and these technologies?
We use cookies and similar technologies for the following purposes:
Do you accept cookies and these technologies?