I slept in Fuenterroble last night. It’s a very special place, and I was surprised and happy to see that one of the hospitaleras was a woman who had been my hospitalera in Miraz 12 years ago and in Rabanal a few years after that. How crazy is that?
It was a very cold day and night (low of 1, 0, or -1 depending on whose phone was consulted),but I was in the room with a wood burning stove so it was toasty.
Most everyone was in bed by 9, since it was cold and breakfast is at 6:30. At about 1am, a man burst into the room, ranting in Spanish (“aquí mando yo”, “fuera con la mochila,” and a lot of things I can’t write). My bed was the closest to the door and I was a bit unnerved. This went on for what seemed to me to be an eternity, but finally a Japanese Peregrino jumped out of bed, did some fancy martial arts moves, and yelled loudly in Japanese. The guy left, but continued his rant in the courtyard. He came back seversl more times, but as soon as he crossed the threshold, some peregrinos jumped up and got him out. This went on till 5 am. Not exactly a restful night.
The hospitalero felt terrible but explained that Padre Blas has given this guy shelter in the Albergue. He is obviously a very sad character (as I was lying awake between rants I thought many times that this guy was once a baby whose mother held him in her arms, how sad she would be to see this).
No one was mad this morning—oh we are such good pilgrims—but it’s obviously not a situation that can continue indefinitely if Padre Blas wants the albergue to continue to be the place to go in Fuenterroble.
Ps. There are phone numbers painted on the walls for private rooms as you go into town, and I have met several people today who were very happy with them.
It was a very cold day and night (low of 1, 0, or -1 depending on whose phone was consulted),but I was in the room with a wood burning stove so it was toasty.
Most everyone was in bed by 9, since it was cold and breakfast is at 6:30. At about 1am, a man burst into the room, ranting in Spanish (“aquí mando yo”, “fuera con la mochila,” and a lot of things I can’t write). My bed was the closest to the door and I was a bit unnerved. This went on for what seemed to me to be an eternity, but finally a Japanese Peregrino jumped out of bed, did some fancy martial arts moves, and yelled loudly in Japanese. The guy left, but continued his rant in the courtyard. He came back seversl more times, but as soon as he crossed the threshold, some peregrinos jumped up and got him out. This went on till 5 am. Not exactly a restful night.
The hospitalero felt terrible but explained that Padre Blas has given this guy shelter in the Albergue. He is obviously a very sad character (as I was lying awake between rants I thought many times that this guy was once a baby whose mother held him in her arms, how sad she would be to see this).
No one was mad this morning—oh we are such good pilgrims—but it’s obviously not a situation that can continue indefinitely if Padre Blas wants the albergue to continue to be the place to go in Fuenterroble.
Ps. There are phone numbers painted on the walls for private rooms as you go into town, and I have met several people today who were very happy with them.