Delynda Drury
Member
- Time of past OR future Camino
- My husband and I will be enjoying the Camino de Santiago (French Way) next May 2016.
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... We have made all our reservations except one. We have desperately been trying to contact The Samos Monastery for a year now. We have seen online they do have room for pilgrims and this would be an amazing blessing to stay in this monastery.
We have tried to contact them in every possible but with no response. Does anyone have any idea or advice how we would go about making these reservations to make this journey complete? ...
Hello Delynda.Help! My husband and I are planning to experience the Camino from Saint Jean Piet de Port to Santiago de Compostela March 2016. We have made all our reservations except one. We have desperately been trying to contact The Samos Monastery for a year now. We have seen online they do have room for pilgrims and this would be an amazing blessing to stay in this monastery.
We have tried to contact them in every possible but with no response. Does anyone have any idea or advice how we would go about making these reservations to make this journey complete?
Thank you for your helpful advice.
Buen Camino
When we did the tour of the monastery I (with very limited Spanish) received the impression that any accommodation INSIDE the monastery was only for men. In fact the entrance to the albergue section is on the opposite side of the monastery to the entrance used by the monks/brothers. I was there in mid-Sept and is not overly warm even at mid-day, so yes I would expect the albergue section to be more than a little chille!!!Samos Monastery has an albergue for all pilgrims which has 90 beds, is extremely basic as well as frigid in winter and as Doug says "you just turn up". The monastery also offers a far more comfortable hospederia. For this which may be only for men see more info here. The monastery email address is info@abadiadesamos.com.
Thank you for your reply. We have tried the both in Spanish and English and have even sent two separate letters via USPS. I will attempt to email them again using the email you provided.Samos Monastery has an albergue for all pilgrims which has 90 beds, is extremely basic as well as frigid in winter and as Doug says "you just turn up". The monastery also offers a far more comfortable hospederia. For this which may be only for men see more info here. The monastery email address is info@abadiadesamos.com.
I thank you so much for the link. I appreciate your help. I'll look into it.Hello Delynda.
The dorm in the monastry Samos is a huge room with 80 Bunks.
See here:
http://6e46e65d65.website/Etappen/25_Triacastela-Sarria.html#Samos
Buen Camino
Jochen
I like how you pointed out the qualities I hadn't heard before. It does look cold as far as being spacious and bare and I am hoping for nothing but the bare necessities as a reflection of my journey to free myself from burdens along this journey. But cold as in temperature .... I hadn't given that any thought. Ahhhhhh another factor in my decision.Oh Somos monastery....., it's beautiful, and the pension on the corner across from the albergue has the best food, and yes if it's cold outside its going to be at least 20 degrees colder insideI froze my... that night.
Zzotte
As a fellow pilgrim who walked the Frances last March I can say from experience that spontaneity in March can be dicey. We ended up walking 7 km's further than we wanted to just to find an albergue that was open (It wasn't even actually open. We darn near begged her to let us stay!). I know 7 kilometers isn't much but what if she had said "no"? We would've had to walk further.
Plus, if you're like me, I LOVED planning our Camino. It was great fun walking through areas that I'd researched, meeting albergue owners that I had corresponded with months earlier to see if they were open, and showing my wife the little gifts on the Camino that we probably would've walked by without some research.
So go ahead Delynda, plan away!
Now that's interstimg and I could very well see that. I'll look into it further with that information. I hadn't even considered only makes allowed but that makes sense.When we did the tour of the monastery I (with very limited Spanish) received the impression that any accommodation INSIDE the monastery was only for men. In fact the entrance to the albergue section is on the opposite side of the monastery to the entrance used by the monks/brothers. I was there in mid-Sept and is not overly warm even at mid-day, so yes I would expect the albergue section to be more than a little chille!!!
Thank you. I am guessing calling them will be my last chance before arriving.They have 90 beds and I doubt they'll be full. I would suggest calling once you are in Spain.
+34 982 54 60 46
I stayed in Samos albergue earlier this month and did not find it Particularly cold for November. The monastic albergue is a donativos and provides blankets for pilgrims. One of the monks washed the floor, but otherwise there was no supervision and pilgrims just wrote what they wanted in the sign-in book. Late in the evening, some pilgrims decided that they wanted lower bunks, and they removed the tape which was blocking off a large part of the albergue in order to get them. That night, there was no other albergue open in the village and so I ate at the hotel, which may not have been an option for all the pilgrims. I waa able to tour the monastery and worship with the monks, which is why I was there. I was not impressed with the behaviour of some pilgrims.
I intended to visit (very late) September 2015, but last minute change of plan. However, later that day someone in our group told me that he'd been speaking to someone who went through Samos that day to discover that the monastery was closed because "it was Friday"!!! Now this didn't make a lot of sense to me (given knowledge from another Camino 2011) but I accepted it. However Saint Mike's explanation makes sense... Just closed until 1pm. As I mentioned, it was info via another person, so I couldn't ask more about it. But I thought I'd mention it here in case others knew that it is in fact closed certain days. ThanksDelynda - when I arrived in Samos I went up to what I thought was both the entrance to the Albergue AND the monastery. However just as I arrived a man opened the door - he was English and was the current hospiterio. He just said that they did not open until around 1.00 PM (the guide book mentions a group of petrol pumps where you can also get the key - these are about 15/20 metres from the door). As I said the monastery tourist door was about 250 metres, following the road into town, around the other side. The art work and murals are definitely worth the 75 minutes the tour takes. But if you were going to be there in early Spring then maybe the other albergue listed or the hotel might be a better option. I was on my bike/cycle and I think it took me about 30-45 minutes from Triacastela, its about 10 km walking so roughly about 90 mins walking, which means if you stayed in Triacastela and left early you could do the monastery tour and then push on to (say) Perros/Aguiada. The turn-off was about 2.3 km west of Samos and the walk back across the alternative route was about 3-4 km through very quiet and picturesque countryside. It will be your last day of peace and quiet before you meet the 5 fold increase in tourist pilgrims starting from Sarria. Hope you have a really "Buen Camino".
Glennys - sorry - that was the albergue that was not scheduled to open until 1.00pm. If the monastery was closed on a Friday it may have been a religious feast/festival day or a day that the monks had set aside as a retreat. Its unfortunate that you did not get to see the monastery it is well worth the time (and the E3.00 - at least I think that was the fee). CheersI intended to visit (very late) September 2015, but last minute change of plan. However, later that day someone in our group told me that he'd been speaking to someone who went through Samos that day to discover that the monastery was closed because "it was Friday"!!! Now this didn't make a lot of sense to me (given knowledge from another Camino 2011) but I accepted it. However Saint Mike's explanation makes sense... Just closed until 1pm. As I mentioned, it was info via another person, so I couldn't ask more about it. But I thought I'd mention it here in case others knew that it is in fact closed certain days. Thanks
Thanks Saint Mike II. That probably is the reason. Given that I have the Camino 'in my blood', I will return and will keep that info in mind.Glennys - sorry - that was the albergue that was not scheduled to open until 1.00pm. If the monastery was closed on a Friday it may have been a religious feast/festival day or a day that the monks had set aside as a retreat. Its unfortunate that you did not get to see the monastery it is well worth the time (and the E3.00 - at least I think that was the fee). Cheers
... Unfriendly signs about not "going" in villages en route! ...
I stayed at the Samos Monestario on April 30. 2015. The dormitory was less than half full. Yes, it was cold since the afternoon temperature was 13 C (56 F). But it wasn't as cold as camping. However, the bathroom had two large (looked like 100 gallons each) water heaters which relieved any worry about a cold shower. Nevertheless, I didn't overuse the hot water. The wash basins have only cold water, so if your husband needs hot water to shave after his shower, he can go back into the shower, bend forward, and wet has face by holding the hand-held shower nozzle upward on his face. I did this successfully. Also, I used one of the blankets provided. You could probably use two blankets by borrowing an extra one from an open bed. Good luck on your pilgrimage!Help! My husband and I are planning to experience the Camino from Saint Jean Piet de Port to Santiago de Compostela March 2016. We have made all our reservations except one. We have desperately been trying to contact The Samos Monastery for a year now. We have seen online they do have room for pilgrims and this would be an amazing blessing to stay in this monastery.
We have tried to contact them in every possible but with no response. Does anyone have any idea or advice how we would go about making these reservations to make this journey complete?
Thank you for your helpful advice.
Buen Camino
"With the amount of pilgrims on the last 100km, I would call these signs 'desperate' not unfriendly. Just try to see (and smell) it for a moment from the perspective of the people living alongside the Camino."
Yes, I understand what you are saying, but there was absolutely nothing open between Triacestela and Samos, no bars or cafés. In a 3-hour walk, it becomes a necessity to "go" somewhere!
Perhaps the monks at Samos may have felt that, since the information was on the web, and since albergues don't take reservations, they need not worry about it. Perhaps they may feel that, since March 2016 is so far off, there is no urgency to it. Perhaps they might think that, given that there are not many pilgrims at that time of year, you should not worry about it.
Help! My husband and I are planning to experience the Camino from Saint Jean Piet de Port to Santiago de Compostela March 2016. We have made all our reservations except one. We have desperately been trying to contact The Samos Monastery for a year now. We have seen online they do have room for pilgrims and this would be an amazing blessing to stay in this monastery.
We have tried to contact them in every possible but with no response. Does anyone have any idea or advice how we would go about making these reservations to make this journey complete?
Thank you for your helpful advice.
Buen Camino
IAnd given that there are so few resident monks, perhaps they have much too much to do to have the time to answer everyone's 'urgent' questions--which in reality are not so urgent. In this case (at least given my experience of being there during Easter week last year), I do think you can rest your heart...what I have bolded above was certainly the case then.
Help! My husband and I are planning to experience the Camino from Saint Jean Piet de Port to Santiago de Compostela March 2016. We have made all our reservations except one. We have desperately been trying to contact The Samos Monastery for a year now. We have seen online they do have room for pilgrims and this would be an amazing blessing to stay in this monastery.
We have tried to contact them in every possible but with no response. Does anyone have any idea or advice how we would go about making these reservations to make this journey complete?
Thank you for your helpful advice.
Buen Camino
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