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So what can you do to have cristal clear certainty of getting in touch with a german fellow pilgrim in an albuerge?
My best guess to call: "Keiner da?!"I guess you could call out in a loud voice "Are there any German pilgrims present?"
Dear fellow pilgrims,
in the past it was very easy to figure out whether a pilgrim's origin was Germany or not. The best indicators were two yellow items. The yellow travel guide from Raimund Joos published by Outdoor and the yellow tube of hand wash gel that every german knows: "Rei in der Tube". While the travel guide is still alive and kicking not a soap opera but a soap drama takes place in my home country. Several stores have removed Rei from their stock and replaced it by other products that use different color. German exceptionalism by hand washing hiking socks and other dirty laundry in the public is soon coming to an end. The bright yellow light around the sinks fades away.
So what can you do to have cristal clear certainty of getting in touch with a german fellow pilgrim in an albuerge? I guess there is no other way left (it is "alternativlos" as Angela Merkel would say) to speak to them directly. What do you think about that?
Best regards
Markus
PS: I still have a tube of Rei left in my equipment box, so I am planning to do my walk on the Camino del Norte in october clearly detectable.
Haha... so true!Deuter backpacks. Short sleeves shirts with full buttons (men).
These are two more things to help your profiling....
Maybe the signs just change a little. Lowa Renegade boots, Deuter backpacks, Hirschtalg creme, the pastel colors - and also the accent - all stayed the same ;-)
Oh - and the beers are bigger (Irish people might disagree)
I am working on "se jermen acksent" and use Hirschtalg secretely (vegans hate it), but the other stuff does not relate to me. I have Meindl boots (I think they are more common among Germans) a Bulgarian Tashev backpack and a shiny yellow t-shirt and bandana. And the best beer I had on the camino was a fresh Guiness in a standard pint size. (Quite comparable to the irish folks).
O-ha! Hirschtalg! Made me wonder whether you are from south of the river Main. Wiesbaden ... So, so. Borderline.use Hirschtalg
I will throw out a few "buen Camino" in response everyday, but after a while I just say "good morning" or "good afternoon". Perhaps the occasional "ultreia".Personally I think the best way to find anyone on the Camino is just simply say "Buen Camino, my name is Jeanine and I am from Arizona/USA" and wait for a response! I travelled last summer just as Spain opened to vaccinated tourists. In the beginning almost everyone was Spanish or French... but by the time I reached Pamplona I was beginning to meet a lot more people from other countries. Germany was definitely well represented! But also, why limit yourself? I of course looked for my fellow Americans for some comradery - but I met people from Spain, France, the Netherlands, Germany, Czech Republic, Italy, Hungary, Austria, Ireland, Great Britain, Iran, and a few other countries and enjoyed getting to know them all! Worth noting - due to timing and the state of COVID at the time, Europe was well represented and there were quite a few Americans - but residents of other continents had not yet returned to the Camino for the most part.
I have been walking the Camino since 2008 and I never noticed a shortage of German Pilgrims.Dear fellow pilgrims,
in the past it was very easy to figure out whether a pilgrim's origin was Germany or not. The best indicators were two yellow items. The yellow travel guide from Raimund Joos published by Outdoor and the yellow tube of hand wash gel that every german knows: "Rei in der Tube". While the travel guide is still alive and kicking not a soap opera but a soap drama takes place in my home country. Several stores have removed Rei from their stock and replaced it by other products that use different color. German exceptionalism by hand washing hiking socks and other dirty laundry in the public is soon coming to an end. The bright yellow light around the sinks fades away.
So what can you do to have cristal clear certainty of getting in touch with a german fellow pilgrim in an albuerge? I guess there is no other way left (it is "alternativlos" as Angela Merkel would say) to speak to them directly. What do you think about that?
Best regards
Markus
PS: I still have a tube of Rei left in my equipment box, so I am planning to do my walk on the Camino del Norte in october clearly detectable.
Ah yes, all are fine and will do the trick! Actually - since I walked when Spain had barely opened to tourists last year - there were only about 30 of us walking the same stages (until after Leon there were more). Everyone knew everyone pretty much. We rarely said "Buen Camino" at all haha. When we did hear it - it was usually a pilgrim on a bike flying past us or a local being friendly. For me I think I said a lot of "Hola!, Buenas Dias, Good morning, and Hellos"! I reserved the "buen Caminos" for responses to the bikers and locals.I will throw out a few "buen Camino" in response everyday, but after a while I just say "good morning" or "good afternoon". Perhaps the occasional "ultreia".
One of the greatest things about the Camino ,is meeting people from different countries and different cultures, (if you want to just hang with Germans, look around Germany)
On that point you might have to ask a certain buffoon in a certain film !Maybe the signs just change a little. Lowa Renegade boots, Deuter backpacks, Hirschtalg creme, the pastel colors - and also the accent - all stayed the same ;-)
Oh - and the beers are bigger (Irish people might disagree)
The shirts are checked!Deuter backpacks. Short sleeves shirts with full buttons (men).
These are two more things to help your profiling....
Thoroughly.The shirts are checked!
Good point. Not too long ago, we deleted some posts in which people accused Germans of improperly “saving” seats for themselves by using towels (or something like that), because we thought it could be insulting, even though it was all said in good fun. It was a thread about camino families and the post I linked to was my attempt to explain. It’s a tough balancing act— on the one hand we all need to be able to laugh at ourselves, and there is no doubt that our cultures mold our behaviors in many ways that are identifiable. But on the other hand, stereotypes lead to a lot of bad behaviors and erroneous judgments, I think that so far this thread lies on the side of laughing at ourselves with no insults intended or perceived.Plenty of stereotyping here
I have walked through Palas de Rei but can't think of anything that would relate to the Rei in der Tube. Can you explain?The exceptional yellow hand wash gel tube already has its monument in Palas de Rei.
Some of the comments so far refer to brand names and equipment, some to (real or supposed) behaviour and some are a bit too serious. If you have never tried to buy a women's shirt in size 46 in a sports shop in a major German town and not been thinking "Do they really all have to be chequered?!" you may not understand what some of the comments are about.on the other hand, stereotypes lead to a lot of bad behaviors and erroneous judgments, I think that so far this thread lies on the side of laughing at ourselves with no insults intended or perceived.
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