Barbara Whelan
New Member
- Time of past OR future Camino
- Camino Frances 2021
Camino Portuguese 2022
Hello peregrinos. We left SJPP on 15/9 and I thought I would post something about our experience which might be of help to those a week or two behind. Most people seem to be booking a bit ahead. Some aren’t and are finding beds though there are pinch points along the way. We ran into difficulty because our search engine kept bouncing us into Booking.com which invariably said there were no properties available. Some are using gronze but we have found Wise Pilgrim really good as it often gives you the email address of a place not just a phone number.
My Spanish isn’t good enough to conduct a telephone call but with Google translate I manage by email! However we often find that even though we book a double room it turns out that we have a room with three beds in it which we would have been willing to share with someone who needed it. Numbers wise there are probably about a third of 2018 pilgrims and because people are reserving a bit ahead there is a complete absence of the bed race and no mention of those dreaded bedbugs!
Finding food has sometimes been a challenge as some places have definitely closed down. We left Belorado early one morning to discover that nowhere was open for breakfast and it wasn’t until Villafranca 12K later that we found somewhere open. Boy did we enjoy that breakfast! Our favourite place so far was Agès. If you pass through make sure to eat in the Alquimista. It is run by the most wonderful warm sunny couple. Open early and serves food all day. You can even have dinner at 7 pm! One of the most wonderful memories I have is of eating breakfast at 7.15, dark outside but warm and cosy in this gem of a café. If you get to Hornillos there is a super restaurant called Origen about 200m on from the church on the way out of the village. It is run by a warm welcoming man from Senegal. The pilgrims’ meal costs €10.50 but if you can go for the Special Menu at €13.50. We had a delicious mixed salad followed by a tender steak in Roquefort sauce and a delicious youghourt based desert. I’m not usually a carnivore but my body was crying out for protein! Also in Hornillos is a pilgrims’ mass at 6 pm. You don’t have to be religious or spiritual but the priest is so lovely and friendly and at the end invited all the pilgrims to gather around the altar and say where they were from. A lovely way to get to know a little about the pilgrims you have passed during the day.
If you are tempted to skip the Meseta don’t. It’s here that the Camino is working it’s magic. Because it’s so flat, a 20/25K is a doddle so you can slow down and meet people. There are no big groups as far as we can see. Just small groups of friends, couples and lots of solo walkers. All incredibly friendly but as in life, small irritations can surface. I came across something lovely just before I left Ireland which has become my mantra when I feel myself becoming judgmental. I’ll pass it on to you in the hope that you might find something in it too…
"Everyone you meet is fighting a battle you know nothing about. Be kind. Always."
[Edited to correct the formatting]
My Spanish isn’t good enough to conduct a telephone call but with Google translate I manage by email! However we often find that even though we book a double room it turns out that we have a room with three beds in it which we would have been willing to share with someone who needed it. Numbers wise there are probably about a third of 2018 pilgrims and because people are reserving a bit ahead there is a complete absence of the bed race and no mention of those dreaded bedbugs!
Finding food has sometimes been a challenge as some places have definitely closed down. We left Belorado early one morning to discover that nowhere was open for breakfast and it wasn’t until Villafranca 12K later that we found somewhere open. Boy did we enjoy that breakfast! Our favourite place so far was Agès. If you pass through make sure to eat in the Alquimista. It is run by the most wonderful warm sunny couple. Open early and serves food all day. You can even have dinner at 7 pm! One of the most wonderful memories I have is of eating breakfast at 7.15, dark outside but warm and cosy in this gem of a café. If you get to Hornillos there is a super restaurant called Origen about 200m on from the church on the way out of the village. It is run by a warm welcoming man from Senegal. The pilgrims’ meal costs €10.50 but if you can go for the Special Menu at €13.50. We had a delicious mixed salad followed by a tender steak in Roquefort sauce and a delicious youghourt based desert. I’m not usually a carnivore but my body was crying out for protein! Also in Hornillos is a pilgrims’ mass at 6 pm. You don’t have to be religious or spiritual but the priest is so lovely and friendly and at the end invited all the pilgrims to gather around the altar and say where they were from. A lovely way to get to know a little about the pilgrims you have passed during the day.
If you are tempted to skip the Meseta don’t. It’s here that the Camino is working it’s magic. Because it’s so flat, a 20/25K is a doddle so you can slow down and meet people. There are no big groups as far as we can see. Just small groups of friends, couples and lots of solo walkers. All incredibly friendly but as in life, small irritations can surface. I came across something lovely just before I left Ireland which has become my mantra when I feel myself becoming judgmental. I’ll pass it on to you in the hope that you might find something in it too…
"Everyone you meet is fighting a battle you know nothing about. Be kind. Always."
[Edited to correct the formatting]
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