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I think you are talking about Mao. He lives in/around Castrojeriz. His "Hospital of the Soul" is on the main street of town, and it's open in high season. No big groups or children are allowed inside, as silence is required. It/he is colorful indeed.@jungleboy I saw a very wizardly looking gentleman in Carrion de los Condes (more colourful robes and hat) and friends met him a few days later. My friends spoke with him for a bit and they were invited to visit his house which is unlocked at all times for people to visit. They said his house was as colourful as he was.
That sounds about right! I wish I had spoken to him when I saw him, but I didn't want to appear rude walking up to him while he was sitting in a cafe.I think you are talking about Mao. He lives in/around Castrojeriz. His "Hospital of the Soul" is on the main street of town, and it's open in high season. No big groups or children are allowed inside, as silence is required. It/he is colorful indeed.
My experience too. One year on the Camino Frances, I think it was 2003, a group of us was approached by a man in a business suit, walking in the wrong direction. He was asking if we had seen "John"? He was urgently trying to track him down, had flown in by helicopter to do so. Apparently "John" was a multimillionaire, and needed to attend to some urgent business..... He never mentioned his rank but as we walked together he did tell me about his very highly placed career assignments. You just can't tell much about people from their looks. Buen Camino
This is Antonio. He is from Portugal, he's lived on the Camino, on and off, for about 10 years.Anyone remember this character from last October in Palas De Rei?
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No you can't!You just can't tell much about people from their looks
I love that place. I've spent time in there on 2 occasions. My husband fell asleep in the garden at the back. It has a very peaceful feeling there.I think you are talking about Mao. He lives in/around Castrojeriz. His "Hospital of the Soul" is on the main street of town, and it's open in high season. No big groups or children are allowed inside, as silence is required. It/he is colorful indeed.
Hi Nick - I met Fr. Joyful too! It would have been late June 2017. I met him in Santa Catalina de Somoza, just past Astorga. He was very engaging, beginning his conversation with “Hellooo! I’m Fr. Joyful, from Santa Cruz, California!” Yes, he told me too he was walking the Camino as a mendicant and could I help with contributing to his night’s lodging that night which I was happy to do. We had a terrific conversation and I then walked on to El Ganso where I was staying that night.Pilgrims who walked the Camino Francés in the late spring or early summer of 2017 might remember Father Joyful. This is what I wrote at the time:
We've come across a few characters on the trail, but none quite like Father Joyful, who we met today. He's an "independent monk" who is "between religions", and says his heroes are all saints and guitar players. He's walking the Camino barefoot, doing about 6-12km per day, and by donation. We gave him some coins in exchange for a photo and a few words of wisdom.
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In 2021 I took the path less followed alongside a wall next to San Anton Ruins. I encountered Mao in the middle of a small stream clearing weeds to make a sanctuary. He invited me to visit his House of Silence, which I did. I met him twice more last spring, by divine chance.That sounds about right! I wish I had spoken to him when I saw him, but I didn't want to appear rude walking up to him while he was sitting in a cafe.
HA! I walked the small path toward the caves in the back disturbing the bees which swarmed up all around me. I did not feel threatened, and they never stung me.I love that place. I've spent time in there on 2 occasions. My husband fell asleep in the garden at the back. It has a very peaceful feeling there.
Great to read your memories as well!Hi Nick - I met Fr. Joyful too!
The guy who ran the Hospital of the Soul as it was called at the time in Castrojerez. We saw a man dressed in medieval garb, a staff, and with a long braided pony tail in the ruins of San Antonio who subsequently sped off on a bicycle. . When we arrived in Castrojeriz we spied the "Hospital ". A pilgrim coming out said, you have to see this place. Signs told us we could wander around at will in this Camino art filled quiet place where tea and cold water and cookies were available for the taking. It was filled with books and lots of comfortable sitting places to just stare at the quoted art and contemplate the journey. In my wandering I noticed the same medieval guy in a kitchen stirring a pot of fragrant soup. I asked what is this place? In his broken English he explained it was only there for me to enjoy. Another humbling experience for sure.A current thread about “jack Reacher” reminded me about two character I met on Caminos. In about 2010 while finishing trek I met a woman who was a “nun” from Germany that walked with a long cloak and no pack. She wasn’t Catholic but Protestant.this heavy wool cloak had inside pockets in which she carried a few thing. She claimed to live off “aims” or donations. We stayed at the monestary across that way in Santiago and slept in her cloak.she seemed legit and was pleasant. My second acquaintance was a South American guy from Patagonia who looked like a large hobbit and wore no shoes. Around Logrono near the lake . I was walking with a local who said he didn’t speak real Spanish , but something else ? He had a very wide brim hat and from what I could gather had never worn shoes. The soles of his feet were 1/2 inch thick. He could sing songs in his own dialect. Well enough for now, maybe people are telling stories about me.
A cow, even with its central nervous system, probably does not fear the knife either, not "understanding" what it is. Cows, people, perhaps even carrots, fear the unknown.Great to read your memories as well!
I remember one of Father Joyful’s tidbits of wisdom in particular. In discussing vegetarianism, he said ‘the carrot fears the knife as much as the cow does’. Well, that’s obviously not true as carrots can’t feel anything (lacking a central nervous system as they do), but it was an interesting perspective nevertheless!
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