peregrina nicole
RIP 2016
While I was last in Santiago (working as a volunteer in the Albergue Fin del Camino) I encountered some strange myths which appeared to have been passed on and grown in the telling on the Camino. I thought that this might be a thread where these can be raised and discussed/dispelled.
Myth 1: there is a municipal albergue in the centre of Santiago with about 500 beds.
This is one I have heard from a number of peregrinos who were looking for this albergue. Now, maybe there is an albergue in the centre with 500 beds. If there is, I certainly haven't heard of it and I've been coming to Santiago for every year since 2008. In fact, I can't even think of a hotel in Santiago large enough to have 500 beds. I met one girl at the peregrino office who was looking for this. I told her that she must have been thinking of Monte Gozo, which is not in Santiago, but on the way into Santiago (and a bit hard to miss). More distrubingly, while Camino Bob and I were walking back from a lovely meal after midnight, we ran into a peregrino on the Rua San Pedro who was looking for this albergue. He at least had a pen drawn map. When I looked at it, I realised that he was talking about the donativo albergue in the San Francisco monastry (which has a very limited number of places (maybe 40) and closes at 10pm (or so I was told)). I explained that the place on his map would, in all likelyhood, be closed when he got there. I felt quite sorry for someone arriving at such a late hour in Santiago trying to find a place to stay. I knew that we had places at the Albergue Fin del Camino, but we met him long after the Albergue locked its doors. We can take 110 people and are run by the Fundación Ad Sanctum Iacobum Peregrinatio. This isn't municpial, but it is connected with the Cathedral (as far as I can gather).
Myth 2: The botafumero comes out on every Sunday....
I've heard several variations of this, which include the last Sunday of every month, etc. I remember standing in the pilgrims mass next to someone who had walked from Holland and deliberately waited until Sunday morning to line up and get his credenical so that he could attend the Sunday morning mass and watch the botofumero..... which of course didn't come out. I did point out to the guy that the fact that the botafumero wasn't sitting there attached to a rope wasn't a good sign. He still believed up until the last minute that it was going to be brough in. The botafumero can be booked to appear by organisations, but this has to be organised well in advance via the oficina de peregrino. There is a cost for this depending on what type of organisation you are. The botofumero also comes out on certain feast days, but I can't remember what these are. I'm sure that there is some other strand on this forum that will answer this. Again, I felt sorry for the poor Ducth guy who actually waited around only to find out that he had bought into one of the myths of the Camino.
I've love to hear if this 500 bed albergue does exist (because I'm wondering how I have missed it) and what the guarenteed feast day appearances for the botafumero are. I'd also like to hear of other myths. While some of these are clearly part of the charm of the Camino, I do feel sorry for how some people have been affected.
Myth 1: there is a municipal albergue in the centre of Santiago with about 500 beds.
This is one I have heard from a number of peregrinos who were looking for this albergue. Now, maybe there is an albergue in the centre with 500 beds. If there is, I certainly haven't heard of it and I've been coming to Santiago for every year since 2008. In fact, I can't even think of a hotel in Santiago large enough to have 500 beds. I met one girl at the peregrino office who was looking for this. I told her that she must have been thinking of Monte Gozo, which is not in Santiago, but on the way into Santiago (and a bit hard to miss). More distrubingly, while Camino Bob and I were walking back from a lovely meal after midnight, we ran into a peregrino on the Rua San Pedro who was looking for this albergue. He at least had a pen drawn map. When I looked at it, I realised that he was talking about the donativo albergue in the San Francisco monastry (which has a very limited number of places (maybe 40) and closes at 10pm (or so I was told)). I explained that the place on his map would, in all likelyhood, be closed when he got there. I felt quite sorry for someone arriving at such a late hour in Santiago trying to find a place to stay. I knew that we had places at the Albergue Fin del Camino, but we met him long after the Albergue locked its doors. We can take 110 people and are run by the Fundación Ad Sanctum Iacobum Peregrinatio. This isn't municpial, but it is connected with the Cathedral (as far as I can gather).
Myth 2: The botafumero comes out on every Sunday....
I've heard several variations of this, which include the last Sunday of every month, etc. I remember standing in the pilgrims mass next to someone who had walked from Holland and deliberately waited until Sunday morning to line up and get his credenical so that he could attend the Sunday morning mass and watch the botofumero..... which of course didn't come out. I did point out to the guy that the fact that the botafumero wasn't sitting there attached to a rope wasn't a good sign. He still believed up until the last minute that it was going to be brough in. The botafumero can be booked to appear by organisations, but this has to be organised well in advance via the oficina de peregrino. There is a cost for this depending on what type of organisation you are. The botofumero also comes out on certain feast days, but I can't remember what these are. I'm sure that there is some other strand on this forum that will answer this. Again, I felt sorry for the poor Ducth guy who actually waited around only to find out that he had bought into one of the myths of the Camino.
I've love to hear if this 500 bed albergue does exist (because I'm wondering how I have missed it) and what the guarenteed feast day appearances for the botafumero are. I'd also like to hear of other myths. While some of these are clearly part of the charm of the Camino, I do feel sorry for how some people have been affected.
