Parador pilgrim food

[becky]

We've just completed the camino ingles and have today in Santiago. A couple of years ago we were lucky enough to have a free pilgrim meal at the parador. I was wondering if this tradition still continued and what we had to do or go to experience it. Any help appreciated and if anyone had any questions about the ingles please ask me!!! Thanks. Becky

 

[nycwalking]

Congrats Becky.

 

[Bob from L.A. !]

Welcome to the "Club" ! Congrats !

 

[trecile]

I read that the first 10 pilgrims with a Compestella that arrive at the Parador each day will get a free meal.
http://www.parador.es/en/blog/ten-free-meals-pilgrims-way-st-james

 

[Stephen]

I was fortunate enough to have gotten a ticket for the Pilgrim lunch on the 20th March this year. Only 5 of us sat down to dine. The absentees may had kept their tickets as souvenirs.
I think I read somewhere that the food is similar to that provided for the parador staff.
My travelling companion found what appeared to be an entire lamb's tongue on her plate.
The meal starts promptly at 1 o'clock and the pilgrims have to be gone by 1.45.

 

[susanawee]

I was fortunate enough to have gotten a ticket for the Pilgrim lunch on the 20th March this year. Only 5 of us sat down to dine. The absentees may had kept their tickets as souvenirs.
I think I read somewhere that the food is similar to that provided for the parador staff.
My travelling companion found what appeared to be an entire lamb's tongue on her plate.
The meal starts promptly at 1 o'clock and the pilgrims have to be gone by 1.45.

I had an evening meal there in June 2013....very simple food, glass of wine and some water....Very enjoyable experience.

 

[camino-david]

Go to the Parador and ask them!

 

[november_moon]

We missed out on the pilgrim's meal at the Parador, but spent a lovely couple hours having coffee and cake on the terrace there

 

[Anemone del Camino]

I think I read somewhere that the food is similar to that provided for the parador staff.
My travelling companion found what appeared to be an entire lamb's tongue on her plate.
The meal starts promptly at 1 o'clock and the pilgrims have to be gone by 1.45.

You get what you pay for.

 

[Magnara]

We walked in the winter and arrived in Santiago early February. There were only a handful of pilgrims, and we went (and were kindly welcomed) every day for 5 days.

 

[grayland]

A lot of effort for a pretty basic free meal.
You can get a much better one for about 10 euro.

 

[Anemone del Camino]

We walked in the winter and arrived in Santiago early February. There were only a handful of pilgrims, and we went (and were kindly welcomed) every day for 5 days.

5 days of staff food to save a few €? Why oh why? I'd rather stick wirh a baguette and call it a day.

 

[Magnara]

5 days of staff food to save a few €? Why oh why? I'd rather stick wirh a baguette and call it a day.

Because we had only seen about 6 other pilgrims in the whole of our camino all the way from SJPP to Santiago (because of the season) it was really nice to have that communal time and exchange stories and fellow-feeling. It wasn't about the food, or the euros. It was the company. I also did like the idea of eating in a building so intimately connected with the history of the camino.

 

[SafariGirl]

Because we had only seen about 6 other pilgrims in the whole of our camino all the way from SJPP to Santiago (because of the season) it was really nice to have that communal time and exchange stories and fellow-feeling. It wasn't about the food, or the euros. It was the company. I also did like the idea of eating in a building so intimately connected with the history of the camino.

I can completely understand that Magnara .
When I was in Santiago in November 2015 I went to the Parador at the appointed time for dinner and ate with 9 other fellow pilgrims from around the globe and it was a lovely experience.
This week I went again with a Spanish peregrina who I met on the Camino and who wanted to experience the same thing. It seems the system has now changed and you must obtain a ticket for the meal (breakfast, lunch or dinner) from the Pilgrims Office, when you go to collect your Compostela. We were told that you cannot get your ticket the day after (as we tried to) and when 10 tickets have been issued that's it. So this time it wasn't meant to be.

 

[Anemone del Camino]

Isn't the free parador meal meant to be used like a donativo albergue: for those who need it?

 

[SafariGirl]

Isn't the free parador meal meant to be used like a donativo albergue: for those who need it?

Need, like beauty and kindness, comes in many forms. It's a wise pilgrim who sees, understands and respects this.

 

[Anemone del Camino]

Need, like beauty and kindness, comes in many forms. It's a wise pilgrim who sees, understands and respects this.

Hmmm. Shall try this next time someone reminds us that "donativo" does not mean free. Wonder how it will fly?

 

[Mark Lee]

I never turned down a free meal in my life. Didn't go seek it, but if the hospitality is there, one should never refuse it.

 

[KinkyOne]

I never turned down a free meal in my life. Didn't go seek it, but if the hospitality is there, one should never refuse it.

And if you refuse what's being offered you might also offended the person that has offered that to you!

 

[JabbaPapa]

Isn't the free parador meal meant to be used like a donativo albergue: for those who need it?

In principle yes, though as previous posts show, not every place is always taken.

 

[Magnara]

Isn't the free parador meal meant to be used like a donativo albergue: for those who need it?

Although we are far from well-off, two of the other pilgrims we got to know quite well over a week as we ate with them each day at the Parador were clearly surviving on very little. We gave a little bit of money to them as we left Santiago to help them on their way. So it works in various ways.

 

[notion900]

Isn't the free parador meal meant to be used like a donativo albergue: for those who need it?

Not really, the reason it's done is a nod to the fact that the Parador used to be the main pilgrim hospital, built for the purpose by the Reyes Catolicos. When the Camino was in decline it was made into a hotel, but the free meal is a kind of residual tradition. I had the dinner twice in 2007, you used to have to queue up by the garage entrance and hand in a photocopy of your compostela, and it was only dinner then, I seem to recall. I got it twice because often people used to queue but didn't know about the photocopy. It was interesting to go through the public areas and into the huge catering kitchen. I remember the food as nice plain stuff, and the pilgrims' dining room as cosy but small, decorated with camino themed pictures. A lamb's tongue might have freaked me out, however. Maybe that's how they keep the numbers down!