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I think no garlic soup because (sorry don't remember the name of the priest) no one carried the tradition on. As I remember the priest died in 2012/2013???...
Dinner was brought in from elsewhere. No soup.
Thanks, everyone. Looking at pictures on gronze and doing some googling, I can see that the place definitely has been updated. And it looks like the updates happened about 4 or 5 years ago. The bathrooms shown in Gronze’s fotos are centuries newer than the ones I remember. And I’m glad to hear there is no mold! But the commentaries on Eroski and Gronze continue to be negative, with more than a few commenting on how they see that the new management really doesn’t create the ambiente that the place desrves and how it is just a profit making enterprise. So I wonder if the church has leased it out. But the garlic soup is still being served!
So I guess the renovations I read about have happened but that improvement is not so great. Too bad.
My experience of the albergue at San Juan de Ortega dates back to May 2015. I remember it as not being very friendly while designed to fit in as many bodies as possible. Perhaps the sense of unwelcome was amplified because I had spent the night before in the warm and intimate Tosantos. My journal remarks include " lots of bunks, not great lavatory facilities, lukewarm showers." I also noted reconstruction of the entire complex was under way. More of my entry was devoted to the sparsely attended pilgrims mass and the gift of the cross of San Juan. Oh, the cafeteria style pilgrims meal was forgettable as was what they called garlic soup.In 2000, when the garlic soup-making priest was still in San Juan de Ortega, I stopped with my walking partner in San Juan. We went up and put our packs on the bed, etc, and after about 4 minutes, my pal told me she was having trouble breathing. A quick look around showed there was mold on all the walls, and we just couldn´t stay there. So I had to miss the garlic soup, which I’m sure was a very nice tradition.
Since then I think I have read somewhere that there were going to be serious reforms and repairs in the albergue. I know that the amazing church underwent a lot of renovation thanks to a huge EU grant, and I thought I saw that the albergue was going to be redone as well. On the website, the monastery says that the albergue has all the amenities a pilgrim needs and that the place has been modernized. So has it been redone and the mold banished? I’m sure there must be a lot of forum members who stay there, and I haven’t seen complaints like I used to see on the forum, so maybe there have been changes.
Thanks, peregrinos. Buen camino, Laurie
My experience of the albergue at San Juan de Ortega dates back to May 2015. I remember it as not being very friendly while designed to fit in as many bodies as possible. Perhaps the sense of unwelcome was amplified because I had spent the night before in the warm and intimate Tosantos. My journal remarks include " lots of bunks, not great lavatory facilities, lukewarm showers." I also noted reconstruction of the entire complex was under way. More of my entry was devoted to the sparsely attended pilgrims mass and the gift of the cross of San Juan. Oh, the cafeteria style pilgrims meal was forgettable as was what they called garlic soup.
Absolutely. And it being the equinox, today was the day to see the miraculous illumination of the annunciation.the church is absolutely not to be missed. I think @VNwalking has posted s ome gorgeous pictures of that place, really a treasure.
Absolutely. And it being the equinox, today was the day to see the miraculous illumination of the annunciation.
same here in 2015.We walked into San Juan on the equinox in 2009...with no knowledge that it was the equinox or that the "Miraculous Illumination of the Annunciation" was to happen that day.
I had no idea it was there.I am surprised no one else in this thread mentioned the Casa Rural.
Way too bad. It could be a gem, in loving hands (and with some financial backing).Too bad....That is such a shame, because it could be another place like Sobrado!
I wouldn't dismiss Ages accommodation because of one (or even several) reports of bedbugs. They can happen anywhere anytime, as they travel with peregrinos. Always check first....Ages is a highlight for me.Unfortunately, the private accommodation we stayed in Ages is where I got attacked by a clear infestation of bed bugs... others too, have also repeatedly reported bed bugs in accommodations in that town. So would pass by these two locations when I get to this area....
San Juan de Ortega was the setting of one of the most memorable events of my first Camino in 1990 though for certain reasons I have very little memory of how the place looked.
I arrived at San Juan de Ortega in late afternoon on a hot August day having walked from Belorado. For most of the afternoon I had been throwing up violently - probably food poisoning though it may have been sunstroke. Two French couples I had shared an albergue with the previous night saw my dreadful state and called the priest - probably with the last rites in the back of their mindsHe led me off to his cool dark kitchen and poured me a huge tumbler of neat Spanish gin. "Drink that!" "No food, no water, just gin". I expressed some doubt at the plan and asked the priest to bury me if it proved fatal and then write to tell my wife. "Don't worry about her - she's young, she'll marry again!" So I downed the gin in one gulp. For about 20 seconds I was in agony as my mistreated innards were cauterized. Then a wonderful warm feeling replaced it. The priest led me to a bed where I promptly fell asleep. He came by several times that night to check I was OK. By morning I was miraculously recovered and well enough to walk on to Burgos. I vaguely remember that the old monastery complex was basically a building site - work in progress. I remember very little in detail about the building itself. But the generous welcome and compassion from my fellow pilgrims and especially the parish priest have stayed with me.
You had food served to you .... on a plate??!!The food was plunked on my plate ......
Hi We stayed there just earlier this month. Personally I found it seriously lacking even for the small price charged. Bunk beds crammed into the rooms, no toilet paper and pasta with warm tomato sauce. No place to sit but out side in the heat.In 2000, when the garlic soup-making priest was still in San Juan de Ortega, I stopped with my walking partner in San Juan. We went up and put our packs on the bed, etc, and after about 4 minutes, my pal told me she was having trouble breathing. A quick look around showed there was mold on all the walls, and we just couldn´t stay there. So I had to miss the garlic soup, which I’m sure was a very nice tradition.
Since then I think I have read somewhere that there were going to be serious reforms and repairs in the albergue. I know that the amazing church underwent a lot of renovation thanks to a huge EU grant, and I thought I saw that the albergue was going to be redone as well. On the website, the monastery says that the albergue has all the amenities a pilgrim needs and that the place has been modernized. So has it been redone and the mold banished? I’m sure there must be a lot of forum members who stay there, and I haven’t seen complaints like I used to see on the forum, so maybe there have been changes.
Thanks, peregrinos. Buen camino, Laurie
That was the standard ten to fifteen years ago! It was a different experience...Bunk beds crammed into the rooms, no toilet paper and pasta with warm tomato sauce. No place to sit but out side in the heat.
It was a place to sleep that's about all.
I walked in from walking in snow and sleet. The albergue was not a whole lot warmer than outside. Believe me, Tazz...you're right. Mine wasn't and I was wearing several layers of clothes as well.The Albergue was so cold when I peeked in that I don’t think my three season sleeping bag would have been enough.
Well, yes, but there was hospitality. It's not the crowded dorm that got me, it was the grungy bathroom [edit - understatement - it was disgusting] and the lack of basic kindness.That was the standard ten to fifteen years ago! It was a different experience...
So true. I slept in many odd places on different Caminos (polideportivos, swimming pool changing rooms, infirmary at bull ring arena, hairdressers classroom, on the porch of Ayto. etc.) but the people were very welcoming and kind. That makes a place special. People....
Well, yes, but there was hospitality. It's not the crowded dorm that got me, it was the grungy bathroom and the lack of basic kindness.
I so wish this place could get an infusion of care, and new management - it could be basic but truly special.
Stayed there this August 2018. Bunks were comfy enough and the facilities OK but in general the building is pretty run down. My real criticism however was of a very poor pilgrim meal at 10 euros (about the same cost as other albergues that serve a meal) and no real postre or (horrors!) even a glass wine.Stayed there in May of 2007. Memorable for the church, the priest and his garlic soup, the bar, and witnessing a bedbug dive bombing a companion from the top bunk to his bottom bunk!
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