Unusual places to collect sellos/stamps

[roving_rufus]

After a discussion on the Camino Portuguese went slightly off piste, but it was an interesting side trail...
Beyond albergues and accomodation, where else have you managed to get a sello/stamp/tampon for your credential?

 

[Vacajoe]

City halls, museums, a self-serve box outside of an auto repair shop, churches, wineries, and more. Sure, some are just plain business stamps (company name, address), but they all document the movement through the countryside

 

[Tincatinker]

A cheesemakers dairy at Tresviso. A Guardia Civil post on the Vasco. Railway stations on the Norte & the Ingles. Toyota showroom on the way into Burgos ( my amiga needed an opportunity)…

The opportunities are endless

 

[SabsP]

A cheesemakers dairy at Tresviso. A Guardia Civil post on the Vasco. Railway stations on the Norte & the Ingles. Toyota showroom on the way into Burgos ( my amiga needed an opportunity)…

The opportunities are endless

Or a farmacia, local library and a centro de mayores.

 

[Jodean]

Guardia Civil in Portomarin outside the church.
A cool wax stamp from some guys who had set up a table, with fruit and drinks close to Santiago I think?

 

[Flog]

The ALSA bus counter in Santiago!

 

[dougfitz]

Beyond albergues and accomodation, where else have you managed to get a sello/stamp/tampon for your credential?

A tampon for my credential? Perhaps a pharmacy?

 

[SabsP]

A tampon for my credential? Perhaps a pharmacy?

Ah the joy of knowing some languages.
Tampon is French for sello.
Also in Spanish they use tampones para sellos aka " stamp cushion".

Tampones para sellos | SellosDeCaucho.net

www.sellosdecaucho.net

 

[roving_rufus]

A tampon for my credential? Perhaps a pharmacy?

Having been walking in France this summer that one slipped in... French for ink stamp.
But ferry company provided one,

 

[David Tallan]

A tampon for my credential? Perhaps a pharmacy?

That was new to me, too, and I had the same thought. Although I am familiar with carimbo in Portuguese.

Some guy in a van outside before San Anton on the Frances. Various other folks set up with little stands. A post office (makes sense for a stamp). I've put my own stamp into other people's credencials.

 

[dougfitz]

French for ink stamp.

I should have checked. It seems to be French for a lot of things, a stamp being just one of the many meanings.

 

[Camino Chrissy]

I've put my own stamp into other people's credencials.

David, is your stamp the one used for your avatar?

 

[David Tallan]

David, is your stamp the one used for your avatar?

Yes, with the word "Ultreia!" above and my email address below.

 

[RJM]

Guardia Civil from their patrol vehicle.
Dia supermercado.
The blacksmith near the Irache wine fountain on the Frances.
The outdoor clothing and equipment shoppe in Sarria.
After Leon in the little town of San Miguel there's an older gentleman who has a table set up next to the path with candy, water etc and he has a self service sello as well as business cards. Using his address from the business card I've sent him postcards from Santiago.

 

[dougfitz]

When I last walked the CF, I collected a stamp at the panaderia leaving Irache, and walked around to the office at Irache to collect a stamp there. It makes a lovely pair reflecting a significant moment in the Mass service.

 

[Flog]

After Leon in the little town of San Miguel there's an older gentleman who has a table set up next to the path with candy, water etc and he has a self service sello as well as business cards. Using his address from the business card I've sent him postcards from Santiago.

Is he still there, I wonder? I remember him with fondness from my first camino in 2015. He stopped us to give us biscuits, I was quite humbled by him..

 

[RJM]

Is he still there, I wonder? I remember him with fondness from my first camino in 2015. He stopped us to give us biscuits, I was quite humbled by him..

His table was still there with biscuits, candy and water when I walked by this past September. He wasn't outside, though. I stamped my credentials with his sello and grabbed one of his business cards again.

 

[Camino Chrissy]

Somewhere on the Norte there was a cute outdoor little "nook" set up between two towns with a stamp to give yourself a sello for no particlar reason; it was fun, but I can't remember the location.

 

[Former member 92300]

Mine came mostly from albergues/pensions/hotels, but I also got some from bars and Cathedrals and a few that were just along the trail. The most unusual place was a vending machine on the outside of some sort of factory style business where they had a little covered area, vending machine, table and a couple seats, and a Camino Stamp.

 

[Former member 92300]

A tampon for my credential? Perhaps a pharmacy?

Haha... Tampon... French for Rubber Stamp. But yes - I am going to feel very awkward on the VF asking people for Tampons.

 

[roving_rufus]

Haha... Tampon... French for Rubber Stamp. But yes - I am going to feel very awkward on the VF asking people for Tampons.

I generally make sure I have my credential open and point to another stamp while asking. But after the first time or two it does become easier...

 

[henrythedog]

British Embassy in Madrid. Security was hard work, as was explaining why the official stamp should be applied to an unofficial document. Thankfully the local Spanish staff came to the rescue.

 

[henrythedog]

A scissor-trimmed label from a tin of anchovies at the ‘Pez de Lorenzo’ on c.San Lorenzo in Burgos

 

[RJM]

After I check into an albergue and get settled my credentials remain deep in my pack in an interior compartment and I don't have them as I'm out and about a town or wherever for dinner or roaming around. I don't want to possibly lose them or damage them, but in doing so I've missed out on collecting some really cool sellos from unique places as I'm not going to go back to the albergue, get the credentials and go back to get the sello.
I've thought about getting a set of credentials just for that and leaving the main one in the pack. The second set taking the punishment or possible loss. lol

 

[roving_rufus]

Have a few from bakeries (good source in France!), libraries, museums, town halls, post office, ferry, ... but never thought of a pharmacy!

 

[NualaOC]

Or a farmacia, local library and a centro de mayores.

My happiest (but also very tearful!) sello - from the Residencia de Mayores in Viñuelas (Camino Mendocino).

 

[ELHS220]

POST OFFICES, but with a twist. Buy a postage stamp. Spain has several CAMINO THEMED ones. Paste it in your credential and get it postmarked with with city/town name and date. I would have gotten many more if small towm POs didn’t have such limited hours, sometimes just a couple of hours.

 

[John Sikora]

One of my big regrets while on a Camino was not stopping at a vending machine that had a stamp tied to its handle. I'll never know what the stamp was.

 

[ELHS220]

After a discussion on the Camino Portuguese went slightly off piste, but it was an interesting side trail...
Beyond albergues and accomodation, where else have you

After a discussion on the Camino Portuguese went slightly off piste, but it was an interesting side trail...
Beyond albergues and accomodation, where else have you managed to get a sello/stamp/tampon for your credential?

Also, the Guardia Civil has a generic stamp, which seems to be the one they foist upon you (upper right). But if you know Spanish, you can explain to them that you would like their “office specific” stamp (lower left). But, like the Post Office, the GCs in towns often have limited public hours and you will encounter the dreaded CERRAAAAAADO sign.

 

[Rob Perry]

Most unusual stamp on my Camino was on the canal boat to Fromista. Sitting by the canal, eating my picnic lunch, I was invited to sail the last few km of the day. After paying the ferryman, he stamped my credencial.

 

[VNwalking]

Waiting to cross an intersection by the dam past Valdeorras on the Invierno, a friendly fellow in an ayuntamiento car stopped and rolled down his window to ask if I wanted a sello. Of course!!

 

[ParrisPair]

Not really a sello (or tampon). We stopped at an artist’s studio where he painted a picture in our passport.

 

[grayland]

The Burger King in Santiago.

 

[Former member 83942]

After a discussion on the Camino Portuguese went slightly off piste, but it was an interesting side trail...
Beyond albergues and accomodation, where else have you managed to get a sello/stamp/tampon for your credential?

We received a stamp from some nuns who were out in front of their convent. We also got a wax stamp from a gent along the way who was making them and incorporating small flowers (both evoke good memories). Both of these were within a few hundred yards of one another.

 

[Karinhi]

When I last walked the CF, I collected a stamp at the panaderia leaving Irache, and walked around to the office at Irache to collect a stamp there. It makes a lovely pair reflecting a significant moment in the Mass service.

O

 

[Karinhi]

In 2017 somewhere between Saint Jean Pied de Port and Burgos, a young lad had a lemonade stand just outside the entrance to his home and he had a cello. Great lemonade too!

 

[green_spork]

In 2017 somewhere between Saint Jean Pied de Port and Burgos, a young lad had a lemonade stand just outside the entrance to his home and he had a cello. Great lemonade too!

Awesome! Would look great on a T-shirt!
I can see a whole merchandise line with this branding!

 

[Camino Chrissy]

In 2017 somewhere between Saint Jean Pied de Port and Burgos, a young lad had a lemonade stand just outside the entrance to his home and he had a cello. Great lemonade too!

Oh, such a very cute sello!

 

[green_spork]

View attachment 138394POST OFFICES, but with a twist. Buy a postage stamp. Spain has several CAMINO THEMED ones. Paste it in your credential and get it postmarked with with city/town name and date. I would have gotten many more if small towm POs didn’t have such limited hours, sometimes just a couple of hours.

I think this is a great idea! Would never of thought of getting an actual postal stamp, along with a sello! Also considering the inked stamps tend to fade after a while, the Camino stamps would still look great!

View attachment 138394POST OFFICES, but with a twist. Buy a postage stamp. Spain has several CAMINO THEMED ones. Paste it in your credential and get it postmarked with with city/town name and date. I would have gotten many more if small towm POs didn’t have such limited hours, sometimes just a couple of hours.

View attachment 138394POST OFFICES, but with a twist. Buy a postage stamp. Spain has several CAMINO THEMED ones. Paste it in your credential and get it postmarked with with city/town name and date. I would have gotten many more if small towm POs didn’t have such limited hours, sometimes just a couple of hours.

 

[MichelleElynHogan]

University of Pamplona.

 

[green_spork]

British Embassy in Madrid. Security was hard work, as was explaining why the official stamp should be applied to an unofficial document. Thankfully the local Spanish staff came to the rescue.

For difficulty level, you definitely win!!
I would have loved to have heard that conversation!! Was the stamp worth it?

 

[green_spork]

University of Pamplona.

Nice! I imagine a university sello would be quite attractive!

 

[green_spork]

After I check into an albergue and get settled my credentials remain deep in my pack in an interior compartment and I don't have them as I'm out and about a town or wherever for dinner or roaming around. I don't want to possibly lose them or damage them, but in doing so I've missed out on collecting some really cool sellos from unique places as I'm not going to go back to the albergue, get the credentials and go back to get the sello.
I've thought about getting a set of credentials just for that and leaving the main one in the pack. The second set taking the punishment or possible loss. lol

I use one of the plastic envelopes that Ivar sells! Keeps your credential nice and safe! I keep it in my day bag or in my zipped cargo pocket! I tend to get a lot of my sellos when am out exploring so you’re right about missing out on some unique stamps!

 

[green_spork]

Guardia Civil in Portomarin outside the church.
A cool wax stamp from some guys who had set up a table, with fruit and drinks close to Santiago I think?

It may have been the same guys I saw in September, they were selling more souvenir stuff rather than food and drink! There was a steady queue of pilgrims waiting to get their credential stamped with the wax sello!
I found the credential below with a wax sello in Santiago, it’s the back of an envelope, that’s been used as an unofficial credential!

 

[Juliawalking]

At the TV station on the way into Santiago. And of course the Santiago church in Madrid.

 

[Scott Sweeney]

A cheesemakers dairy at Tresviso. A Guardia Civil post on the Vasco. Railway stations on the Norte & the Ingles. Toyota showroom on the way into Burgos ( my amiga needed an opportunity)…

The opportunities are endless

Plan-d'Aups-Sainte-Baume, the sanctuary of Sainte-Baume is my most prized, also the Notre Dame Cathedral.

 

[Peligro]

In 2017 somewhere between Saint Jean Pied de Port and Burgos, a young lad had a lemonade stand just outside the entrance to his home and he had a cello. Great lemonade too!

I stopped at the same lemonade stand! August 2017 between Pamplona and Logroño. On the right as I was climbing on pavement. Seemed like a fancy neighborhood. I don’t remember the cello though.

 

[Richard Smith]

I liked the guy in medieval chain mail with the falcon, which would sit on your arm. We got a stamp from him.

 

[trecile]

In 2017 somewhere between Saint Jean Pied de Port and Burgos, a young lad had a lemonade stand just outside the entrance to his home and he had a cello. Great lemonade too!

According to your picture of the sello, "somewhere" was Obanos.

 

[henrythedog]

For difficulty level, you definitely win!!
I would have loved to have heard that conversation!! Was the stamp worth it?

Yes, it was - but it took about an hour to get. I am English and trying to explain in English to the English staff was getting me nowhere. I resorted to Spanish with the local Spanish staff, and it worked.

They really don’t like people turning up without an appointment.

 

[dick bird]

Yes, it was - but it took about an hour to get. I am English and trying to explain in English to the English staff was getting me nowhere. I resorted to Spanish with the local Spanish staff, and it worked.

They really don’t like people turning up without an appointment.

I have had dealings with the UK embassy in more than one country. I am not entirely sure they like people.

I stopped at the same lemonade stand! August 2017 between Pamplona and Logroño. On the right as I was climbing on pavement. Seemed like a fancy neighborhood. I don’t remember the cello though.

I think we stopped there too. Was it in Obanos? But that was 2018. They said they were saving up to go to Disneyland. Obviously it takes a lot of lemonade to get to Disneyland. It was pretty good lemonade too.

 

[RuiCarneiro]

My special stamp I got from an English painter who lived in a recovered house by the ancient path between Triacastela and Sarria, near San Xil. The stamp was literally a tiny original painting directly on the Camino's passport. This was in 2019. This year I tried to visit him again (and get another beautiful stamp) but the house was closed, so I don't know if permanently or temporarily.

 

[GH_USA]

Is he still there, I wonder? I remember him with fondness from my first camino in 2015. He stopped us to give us biscuits, I was quite humbled by him..

He was when I walked through in October 2022 and got a stamp from him.

 

[RJM]

Is he still there, I wonder? I remember him with fondness from my first camino in 2015. He stopped us to give us biscuits, I was quite humbled by him..

I took a photo of him a few years ago, 2018, when I stopped with some other pilgrims there.

 

[Gobsmacked by the World]

The McDonalds in SDC stamps.

 

[Nina Busy]

Federal Police in Santiago

 

[Gobsmacked by the World]

Federal Police in Santiago

I won’t ask how you discovered that one. I am embarrassed as it is with my discovery of the McDonalds.

 

[CWBuff]

I've put my own stamp into other people's credencials.

David, is your stamp the one used for your avatar?

El Ramon de David y Talan