your most bizarre/weirdest moment

January 24, 2009. Walked 18 k in 5 hours through strong wind, heavy rain, sleet and eventually dense snow up the Valcarlos route to the almost mythic monastery of Roncesvalles! Saw few people and no other pilgrims; I was the only pilgrim staying in the old winter albergue.

The monk who stamped my Credential invited me to the evening benediction for pilgrims. It was lovely. The service was held in the ancient Romanesque church (wonderfully heated!!) in front of the magnificent silver sculpture of the Virgin. Three monks assisted and asked me to stand with them at the altar. ...In retrospect how special it was that snowy night to be the single pilgrim where crowds have stood throughout time. ...

Margaret Meredith

mspath said:

January 24, 2009. Walked 18 k in 5 hours through strong wind, heavy rain, sleet and eventually dense snow up the Valcarlos route to the almost mythic monastery of Roncesvalles! Saw few people and no other pilgrims; I was the only pilgrim staying in the old winter albergue.

The monk who stamped my Credential invited me to the evening benediction for pilgrims. It was lovely. The service was held in the ancient Romanesque church (wonderfully heated!!) in front of the magnificent silver sculpture of the Virgin. Three monks assisted and asked me to stand with them at the altar. ...In retrospect how special it was that snowy night to be the single pilgrim where crowds have stood throughout time. ...

Margaret Meredith

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How wonderful Margaret.

vicrev said:

What was your most bizarre/weirdest moment,while walking ?......mine probably was ( Iv'e had a few!) walking between Rocamador & Soulliac,in the pouring rain, turned a corner & across the track were these blokes done up in full Village People gear,I just about turned around & went back , the last thing I was expecting ! I walked up to them,we got talking(sort of) & when they found out I was from Australia,out came all the Crocodile Dundee impressions(Mick Dundee is still big in France) what is wrong with your Rugby team etc etc.........so after a couple of hours & lots of drinks we parted company,2 kilometers down the road I stopped for the day & camped.......it was a great day...............Vicrev

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I've spent a lot of time round Rocamadour cave diving. I've seen some VERY weird stuff over the years round there, it really seems to attract, shall we say, the more eclectic members of society In the late 90's there used to be a lot of sword shops in the town and a friend and I invested in a couple of broadswords. I vaguely recall having a fencing match there which a bus load of tourists thought was part of the entertainment. Rather than a pair of idiots who didn't realise a combination of beer and weapons was bad.

I remember walking through the woods near Martel one afternoon wearing a wetsuit when, coming the other way, was a completely naked man. I'm not sure who was more out of place

I knew a cafe owner near Rocamadour who had a collection of Russian space junk in his back yard.

It's a great part of the world but has some very unusual folk.

Maybe sitting in the cathedral waiting for the evening mass to start for the person in front of me to turn around and thank me for some advice I had given her on the forum!

vicrev said:

C'mon Stuartm,which one were you then,the Indian,or the Policeman ?....................Vicrev

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Construction worker. I liked the tool belt

vicrev said:

What was your most bizarre/weirdest moment,while walking ?.....

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This following event was weird for two reasons: the situation itself and then the unknown subsequent impact it must/may have had on any pilgrims who 'came upon the scene' afterwards.
What happened was when walking along a section of sunken track between Sarria and Portomarin I came across a badly wounded snake which looked as if it had been run over by a bike. Not being able to bear any animal suffering, I proceeded to try and put the poor creature out of its misery using a simple country solution-aka a big stick. As I was vigorously flailing away a young German couple came into view-they obviously thought I am having some sort of phobic attack and started shouting 'stop stop but it would run away if you let it!". Now I found myself multitasking trying to calm them down, explain the circumstances of the situation and kill the snake. All of this took longer than expected but I finished the job in hand and, in case the carcass would offend other pilgrims, I picked up the body and attempted to throw it over the ditch. Now a dead snake is unexpectedly dynamic and sort of spins a bit when you throw it that, plus fact that I was also under the scrutiny of suspicious germans, put me off my game-so instead of going 'far' the corpse went 'up'... very 'up'. As a result the snakes limp body was now dangling off a branch about 12 feet above the very center of the path-like some grisely totem. This seemed to upset the girl even more than when I was whacking away at it and she started whimpering gently....I know I really should have stayed and devised some way of disentangling the body..... but the thought of being caught in a bizarre and compromising situation for a 2nd time and trying to explain it all over again was just too much. So, before any other other pilgrims happened upon the scene, I quickly moved off not however as speedily as the 'traumatised' Germans who legged it faster than greased lightning.
If the battered body of a snake dropped on your head whilst walking from Sarria to Portomarin in early May 2009......mea culpa

vicrev said:

For someone who comes from the" Land of No Snakes " that was a very brave thing to do !!............Vicrev

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Brave? well perhaps a little but unfortunately the outcome was less St Francis of Assisi and more Freddy Krueger or worse...... Damien Hirst!

P.S. Never ever break you leg in my company

The weirdest thing that has happened so far is coming out of the showers in an albergue to find a young German couple having Naked Backrub Time. (Yes, they did know I was there and that I'd gone to take a shower.) They made no apologies but shortly thereafter left to go "find a drink" somewhere.

Oddest for me personally was cycling on the Camino del Norte, as I went up a wooded hill on the road in big chalk letters was 'GIN'. Then a few hundred yards on 'GIN' again. I suddenly realised it was the anniversary of my father's death - he always drank copious amounts of gin and we always mark that day and his birthday by heading to a seaside pub for a large gin. Being 'on Camino' I had not realised the date that day - but here in big letters was my reminder - we cycled straight to a bar, ordered double gin and tonics and mystified the locals by chorusing 'To the Goat' (my father's nickname!)

On my first camino (2005) I spent the first day getting lost and then managed to repeat the experience on the second day as well - 2 days out of Toulouse. Wandering in the forest I couldn't find the track at all - or rather I could find too many - when in the distance I spied someone with a pack on their back! I gave chase, and as I walked I solved the problem of where I was - the dilemma was not understanding the language of the European descriptions. Finally catching up with the only pilgrim I had seen in the past 2 days I noticed that he had the same out of date green book in his hand as I did, which implied that he was likely an English speaker! He too had become temporarily geographically embarrassed, but had managed to find a (different) solution. After a brief chat we went our seperate ways - he going onwards, me retracing my steps (remember I was only 2 days into this pilgrimage business - didn't know that I could be friendly and ask for help!) only to discover each other again the next morning in the hotel dining room! We walked together for many days, but on that first morning we chatted about the Camino. He chatted - I was new to this, and apart from having a coffee with a man who had walked the Camino the previous year I had little knowledge and no pilgrimage experience and so I was quite happy to listen. He kept talking about his friend Chris who he had met on the Camino. Eventually I quizzed him as to this persons name and it turned out that it was the same man that I had met 6 weeks earlier for a coffee! My new (Canadian) friend had walked with this man who came from the same town as me in Australia! This was the first of many co-incidences / strange things that have happened to me along the way over the past 4 pilgrimages.

Hello Folks,

I've really enjoyed reading this thread and the weird adventures that you have all encountered.

Well, I cannot match any of what you have experienced but I can tell you what was personally weird for me.
After walking the Camino Francis in May 2012 from SJDPP to Santiago then walking on to Fisterra and finally Muxia in 36 days, was catching the bus back to Santiago from Muxia.
After all that walking, to take that one final step on to the bus and RIDE back to Santiago, now that was WEIRD!
Best regards and enjoy YOUR Camino.

Charlie.