Your most humorous event while walking

[vicrev]

The first item I pack before walking is my sense of humour,which means to me ,is laughing at oneself,(70 yo one does some strange things !) also laughing along with other people.Laughter is the best form of communication I know,crosses all languages & frontiers. One example,I walked with a Buddist gent,not one word of English or French but we laughed a lot & enjoyed each others company.........just interested if other people had funny or humorous moments while walking & what were they ???......
vicrev

 

[Al the optimist]

An elderly woman whooping with glee when she found two touching lower bunk beds vacant. She leap onto one with a playful shout of " A last I get to sleep with my husband!"

 

[vicrev]

Hope the lights wer'nt out !!!!......Vicrev

 

[Al the optimist]

No it was mid afternoon and they behaved, though she did have a siesta with her arm over his chest. It was quite sweet. A lovely Dutch couple who were good company that evening.

 

[nellpilgrim]

I think that laughter, and lots of it , was one of the most unexpected gifts of the Camino. I found myself quietly chuckling, exploding in piggy snorts and collapsing in exhausted wheezy giggles so often I lost count. So rather than trawling through them all I'll just share the first one of many such moments.
On the evening before we left SJPP, in response to a text enquiry about the weather for our crossing to Roncevalles from her sister, a very sleepy Frances texted back "Don't worry sis pain forecast" instead of "rain" (PQRS... it's easy to do). In fact that 'mistake' turned out to be far more accurate than the meteorological report- as we got snow..... lots of it . Later, as we thawed out by the fire in Roncevalles sipping hot ports (for medicinal purposes), we laughed till it hurt at that very prescient text. The phrase "Don't worry pain forecast!" became a sort of 'coping mantra' on the rest of our Camino-guaranteed to raise a smile whenever we were facing into a challenging section/and or weather. Even now years later when slogging up some muddy incline I find myself muttering it under my breath... and yes it still works

 

[vicrev]

Just reminded me of an incident I had in a single beds pushed together Gite,woke up around 3 AM with the lady in the next beds leg on me,I sort of raised my legs up to get her leg to slide down,but it came up further,she gave a yell,I being a devout coward pretended to be asleep,needless to say ,I was out & away pretty early the next morning !!!!! ......Vicrev

 

[Al the optimist]

I only had one experience of a pushed together bunk, in the muni at Cerbriero. The American guy in the other one and I had a joke about behaving in our sleep. But after we went to the local bar and had both had an extra beer we passed (out) an eventful free night. In fact I never even heard him leave in the morning!

 

[Icacos]

One evening in a dormatorio, while getting ready to bed down, I overheard an English speaking peregrino mention something about putting a sheet on his bunk. His not-English-as-a-first-language neighbour responded with a mixture of query and incredulity. The English speaking peregrino returned "What? That's a word".

 

[maryaxtmann]

Lots of funny things, but this still makes me laugh. I was washing clothes in a large ziplock bag ( works quite well) A pilgrim lady walked by and said, "that's a good idea. You know you can also make scrambled eggs like that." Hopefully not in the same bag, but we pilgrims are resourceful!

 

[cedarhollow03]

We had met 2 young men from Denmark earlier in the day and one had terrible blisters (Stephen). What we didn't know was that they were in our room. As my husband and I were walking up the stairs to the room I was laughing at something my husband said (probably how slow I was going). When we opened the door to the room Stephan asked me if I was the one laughing and I said YES! He then said smiling that I "obviously was not walking the same camino as he was as he couldn't even walk!" We all laughed so hard! We ended up having dinner with them and "leap frogging" them for 3-4 days. They were so fun to talk with. What a wonderful memory!

 

[Gmr133]

By the end of our stage destined for Los Arcos, I realized I wasn't going to make the last three miles due to severe blisters. We stopped at a cafe, ordered a beer, and my wife attempted to call a taxi service to transport me the last three miles. After some confusion on the phone, she realized she had misread the number on the advertisement and accidentally called a funeral home that thought she was trying to arrange for a hearse! Not Yet!

 

[vicrev]

Love it !!!!.....Vicrev

 

[KinkyOne]

In 2009 I was walking CF with my mother. Before Zubiri I had to take the asphalt road due to swollen ankle while she went on to the village taking the dirt path and was there well before me. Hungry as she was wanted to order bocadillo in a bar but couldn't remember the right word for it. In our country the round bread used for burgers is known as "bombeta" and she saw large red plate on the wall behind the counter with a word (and tel.number) on it beginning with "bomb........". I came to the bar in the moment when she was desperately trying to persuade the barmen that she urgently need "two Bombeiros" (spanish for Firemen) for lunch.

I think they would run away from the hungry woman instantly

 

[vicrev]

Keep them coming !!!!......

 

[alansykes]

Last December near Ourense I popped into a cafe in the morning for a cup of coffee. Everybody in there was talking loudly in Galician, and some had clearly been enjoying the aguardente. I got chatting to one of them, and for some reason he insisted that I must be Scottish (I come from England), as nobody from England can speak "la lengua de Cervantes". He insisted on buying me a glass of orujo, and volubly toasted Scottish independence, and that I toast independece for Galicia.

I didn't get as far that day as I'd originally planned.

 

[Stephen Nicholls]

From my diary, Pilgrimage III .....
"I had an early start at 06:15. Well …. it happened like this. There was a rather strange lady - a member of the staff I think, who responded to everything with a grunt. She'd caught me looking into a small lounge the previous day, and moved me away from it with a grunt. I guess it was a staff lounge. Anyway - I thought of her as Mrs Grunt from then on. I think she may have been of limited intellect… However, I digress.

At five o'clock I needed the loo. There were no lights on, so I groped my way along the corridor to the loo. In the total darkness I groped my way back to my room. Was it three doors or four? Three I think. I turned the handle and entered the room, and immediately thought something was wrong - the TV standby light was in the wrong place. Just as I realised that, there was a shout and a big GRUNT from the bed.

I immediately turned to leave the room, just as the lights went on in the long corridor. There was the boss with his hand on the light-switch grinning broadly as I escaped swiftly from Mrs Grunt's room into my own next door. I still wonder what he was thinking…

I didn't sleep much after that, and left the hostel very quietly soon after six...."

Well - at least it gave the boss a laugh!

 

[tyrrek]

Outside a bar in Pontedeume I was sitting on the end of a bench having a cigarette along with a group of local people. When they'd finished smoking the group stood up simultaneously causing the bench to see-saw into the air and dump me on the ground. I don't know why I'm mentioning the incident here as it wasn't humorous at all, despite all the laughter from all those dining nearby. Buen Camino!

 

[Canuck]

Outside a bar in Pontedeume I was sitting on the end of a bench having a cigarette along with a group of local people. When they'd finished smoking the group stood up simultaneously causing the bench to see-saw into the air and dump me on the ground. I don't know why I'm mentioning the incident here as it wasn't humorous at all, despite all the laughter from all those dining nearby. Buen Camino!

Tyrrek,
At least, it's not as bad as getting shot.

 

[hecate105]

I agree about taking your sense of humour - its the most important thing we carry! My husband and I laughed at each other every day, whether it was me trying to look inconspicuous under a flapping poncho trying to have a pee, or him collapsing the third campstool of the trip, me dropping damp underwear from my bike as I passed a bemused farmer, or my husband doing a slow-mo spectacular sideways crash with bike and trailer - he does insist on using those silly cleated pedals...
Plenty of laughs with other pilgrims such as the Korean couple who spoke no English - who peered incredulously at the pasta dinner we were cooking - and took photos! The next day, they overtook us (and them walking...) sat with our picnic blanket spread out with goodies - they were in fits of laughter - and took more photos. We then spent the night at the same albergue and were treated to seeing him doing 'moxibustion' - cutting crossed holes in his feet and legs, then inserting burning pieces of herbal incense into them. He then sat there happily wreathed in smoke - it was our turn to look incredulous! So we whipped out our camera and took pictures of him! It transpired (via a 4 language + sign language conversation) that the couple were in their 80s and were walking as far as we were cycling each day, the moxibustion took all pain/fatigue away ready for next day...
So many hilarious conversations are had with those who speak a different language - it is so easy to get the wrong end of the stick!

 

[vicrev]

I loved walking with people when there wasn't a common language between us........laughter quickly became the means of communication,there was always plenty of it...................Vicrv

 

[tyrrek]

Tyrrek,
At least, it's not as bad as getting shot.

True. That wasn't very humorous either, but at least nobody was laughing when that happened. Now you've got me wondering why I keep going back...

 

[MendiWalker]

My most humorous event was while I was in the shower on the CP in albergue at Pontevedra. I was having a shower and and a guy from Sevilla entered the next shower stall and we started chatting away.
He asked me what I disliked about the Camino the most and I replied " the lack of hair dyers in the albergues " . He totally agreed on that.
When we both stepped out of our showers, we actually saw each other for the first time. We both bursted out laughing, I because I saw he was totally bald
and him because he saw I had shaved my head for the summer.
Buen Camino!

 

[luvtraveling]

My most humorous event was while I was in the shower on the CP in albergue at Pontevedra. I was having a shower and and a guy from Sevilla entered the next shower stall and we started chatting away.
He asked me what I disliked about the Camino the most and I replied " the lack of hair dyers in the albergues " . He totally agreed on that.
When we both stepped out of our showers, we actually saw each other for the first time. We both bursted out laughing, I because I saw he was totally bald
and him because he saw I had shaved my head for the summer.
Buen Camino!

Gotta love those bald heads!

 

[newfydog]

My wife and I stopped in a little town on the Arles route, and went into the tourist office to ask about lodging. The lady called the local bar and they had a room upstairs " yes they are a couple, one double bed is fine. They are on bikes, and I'll send them over."
When we arrived there were two guys with bikes ordering beers. The proprietor was giving them a weird treatment, then he saw us, and burst out laughing, leaving the two guys even more confused.

 

[billmclaughlin]

Walking alone, I caught up with another solo walker and after some stumbles and bumbles we realized we couldn't really communicate. She had only Portuguese while I had English and a smattering of other languages but only a few lame phrases of Portuguese. She understood I came from Boston, and I got that she was from Brazil, but proper nouns only get you so far.

We smiled and parted, as I was walking faster. A few seconds later I heard her call out behind me: Giselle Bündchen!

Perhaps the only time that super-model's name has been heard on the Camino Frances? The connection? She grew up not far from Giselle's home town. And Giselle is married to Tom Brady, a heartthrob on his own right and a huge figure in Boston sports (American football).

Giselle Bündchen! Tom Brady!

A connection! Buen camino!