Rest Day before the final onslaught
This is the first day in 27 that I have not been on the road by at least 7:00 a.m.
The albergue here in Santiago allows pilgrims to stay until 10 as opposed to all the others where you have to be gone by 8. So, we lingered, had a shower (the first morning shower), ate some fruit, yogurt and a couple of "cafe con leche". Packed up and walked to the cathedral at 9:45 where we found a small hotel "Hospedaje Fonseca" with a room with two beds for 15 euros each. The best part is that it is right by the cathedral which is the center of all the action. Plan to spend the day doing tourist stuff (sightseeing, writing postcards, taking photos etc.). Tomorrow morning we start the 90 km 3 day walk to Finisterre.
The following anecdotes and comments are some I had written previously but which obviously disappeared somewhere into cyber space.
"Are you from Canada?"
I walk with a very prominent Canadian flag on the back of my pack. Several times as I passed someone I have been asked "Are you from Canada"? Reminds me of the time when Alethea was a little girl and she would ask someone walking a dog on a leash, "Is that your dog?". I have refrained from saying that I am actually an American posing as a Canadian.
"Hunting"
As we were leaving an albergue early one morning the "hospitalero," who was Dutch, asked us why we were leaving so early in the dark. She said that this was pigeon hunting season in Spain and the "...Spaniards shoot anything that moves". I said that hopefully peregrinos weren´t on the menu. We did hear lots of shotguns going off for many days.
"Peregrino Greetings"
As you pass pilgrims on the Camino and they pass you, what you hear is the following. Hola! Buen Camino!
"Peregrino Questions"
Almost every conversation with a pilgrim goes as follows:
What is your name? (First name only)
Where do you come from? (Country)
Where did you start this morning?
To where are you going tonight?
Where did you start the Camino?
Are you going to Santiago de Compostela? (Many pilgrims do the Camino in sections over a number of years. I met a family from Germany who were in their 6th year of walking the Camino. They started from Cologne in 2002 and walk for three weeks each year).
A Typical Day on the Camino:
1. Get up early. This is typically driven by others who get up early and make enough noise with zippers and putting things into plastoc bags to pretty much make it impossible to sleep. In one place some idiots from a certain country that looks like a boot got up and packed and left by 4:30 a.m.
2. Do the normal ablutions. Pack and leave for the trail with a headlight to pick out the markers.
3. Walk for 1.5 to 2.5 hours and look for a bar where you can have a coffee and perhaps a croissant.
4. Walk for another 2-3 hours and find a place to eat lunch. Rather than going to a bar or restaurant we carry some food for the journey. I ate a lot of chorizo picante!
5. Arrive at an albergue after 7-10 hours on the road and check-in, showing your credentials which will allow you to get a bed and sleep overnight. You are limited to 1 night unless there are unusual circumstances such as illness.
6. Have a rest and then a shower and change into fresh clothes.
7. Wash your dirty clothes and hang them on one of the myriads of clothes lines.
8. Write journals and plan the next days walk.
9. Go shopping once the stores reopen after siesta.
10. Find someplace to have dinner such as a bar or restaurant or if the albergue has a kitchen and/or dining room, cook and eat there.
11. Get your hopefully dry clothes off the line.
12. Go to bed between 9:30 and 10:00.
13. Repeat the above 26 times.
The albergue here in Santiago allows pilgrims to stay until 10 as opposed to all the others where you have to be gone by 8. So, we lingered, had a shower (the first morning shower), ate some fruit, yogurt and a couple of "cafe con leche". Packed up and walked to the cathedral at 9:45 where we found a small hotel "Hospedaje Fonseca" with a room with two beds for 15 euros each. The best part is that it is right by the cathedral which is the center of all the action. Plan to spend the day doing tourist stuff (sightseeing, writing postcards, taking photos etc.). Tomorrow morning we start the 90 km 3 day walk to Finisterre.
The following anecdotes and comments are some I had written previously but which obviously disappeared somewhere into cyber space.
"Are you from Canada?"
I walk with a very prominent Canadian flag on the back of my pack. Several times as I passed someone I have been asked "Are you from Canada"? Reminds me of the time when Alethea was a little girl and she would ask someone walking a dog on a leash, "Is that your dog?". I have refrained from saying that I am actually an American posing as a Canadian.
"Hunting"
As we were leaving an albergue early one morning the "hospitalero," who was Dutch, asked us why we were leaving so early in the dark. She said that this was pigeon hunting season in Spain and the "...Spaniards shoot anything that moves". I said that hopefully peregrinos weren´t on the menu. We did hear lots of shotguns going off for many days.
"Peregrino Greetings"
As you pass pilgrims on the Camino and they pass you, what you hear is the following. Hola! Buen Camino!
"Peregrino Questions"
Almost every conversation with a pilgrim goes as follows:
What is your name? (First name only)
Where do you come from? (Country)
Where did you start this morning?
To where are you going tonight?
Where did you start the Camino?
Are you going to Santiago de Compostela? (Many pilgrims do the Camino in sections over a number of years. I met a family from Germany who were in their 6th year of walking the Camino. They started from Cologne in 2002 and walk for three weeks each year).
A Typical Day on the Camino:
1. Get up early. This is typically driven by others who get up early and make enough noise with zippers and putting things into plastoc bags to pretty much make it impossible to sleep. In one place some idiots from a certain country that looks like a boot got up and packed and left by 4:30 a.m.
2. Do the normal ablutions. Pack and leave for the trail with a headlight to pick out the markers.
3. Walk for 1.5 to 2.5 hours and look for a bar where you can have a coffee and perhaps a croissant.
4. Walk for another 2-3 hours and find a place to eat lunch. Rather than going to a bar or restaurant we carry some food for the journey. I ate a lot of chorizo picante!
5. Arrive at an albergue after 7-10 hours on the road and check-in, showing your credentials which will allow you to get a bed and sleep overnight. You are limited to 1 night unless there are unusual circumstances such as illness.
6. Have a rest and then a shower and change into fresh clothes.
7. Wash your dirty clothes and hang them on one of the myriads of clothes lines.
8. Write journals and plan the next days walk.
9. Go shopping once the stores reopen after siesta.
10. Find someplace to have dinner such as a bar or restaurant or if the albergue has a kitchen and/or dining room, cook and eat there.
11. Get your hopefully dry clothes off the line.
12. Go to bed between 9:30 and 10:00.
13. Repeat the above 26 times.
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