On the Camino

I've mentioned something about the history of Pilgrim badges before, about how mediaeval Pilgrims used to buy them when they reached shrines. I have a few copies that I have on my backpack. Saint Michael - from Saint Michael's Mount in France Saint James of Compostela - 2 badges

When I go on Camino I allow 20 euros a day - this allows ten euros (max) for the albergue and ten for the evening meal. Most days I spend far less than this - five euros for the albergue, eat in for another five (for two meals - but if you are cooking for yourself it can easily cost you almost as much as eating out; in 2009 when walking alone I rarely cooked for myself for this reason but for me and my sister it halves the price of eating out easily). Then maybe 2 euros for a drink (hot chocolate) and a snack (tortilla or cake) as I walk. Some days of course I spent more if I went to a private albergue and then ate out as well as having a snack in a bar during the day (and after Triacastella the price of this snack did seem to go up to three to four euros) but it balances out. Only once over six years have I had to stay in a hotel when I arrived in Triacastella late and there were no beds left in the albergue (I always walk around Easter or September-October) but it is a good idea

For my Dad's 60th birthday I made him a scrapbook ready for walking the Camino Portuguese later this year. For this project I bought: a plain black album                                         white and black pens                                         white and red paint (and paintbrushes)                                         blue and yellow paper (I used some origami paper that I already had)                                         some luggage tags                                         letter stamps                                         pencil                                         ruler altogether I spent a bit over ten pounds on everything needed for this.

Happy Thinking day everyone, particularly (seeing as this is a Camino blog) to the 7000 odd members of Spain's Guide association.

This was one of my favourite albergues back in 2009. 5 euros for the bed, ten for the evening meal and five for breakfast. Run by friendly and helpful volunteers who let us all in before they opened so that we could chose any bed and have a shower before paying. The room that I was in had two bunk beds in it but other rooms had more beds in. The meal was really nice and I went to the service there as well. There is a bar there and, in 2013 when I passed through, a very well supplied little shop although this albergue did not allow you to use the kitchen. There is another albergue here.

So it’s almost Valentine’s Day so I thought that a Camino-inspired card would be a nice idea. This is based on a tradition from Denmark (yes, I know that the Camino isn’t there but I researched this for my Guide Unit as an activity as we’re doing an International; Valentine’s so I’ve saved myself some effort by merely doing some adapting!). One of the popular Valentine’s Day customs in Denmark is that young couples swap funny little poems or love notes, known as ‘gaekkebrev’. The sender of a ‘gaekkebrev’ writes a rhyme for his beloved, though he signs the message with dots, not a name (one for each letter in their name). If the recipient guesses the name correctly, she receives an egg at Easter! If not then she has to give the sender an Easter egg. The Danes are world-famous for their intricate paper cutting. Fold your paper in half and then half again and draw your design - Santiago Cathedral for example Stars and scallop shells work well too Cut out shapes and u

I rather like Pamplona's albergue - it's built inside an old Church and is meant to be free-standing so that the structure can be removed and the building turned back into a Church. The beds are over two floors as can be seen below with the beds separated into cubicles of four beds each with their own light (and I think power socket although I could be wrong about that). There is a well equipped kitchen on the top floor but you couldn't seat more than thirty in it but this being a city most will want to eat out. The showers were warm but the floor so flat that water went everywhere soaking the entire floor. another place where, had it been full, there would not have been enough showers. And the bathrooms were shared between men and women which is fine if you know that before you go in! Paper sheets were provided for the mattress and pillow. There is a courtyard and a large room for washing clothes and internet access via two computers (although I just used the

I stayed here back in 2009 and found the place to be .. dismal is what I think is the best word for it. The bunks were fairly tightly packed and the place, although clean, felt dirty. It is possible that I was in the overflow albergue rather than the normal one, I'm not sure about this. I think there was a small stove but it wasn't working at all and the meal at the bar nearby had to be booked as in Roncesvalles. The 'mist' that you see is because water vapour got into my camera, not because of how things looked!

There are two albergues here but one was shut so we stayed at the private one. I have no picture of the bedroom here but they were ten to a room (five bunks) and I remember that the room got quite warm at night. There was no kitchen but two shops so we bought sandwich things and ate in the sitting room. The owner was very friendly and helpful - sorting out the hand washing facilities for us with good humour ( these had not been used since the summer of the year before). The albergue was 15 euros for the night and breakfast (toast, a hot drink, orange juice, cornflakes and a cake that we saved for that day's walk).    

The albergue at Roncesvalles ..... I knew that the old one with 200 beds to a room and only two showers was no longer in use before me and my sister went there in 2013 but I still wish that she could have seen it and experienced it. Mind you I was glad to stay at the new one - very nice! (Sorry this is sideways - my computer doesn't seem to want to turn it around!) Nice bunk beds here - quite wide ones as well and beyond them you can just see the lockers - taller than my bag was, plenty of space in them. The showers were wonderful and warm after a day walking in the snow although talking about it now we're not sure that, had the place been full, there were quite enough for the initial rush. Here's its entrance (complete with deep snow!). There is a kitchen that I think was equipped but I must admit that we didn't really look as after all of that snow we ate out! There were vending machines with ready meals in but these would have cost about as m