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LIVE from the Camino BP on the Invierno July 2021 AND July 2022: Practical info

Bad Pilgrim said:
Wow, at what time of year was it? So sorry to hear about the problems. I am worried it
will be the same for me, especially with Covid restrictions in the picture
Click to expand...

I made a mistake with my timing -- I was on the Camino Invierno in April of 2019, not 2018. I walked for five or six days and never saw another pilgrim during the hiking day (and only two others total). I don't mind walking alone and loved the route itself, so the solitude was fine; but the lack of traffic was the reason for closed albergues (I believe). I don't know if these same albergues opened up later in the season, but I found it confusing because I thought the Camino Invierno would be walkable early in the season. Also, I could not find space in any of the hotels, etc., because they were full due to Semana Santa. The two other peregrinos I saw one night at dinner were Spaniards and they had made reservations months in advance at private hostels, hotels, etc. -- probably what one has to do during that time of year. I look forward to hearing whether there are more options now and in the future.
 
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Bad Pilgrim said:
Silleda: I stay in Bar-Hostal Toxa again.
Click to expand...
Hi, BP, I think I have only stayed in Silleda once, in the albergue turístico, and it was cheap and fine. Actually we were in an apartment with a shared bath and kitchen. But I’m glad you were spared the toxic place!

But here’s a question I should have asked you yesterday, since now you are past the place. I can’t remember the name of that little hamlet before Silleda, old church, right after (I think) that wooded scene you picture above. I thought I remembered that there was an albergue there, or about to be an albergue there, or something like that. Do you know what place I mean, and did you see any albergue or other accommodations?

Can’t believe you are almost in Santiago! Buen camino, Laurie
 

You must mean Trasfontao. No, I didn't see anything about albergues. There is a fancy hotel though!
 
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I can imagine it is hard to find accomodation during Semana santa! I would think that is the main reason for what you went through. I always walk the Invierno in July, and there has never been any problem (until this year). I walked in 2015 for the first time. This year I had to put more effort than usual into searching for places to stay... Anyway, you should try another month and I think it will be easier!
 
I found a paper that might offer more insight on the tympanum at San Miguel do Monte, but it is beyond my abilities to make sense of it. Fortunately the abstract is translated into English:



So ... At least some of the figures in the picture are the female companions of troubadours, who may have had some notoriety ... but perhaps that's a more modern spin on them.

As to what they're doing on the tympanum of a church ... Hmm ... The answer might be on page 124 of the same paper. Would be great if someone can work out what it says. It seems to relate to King David ... So perhaps the troubadours and their female companions are a representation of David's story. Certainly, if we're looking for a ribald biblical story with music and women, I think some of King David's scenes from the Book of Samuel would fit the bill.
 
Silleda - Ponte Ulla: Updates!

Well not so many updates. It is the same old way between Silleda and Ponte Ulla as always... Time flew by and I was in Ponte Ulla before noon.

Bandeira: Do NOT miss the café-pastelería Dulce Deza. The best cafetería in the northern hemisphere. This time they gave me a pastry that I never had tasted before. It was the best thing I ever had. Softer than croissant, cream inside but more buttery than in a napolitana, and a white powder on top... Ah! I wish I had taken a photo of it so I could ask you if you know what it is called! But it ended up in my stomach all too soon. That cafetería deserves a pilgrimage on its own! It now dawns upon me that Dulce Desa is also in Silleda, right next to Hostal Toxa (not Hostal Toxic). Next time in Silleda, I will investigate if they keep the same standard there.

San Miguel de Castro-Ponte Ulla: the café before the descent to Ponte Ulla was closed. Instead, there is a vending machine before you enter San Miguel. The café Ríos right after the bridge in Ponte Ulla is also temporarily closed, but the Taverna de Gundián would open at 6 in the evening.

Ponte Ulla: I stay at O Cruceiro de Ulla, as usual. 30 euros for a room, but they also have an albergue. And no albergue in Outeiro for me: I have stayed there once, but I don't know how to spend my time up there. I am in no hurry to reach Santiago in the morning, so I might as well do those extra 4 kms to Outeiro tomorrow.

Last entry coming up tomorrow!

 
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BP,
Super pic of vegetation taking over;
thanks for all your daily summaries.
 
Ponte Ulla - Santiago de Compostela: Updates!

No updates... What can I say? No other pilgrims en route, but of course there is a bunch of them here in Santiago. Unfortunately half of Plaza de Obradoiro is occupied by... construction workers (who would have thought). Don't know if they are preparing a slate quarry in front of the Cathedral, but they are doing something. Oh, I read about it in the newspaper but I don't even remember.

I am in the café Tertulia, awaiting the check-in at the holy shrine of Hostal Costa Azul: 32 euros. Then I will pay homage to Lavandería, visit the sanctuary of Heladería, and express penitence at San Pastelería. I say, Santiago is full of historical landmarks...!

Tomorrow train to Madrid!

Hopefully I'll be back next year!

Adiós!

 
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I had a hard decision — whether to use the or the for that post. Bravo, BP, your posts have been a real pick-me-upper. If I manage to make my way back to the Invierno in the fall, I will no doubt be back perusing this thread.

Thanks for sharing your camino with us — in these confinement days, hearing from a “real pilgrim” actually out there gives us all hope!

Buen camino, Laurie
 

Thanks, but there weren't so many updates, only my blabbing !!

About hope... Covid cases are on the rise, that is why I better get home as soon as possible. The Galician newspapers are full of it: "Alarming increase" and "Do we need new restrictions?" . But on the opposite page there are articles like: "Xunta wants 100.000 pilgrims this year", "The King visits Roncesvalles and promotes the Camino" and "We want as many pilgrims as possible"... How do those two messages go together? I don't know if the city wants me here or not !
 
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Thank you and safe home...
 
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The one from Galicia (the round) and the one from Castilla & Leon. Individually numbered and made by the same people that make the ones you see on your walk.
Bad Pilgrim said:
I am in the café Tertulia,
Click to expand...
Oyyyyy. Envy.
Enjoy all that, BP. Well-deserved.

Safe home!
(If you're hankering for a walk once you get back, join us over some napolitanas in Catalunya on the Cami St Jaume/Catalan. )
 
BP - Thanks for all the info. A friend & I are planning the Invierno for mid-October. We have each walked multiple Caminos & being senior pilgrims have occasionally had to lighten our load & send a bag forward. Have you noticed any flyers or postings for such service along the way. Just a little concerned considering the more limited services going on right now. thanks for any advice. Kathi
 
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Kathi,
That question just came up on another thread — take a look.



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Buen camino, Laurie
 
Thanks Laurie! I totally missed this conversation. I emailed him & he has already responded. This should work out perfectly. Kathi
 
I for one among many, looked forward to your blabbing! Thank you!
 
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Hi Khiker9,

Not any flyers, and I don't use those services myself, so I know nothing about it. But I wrote in 2018 or 2019 that there were many bags waiting to be sent forward in the morning in the hostales in Monforte de Lemos and Rodeiro. So there must be some kind of service! In 2018 I spoke to another pilgrim on the Invierno who had a foot problem and he said he had sent his bag forward.
 
Thanks for the updates/info, BP. I've included some of your notes in my planning for the Invierno this October, especiallty the two locations for Dulce Desa.
 
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B
BP, I know this is five or six weeks late, but I too swooned over the wonderful offering at Dulce Deza in Bandeira. In November 2014 they had the same offering you describe, but not the day I passed through in November 2019. It is a brioche dough filled with a diplomat cream. The secret of diplomat cream is that it's a proper custard cream folded through with whipped cream. I recall in the Dulce Deza confection, holes had been made in the top, so that the diplomat cream oozed through a little. Plus icing sugar dusted over the top.
You could make it yourself using a not too rich brioche recipe formed into two discs, a real pastry cream, with the whipped cream folded through. Your only danger would be in consuming the whole thing yourself. It's found in various manifestations in a number of European countries. For example, we made it at a German bakery that I worked in in Auckland, New Zealand. (Yup, I trained as a pastelera.)
 

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@Bernice M ~
Just...OMG.

I wish I could try convocting this, with good Anchor cream and butter, and a crowd of willing quality control testers.
Maybe agsin someday, maybe not.

And too right.
That's way too dangerous to be a solo endeavor.
And this is called?
 
I can't remember what we called it in the German bakery, nor what the bakery in Bandeira called it. My Cordon Bleu has a Gâteau Lorraine, but it uses chopped almonds on top and a Crème Chantilly in the middle. It splits the brioche disc in half. I'd do that too, but to my mind it's the diplomat cream that makes it s winner.
 
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Bernice M said:
Crème Chantilly in the middle. It splits the brioche disc in half. I'd do that too, but to my mind it's the diplomat cream that makes it s winner.
Click to expand...
There is no comparison. Crème Chantilly seems like a way to ruin perfectly good whipped cream...too sweet by far. And don't ruin the diplomat cream by adding gelatin.

Not that I ever needed a reason to walk the Invierno again, but definitely adding this place to the list.
 
Tropézienne looks similar, although Larousse Gastronomique says it uses a cream mousseline (pastry cream with extra whipped butter) enhanced with rum and icing sugar on top. Reminds me of a River Café chocolate mousse - you may as well slather it on your hips, because that's where it's going.
 
But I shall be going through there again on the Sanabres in November. And for the first time, I shall be staying in Bandeira.
 
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VNwalking said:
Oh, wonderful. Eat one of those for me, @Albertagirl .
The only upside of this kind of virtual pastry eating is that I'm safe from this:
Click to expand...
If they're as good as you say, I promise to eat one for each of us. Approaching Santiago may be the only time in my life, after my walk from Valencia, that I shall be able to manage two, without putting both of them on my stomach, as well as in.
 
*** FLASH FLASH BREAKING NEWS ***

Are these the pastries we discussed above?? See below. I got them as an extra in Bar Mar today, in Sobradelo. I think they tasted as the ones in Bandeira. I had to order two more! I asked Kind Tattooed Girl what they were called, unfortunately she had no idea!! (They come in a box to her in the morning):

 
Camino Way markers in Bronze
The one from Galicia (the round) and the one from Castilla & Leon. Individually numbered and made by the same people that make the ones you see on your walk.
Bad Pilgrim,
Control yourself, man! Does it taste good? If yes, it can join the other that you discovered in Bandeira in your dream world. You've got details enough above to reproduce it at home: a brioche-type dough, filling of Diplomat cream (real custard plus whipped cream folded in, no additional sugar and definitely no gelatine), icing sugar sprinkled on top, and only the best of friends to join you. Doesn't keep once assembled, so you definitely need the friends.

I'm saving recipes for when I do a stint at Canfranc Pueblo next year. This may be a starter.

Are you going to do a report on the Invierno, as with the Lana?
 
Camino Preparation Guide
Fail to prepare? reduce your risk by buying this book full of practical info.
2nd ed.

Thanks, but those instructions are like ancient greek to me! If I tried to bake them, lord knows what would come out of the oven...!

 
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