First Bar Syndrome

[chillax7]

maybe should be first "open" bar syndrome!

Hi all, I've been a long time lurker and finally signed up after walking St jean to Burgos the last 2 weeks of August with my wife. We're going back out to do the last part Leon to Santiago the last 2 weeks of September and now seriously regretting we didn't push harder to get these 2 middle weeks off work as well...

Anyway, does everyone else suffer from first bar syndrome? that is you walk for 7 to 12 km, go into a village and jump into the first open bar you see. We were usually desperate for a sit down with a coffee / coke / beer / food, and ended up a bit paranoid about whether there will be anywhere else. Especially as the opening times in Spain are hilariously random. Then as you walk out of the village you see other places that look really nice and quiet but by the time you get to the next place, that's all been forgotten and first open bar it is

Buen Camino

 

[Rich1]

Camino Rule No. 1 - never stop at the 1st bar.
Rule No. 1 can backfire if there is only 1 bar

 

[Bradypus]

Then as you walk out of the village you see other places that look really nice and quiet but by the time you get to the next place, that's all been forgotten and first open bar it is

Then I sit down at the nice quiet second bar and have a beer there too. Problem solved

 

[Wokabaut_Meri]

This is a well known hiking conundrum - the best place to stop on the trail is always where you stopped + 50 metres even if you walk 50/100/150 metres beyond that

 

[chillax7]

Then I sit down at the nice quiet second bar and have a beer there too. Problem solved

Ha, at one point someone did ask if we were doing an 800km pub crawl

 

[steve 217]

Good suggestions all of these, some of my best times have been spent in bars on the Camino whether it was drinking with a nasa rocket scientist in Pamplona , a Chilean musician in Santa Domingo a Marxist welder in Redondela all great times and memories ,which i would never have had but for the Camino.

 

[VNwalking]

It's not just bars. On the Invierno this year, I found a place to sit on an uncomfortable rock and ate breakfast, only to find not 50 meters down the camino and around the corner there was this:

 

[Jeff Crawley]

Not a bar but you know that section of the CF at Villafranca Montes de Oca where you come off the highway and climb up behind the church? There's a fabulous view across the open valley and I was sitting there one year, having breakfast in the sunshine when another pilgrim who I knew came by.
Gesturing across the vista with a fist full of bread I said "how do you like my breakfast spot?"
He laughed and said there was a better place just a little further on.
When I'd finished I followed in his footsteps and, sure enough, there's that little rest area with the benches, BBQ and fuente (though I think that's now non potable)
When we met up again I asked him how he knew there was a better place - "there's always a better spot just a little further on!"

 

[Derrybiketours]

after walking St jean to Burgos the last 2 weeks of August with my wife. We're going back out to do the last part Leon to Santiago the last 2 weeks of September and now seriously regretting we didn't push harder to get these 2 middle weeks off work as well...

Congratulations on your first part to Burgos and good luck for your second part from Leon. I take it you plan to miss out on a Meseta pub crawl from Burgos to Leon!

Anyway, does everyone else suffer from first bar syndrome?

'I stop when there is an occasion and sometimes when there is none', or maybe that should be drink. I drink when... Either way if I see a crowd of people outside a busy bar I tend to walk to the next bar, served quicker, stop longer and wish the same crowd of people Kinder Bueno in (slurred speech) I saw earlier when they walk by. If the first bar turns out to be last bar I carry a bottle of vino and two silicone wine glasses and create a bar wherever I stop

 

[chillax7]

Congratulations on your first part to Burgos and good luck for your second part from Leon. I take it you plan to miss out on a Meseta pub crawl from Burgos to Leon!

Cheers, yes we will be missing the Mesata, shame but there's always a next time... I'm keeping up the drinking for the 2 weeks at home in between, just to stay in top form you understand.

"create a bar wherever I stop" Now that's an excellent idea, we got caught out in a place called Villamayor del Rio where everything was shut, lunch consisted of cherry vodka shots from a hip flask and glucose tablets, live and learn and all that!

 

[Camino Chrissy]

I always stop at the first bar I see in the morning for my cafe con leche and tortilla....I'm not taking any chances of "no second bar". IF there is a second bar is when I have a fresh squeezed orange juice.
It's mostly on the Frances you'll find true bar hopping where you can almost "jump" from one to the other...no walking involved!

 

[RJM]

If possible I take a quick look down the road and see if there is more bars\cafes. Quite often there is and no waiting for a coffee and a place to sit.

 

[Paladina]

Yes, I’m a fellow sufferer from first (open) bar syndrome, especially before the sun has risen and when I urgently need to thaw out. Unfortunately for me, a lifelong vegetarian, the first open bars I encountered this summer were evidently truck stops. I’m quite happy to join the company of long-distance lorry drivers but less happy to sit beneath animal carcasses suspended from the ceiling.

 

[Bradypus]

I’m quite happy to join the company of long-distance lorry drivers but less happy to sit beneath animal carcasses suspended from the ceiling.

Many years ago BBC Radio broadcast a documentary series about a Brit travelling in the western states of the USA. The most memorable part was a conversation in a small-town diner when our narrator asked the waitress what she recommended for vegetarians. There was a long pause before her reply: "Well honey - I recommend you get out of Wyoming."

 

[John Sikora]

I think we may have a new test. You are walking too fast if you have to pass a bar that looks interesting

 

[Anniesantiago]

Unless I know from experience there is another bar up the road, I always stop at the first bar for my coffee. Then, like Chrissy, the next stop is for a fresh OJ and maybe some food.

 

[SterreO]

The camino warned me for this
The second bar might be better, however it might also be closed.. So I also 'suffer' from this syndrome!

 

[NorthernLight]

Sometimes, if you turn your head and look down side streets, there's a bar just a few steps off the camino, which is almost guaranteed to be empty, and is more likely to charge the old prices.

Sometimes that bar is actually the first bar, but since most walkers won't deviate from the marked path even a step, it's missed.

 

[cowanche]

We found a cute little spot today, just after Maneru .... and a man, with a dream to become a way-stop for pilgrims ... Ivan's 'Olive Tree Garden'! Fresh fruit, coffee, fruit juice, water ... and local wine. All available, for whatever you'd like to donate! He even offers a sello and your choice of casual seating under his grove of olive trees! It was an unexpected treat in the middle if a hot and dusty walk - who knew? (now you do!)

 

[Carlos Capacete]

maybe should be first "open" bar syndrome!

Hi all, I've been a long time lurker and finally signed up after walking St jean to Burgos the last 2 weeks of August with my wife. We're going back out to do the last part Leon to Santiago the last 2 weeks of September and now seriously regretting we didn't push harder to get these 2 middle weeks off work as well...

Anyway, does everyone else suffer from first bar syndrome? that is you walk for 7 to 12 km, go into a village and jump into the first open bar you see. We were usually desperate for a sit down with a coffee / coke / beer / food, and ended up a bit paranoid about whether there will be anywhere else. Especially as the opening times in Spain are hilariously random. Then as you walk out of the village you see other places that look really nice and quiet but by the time you get to the next place, that's all been forgotten and first open bar it is

Buen Camino

 

[Elle Bieling]

My motto is ALWAYS, never pass an opportunity when you see one!

 

[David Tallan]

View attachment 64389

The camino warned me for this
The second bar might be better, however it might also be closed.. So I also 'suffer' from this syndrome!

I took the same photo and was going to share it! Personally, I suspect that the sign was not impartial advice and was put up by the owner of the second bar. In this case, if I recall correctly, the second bar was empty and the first bar happened to be filled with friendly pilgrims, so we walked back to the first bar. Part of what makes a bar better or worse is who happens to be sitting there.

 

[Tincatinker]

Back in the day when the only bar in town was the only bar in town and opened when local customers desired it to be open I would never pass up any opportunity for a Con Leche, a Solo & chupita or a beer if the sun was up.

Nowadays when the choice every 500m is between Wheatgrass smoothies, Cupachinos (?) or Yoghurt milkshakes I tend to keep on walking

 

[Bradypus]

@Tincatinker I'm guessing that you had the "Four Yorkshiremen" sketch or "Capstick Comes Home" playing in the background as you wrote

 

[Davey Boyd]

Back in the day when the only bar in town was the only bar in town and opened when local customers desired it to be open I would never pass up any opportunity for a Con Leche, a Solo & chupita or a beer if the sun was up.

Nowadays when the choice every 500m is between Wheatgrass smoothies, Cupachinos (?) or Yoghurt milkshakes I tend to keep on walking

Was that before the nice queen built the bridge at Puenta La Reina?@Tincatinker

(Actually I wonder what the place was called before the bridge was built)?

Davey

 

[Bradypus]

(Actually I wonder what the place was called before the bridge was built)?

I don't know but I would guess that it might be "Gares" - its Basque name today. Pretty sure that would have been the local language way back then too.

 

[Derrybiketours]

My kind of bar in Toledo

 

[Bradypus]

My kind of bar in Toledo

Sadly those afflictions often seem to be tied to an inability to use mirrors properly...

 

[Tincatinker]

Swamp?

Gares translates as "station" or "place". Puenta La Reina obviously refers to the Bridge that wasn't there prior to the regal intervention. Well, there probably was some kind of river crossing just not that fancy bridge.

The naming of things, and places, probably carries little significance to many beyond fans of Ursula le Guin's Earthsea books and topographers. I have fond memories of "El Burgo", The Town, in an obscure corner of Malaga Province that until the late 80's was approached and exited on nothing more substantial than Mule Tracks, had a Fonda of the old school style - cama, cena, vino, pan and nothing much else at all apart from a lavenderia built by the Moors and a capilla that had been converted to a mosque and converted back again.

 

[Derrybiketours]

Sadly those afflictions often seem to be tied to an inability to use mirrors properly...

Not quite understanding, I'm assuming your referring to others driving or inability to mirror, signal, manovre

 

[Bradypus]

Not quite understanding, I'm assuming your referring to others driving or inability to mirror, signal, manovre

No. Just that those who have those unpleasant characteristics which the bar sign lists often seem to be unable to recognise the fact - or would deny it when challenged - and so would fail to see that the sign applied to them and enter anyway.

 

[TatiLie]

As I read this, I'm filled with anxiety of the First Bar Syndrome

 

[Derrybiketours]

No. Just that those who have those unpleasant characteristics which the bar sign lists often seem to be unable to recognise the fact - or would deny it when challenged - and so would fail to see that the sign applied to them and enter anyway.

tied to an inability to use mirrors properly...

Still don't see how the mirrors apply but maybe it's a reflection of my stupidity

 

[chillax7]

My motto is ALWAYS, never pass an opportunity when you see one!

I like Prince Philip's quote “never pass an open bathroom”

 

[The Kolbist]

What bar? I did not see one!

 

[camino07]

I guess I won't have that problem on the Camino Madrid.

 

[Derrybiketours]

https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=867580063625767

 

[henrythedog]

View attachment 64404

My kind of bar in Toledo

I’m fine with all that - but excluding assholes? Where exactly are you supposed to get a drink these days?

Via con dios.

 

[Davey Boyd]

https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=867580063625767

Says video not available to me?

 

[Derrybiketours]

Says video not available to me?

Maybe it's for the best, try this link...

https://twitter.com/x/status/1164444905575522304

 

[Davey Boyd]

Maybe it's for the best, try this link...

https://twitter.com/x/status/1164444905575522304

I think it my antiquated browser/computer. It is ok I found it on you tube!

I agree, don't blame them!

 

[lt56ny]

Back in the day when the only bar in town was the only bar in town and opened when local customers desired it to be open I would never pass up any opportunity for a Con Leche, a Solo & chupita or a beer if the sun was up.

Nowadays when the choice every 500m is between Wheatgrass smoothies, Cupachinos (?) or Yoghurt milkshakes I tend to keep on walking

On my first walk this was definitely the case. Since then unless I know it is a good size town I almost always will stop at the first bar I see. I hate getting burned and having to walk back.

 

[ngm]

It's not just bars. On the Invierno this year, I found a place to sit on an uncomfortable rock and ate breakfast, only to find not 50 meters down the camino and around the corner there was this:View attachment 64387

have made my breakfast here too..2014

 

[tjb1013]

1. Come upon first bar.
2. Look for a church spire.
3. If spire is not far, trudge ahead because there's usually a cafe in the shadow of the church. And if there isn't, you can trudge back.

I liked drinking a café con leche under the church spires. Truth told, didn't usually follow above advice. Just had another café con leche.

 

[henrythedog]

It used to be said that I had alcoholic constipation.

I couldn’t pass a bar.

I’m here all week - try the salmon.

 

[Thomas V]

maybe should be first "open" bar syndrome!

Hi all, I've been a long time lurker and finally signed up after walking St jean to Burgos the last 2 weeks of August with my wife. We're going back out to do the last part Leon to Santiago the last 2 weeks of September and now seriously regretting we didn't push harder to get these 2 middle weeks off work as well...

Anyway, does everyone else suffer from first bar syndrome? that is you walk for 7 to 12 km, go into a village and jump into the first open bar you see. We were usually desperate for a sit down with a coffee / coke / beer / food, and ended up a bit paranoid about whether there will be anywhere else. Especially as the opening times in Spain are hilariously random. Then as you walk out of the village you see other places that look really nice and quiet but by the time you get to the next place, that's all been forgotten and first open bar it is

Buen Camino

Yes, very much so. On the Norte right now and we were just talking about that yesterday

 

[PiryatJos]

Camino Rule No. 1 - never stop at the 1st bar.
Rule No. 1 can backfire if there is only 1 bar

I can't remember the town but I stopped in a town early on with three bars. I stopped in the second, as did the first pilgrim I met on the road who I spoke to in Hutto day 1 and another pilgrim I saw whom I thought was struggling but just wanted to get off the road to adjust his shoe. We all just happened to be in that bar day 2 and walked together all the way to Santiago.

 

[El Cascayal]

Maybe it's for the best, try this link...

https://twitter.com/x/status/1164444905575522304

Love this. Also reminds me of Phil Liggett & Bob Roll narrating La Vuelta a España.

 

[Glamgrrl]

View attachment 64389

The camino warned me for this
The second bar might be better, however it might also be closed.. So I also 'suffer' from this syndrome!

And the distance to said next bar “may” not be accurate....

 

[easygoing]

Very interesting points.
I never stop at the first bar, it's crowded and the poor bartender is usually overworked.
If there is no second bar I pee in the woods, leaving no trace of course.

 

[Priscilla NC]

I took the same photo and was going to share it! Personally, I suspect that the sign was not impartial advice and was put up by the owner of the second bar. In this case, if I recall correctly, the second bar was empty and the first bar happened to be filled with friendly pilgrims, so we walked back to the first bar. Part of what makes a bar better or worse is who happens to be sitting there.

I remember this well. I was suffering from sciatica and walked to the 2nd bar. The owners, seeing that I was hobbling along and in pain, took special care of me. I'll never forget...

 

[Baggiegaz]

I always stop at the first bar I see in the morning for my cafe con leche and tortilla....I'm not taking any chances of "no second bar". IF there is a second bar is when I have a fresh squeezed orange juice.
It's mostly on the Frances you'll find true bar hopping where you can almost "jump" from one to the other...no walking involved!

 

[Baggiegaz]

Higuys.happened to me today.currently walking portuguese got just before padron.walked 100 metres down to a bar for a drink and pee .only to discover when i sweated back up to rejoin trail wow there was a empty bar just crying out for attention.sad to say i passed by..great eh

 

[Tony Lenton]

As I read this, I'm filled with anxiety of the First Bar Syndrome

Always stop at the second bar then.

 

[debigetsout]

maybe should be first "open" bar syndrome!

Hi all, I've been a long time lurker and finally signed up after walking St jean to Burgos the last 2 weeks of August with my wife. We're going back out to do the last part Leon to Santiago the last 2 weeks of September and now seriously regretting we didn't push harder to get these 2 middle weeks off work as well...

Anyway, does everyone else suffer from first bar syndrome? that is you walk for 7 to 12 km, go into a village and jump into the first open bar you see. We were usually desperate for a sit down with a coffee / coke / beer / food, and ended up a bit paranoid about whether there will be anywhere else. Especially as the opening times in Spain are hilariously random. Then as you walk out of the village you see other places that look really nice and quiet but by the time you get to the next place, that's all been forgotten and first open bar it is

Buen Camino

Walking the CF in 2007, another pilgrim and I always agreed to meet in the first bar in the next village. More than 12 years later, we still say ‘first bar, next village’ when we have to part.

 

[Just 2K]

Is the real problem that no one will turn around and walk BACK 50 or 100 meters?
"I have to stop at this bar, because if I walk another 50m and there isn't another one, I'm sure as hell not going to turn around and walk back, erasing the progress I've made!"

 

[ExiledSW]

I always stop at the first bar I see in the morning for my cafe con leche and tortilla....I'm not taking any chances of "no second bar". IF there is a second bar is when I have a fresh squeezed orange juice.
It's mostly on the Frances you'll find true bar hopping where you can almost "jump" from one to the other...no walking involved!

Agreed, gotta get the 1st coffee. Most places don't open until 0800 or later. After Sarria there are a lot of cafés open at 0600 tho. So keep watch when you got that 100km mark. KT and I are 2 days out from Santiago

 

[SeattleJen]

First bar, second bar, bar down a side street, bar right in front of you — my Camino rule of thumb became “never pass a banos/servicios, no matter what.” Yes, I paid a lot of “potty taxes” on the trail (vino, agua, or beer), but I also never once had to find a secluded tree, either. Because of this rule, I hit a lot of first bars.

 

[Tony Lenton]

First bar, second bar, bar down a side street, bar right in front of you — my Camino rule of thumb became “never pass a banos/servicios, no matter what.” Yes, I paid a lot of “potty taxes” on the trail (vino, agua, or beer), but I also never once had to find a secluded tree, either. Because of this rule, I hit a lot of first bars.

Well said Jen. The truth is that the “First Bar” actually exists. The 2nd bar onwards may or may not do. Hunger/Thirst will usually guide you but always bear in mind that when passing the “ First Bar” it may also be the only bar. Most of us survive regardless.

 

[ObeeOne]

View attachment 64404

My kind of bar in Toledo

How boring.

 

[Kanga]

This was a hard choice:

 

[Derrybiketours]

How boring..

I tend to think that its not where you end up having a beer its the people you end up sharing a beer with. You must be fun at parties

 

[Jen&Mike]

I took the same photo and was going to share it! Personally, I suspect that the sign was not impartial advice and was put up by the owner of the second bar. In this case, if I recall correctly, the second bar was empty and the first bar happened to be filled with friendly pilgrims, so we walked back to the first bar. Part of what makes a bar better or worse is who happens to be sitting there.

David, sorry to say, I think you missed out. My wife and I walked the CF earlier this year and saw the same sign. The second bar was empty when we walked in but it quickly filled up with friends after we stopped there. It was one of the most amazing bars of the Camino, in my humble opinion. I even wrote a blog post about the experience: https://newadventuresofjenandmike.home.blog/2019/05/20/truth-in-advertising-a-camino-story-vol-3/

 

[Jen&Mike]

maybe should be first "open" bar syndrome!

Hi all, I've been a long time lurker and finally signed up after walking St jean to Burgos the last 2 weeks of August with my wife. We're going back out to do the last part Leon to Santiago the last 2 weeks of September and now seriously regretting we didn't push harder to get these 2 middle weeks off work as well...

Anyway, does everyone else suffer from first bar syndrome? that is you walk for 7 to 12 km, go into a village and jump into the first open bar you see. We were usually desperate for a sit down with a coffee / coke / beer / food, and ended up a bit paranoid about whether there will be anywhere else. Especially as the opening times in Spain are hilariously random. Then as you walk out of the village you see other places that look really nice and quiet but by the time you get to the next place, that's all been forgotten and first open bar it is

Buen Camino

Our friend Ulli shared this one with us during our Camino earlier this year: "Want to hear the shortest joke on the Camino," he asked. "Sure," we said. Ulli smiles and says, "A Pilgrim walks by a bar."

 

[Rebekah Scott]

View attachment 64390View attachment 64390

between Moratinos and San Nicolas del Real Camino, an ad for Albergue Laganares, the Second Bar in San Nicolas. The quote really has nothing to do with Socrates, but it feels intellectual, and Laganares serves vegetarian food and kinda caters to the educated set, so wth.

 

[Kat Kostrzewska]

It is nothing to be proud of but I know probably ALL bars/patisseries/good food shops on the Camino Frances... No comment.

My most memorable bar experience was cycling Napoleon route. I was exhausted, dead woman cycling. Suddenly I saw a van, probably seasonal, standing by the road serving drinks/snacks and giving the last French stamp. For an exhausted coffee lover like me, it was like reaching an oasis in a desert. I will never ever forget that moment.

 

[Bradypus]

Gares translates as "station" or "place".

Just been re-reading Walter Starkie's 1950s account of a journey to Santiago. He stops off for several days in Puente la Reina. According to his local friends the Basque name 'Gares' means 'wheat'. I think that it may simply be coincidence that the same combination of letters means "stations" in French - a 'false friend'.

 

[VNwalking]

The naming of things, and places, probably carries little significance to many beyond fans of Ursula le Guin's Earthsea books and topographers.

And me.
Place names and where they come from are endlessly fascinating, especially in places with many layers of history. The Making of the English Landscape was a delicious read in that respect. Someone could tell a similar story in Spain - and maybe already has, in Spanish.
And in some places, where rivers and mountains and land are not inanimate 'things,' names still carry spiritual weight

 

[David Tallan]

It is nothing to be proud of but I know probably ALL bars/patisseries/good food shops on the Camino Frances... No comment.

My most memorable bar experience was cycling Napoleon route. I was exhausted, dead woman cycling. Suddenly I saw a van, probably seasonal, standing by the road serving drinks/snacks and giving the last French stamp. For an exhausted coffee lover like me, it was like reaching an oasis in a desert. I will never ever forget that moment.

My similar experience was the unattended donativo table just before Leon with the bins of ice and cold drinks in July.

 

[NorthernLight]

My similar experience was the unattended donativo table just before Leon with the bins of ice and cold drinks in July.

I always wonder who the kind donor of this offering is.

 

[Tincatinker]

And me.
Place names and where they come from are endlessly fascinating, especially in places with many layers of history. The Making of the English Landscape was a delicious read in that respect. Someone could tell a similar story in Spain - and maybe already has, in Spanish.
And in some places, where rivers and mountains and land are not inanimate 'things,' names still carry spiritual weight

Ah. Nick Crane, lovely feller, and The Making of the English Landscape sits on my bedside table, again, this week. You might enjoy Henry Reed's Naming of Parts though for entirely different reasons.

The gradual evolution of place names as language evolved is fascinating though it does throw up some wahs: River Avon (afon) or River River is a nice case in point. But this is all a long way from the OP.

And, coincidentally whether I am walking into town from home or home from town the first bar In either direction is this one

 

[VNwalking]

You might enjoy Henry Reed's Naming of Parts

Oh, my. Yes indeed. Thank you!
They're not completely different; all about human naming and convention - and the not occasional brutality of that - as opposed to the flow of nature, which simply is, and goes on.

The first bar is never brutal.
Neither is the second. I do tend to give business to the latter, as a kindness. And often they are better.

 

[NorthernLight]

Oh, my. Yes indeed. Thank you!
They're not completely different; all about human naming and convention - and the not occasional brutality of that - as opposed to the flow of nature, which simply is, and goes on.

Noting of course, that nature is more than occasionally brutal as well.

 

[Deleted member 3000]

you walk for 7 to 12 km, go into a village and jump into the first open bar you see.

Carpe diem. Walk on at your peril.

I cannot describe the self-loathing one can feel at heading to the second bar only to discover there is not one.

I am too conservative to take the chance; one solution is to stop at every bar...