I need a laugh.

[VNwalking]

Do you have a funny, embarrassing, or heartwarming Camino story to share?
@gerardcarey? Anyone?

 

[Rick of Rick and Peg]

Do you have a funny, embarrassing, or heartwarming Camino story to share?

So, I read the above to Peg and she said "Tell them about the pants." So I've got permission.

It's a simple quick story. By the time we made it from SJPdP to Filloval in Galicia Peg had probably lost about 20 pounds (9 kg.) She is in the albergue in the morning not doing anything except standing ... and, you guessed it ... her shorts dropped down to her ankles.

 

[VNwalking]

Hee hee...
It's beginning to work already. Thanks, Rick!

 

[SYates]

When learning Spanish and being a hospitalera I often confused mantequilla (butter) and manzanilla (chamomile, but also a short name for sherry). Hopeful pilgrims thought I offer them a sherry as a welcome - more confused pilgrims thought I am offering them 'butter tea'. SY

 

[VNwalking]

Butter tea, anyone?

 

[KinkyOne]

I posted this story long time ago but can't remember in which thread so I'll repeat it.
In 2009 on my first Camino attempt we went together with my mom. Because I badly twisted my ankle two week prior to departure I was walking in great pain and usually taking tarmac roads instead of official Camino what my mom did. Therefore she arrived in Zubiri before me. We decided to meet in the bar on the main road through Zubiri and that's where I found her demanding "dos bombeiros" from the waiter.

I'll explain. She was hungry and wanted two burgers. We sometimes call the bread for burgers "bombeta" and she saw this large sign Bombeiros on the wall behind the counter. And know nothing to say in Spanish except uno, dos, tres she was desperately trying to convince the waiter that she really want to have two firemen. I immediately knew what was going on and enjoyed the embarassing revelation

We are still laughing about that one.

 

[Burchy]

A woman talking in her sleep in one of the albergues was very funny one night.
Giving cheery "buen caminos" every so often.

 

[Giselleontour]

During our fist camino this year we saw some oft the pilgrims walking back. Poor pilgrims!

My husband asked one of those poor back walking pilgrims, if he would like to use our phone to call in the albergue that one of the pilgrims there bring with him what ever the pilgrim we met forgot.
He looked at us with big eyes laughed and said: I forgot nothing, I am on the way to Rome and later on to Jerusalem. Now our eys got big and bigger. ;-)

I hope you can laugh Viranani my shoe-and-more-sister

 

[Mark Lee]

Four of us walking together decided to make a meal together in the albergue that evening. Typical peregrino self made meal fare. Salad. Pasta with sauce. Wine and bread. The sauce for the pasta we made with standard tomato sauce and a small amount of finely chopped chorizo. We made way too much for just the four of us, so we invited a lone pilgrim we had been seeing often to share the dinner with us. About halfway through the meal whilst we were chatting away, she informed us that she was a vegetarian. I'll never forget the four of us all stopping, mid-fork up towards our mouth's when she said that, and looking at each other with that "yikes" look in our eyes.

 

[VNwalking]

Thank you all for your oops moments...at least I'm smiling now...and please keep 'em coming!
(This lady saying 'Buen Camino" in her sleep~it gets me in the heart somehow. How good is that!? Even asleep she can wish others well....)

 

[Smallest_Sparrow]

I may have told this already elsewhere, but before one of the Pilgrim Masses I attended in SdC there were two young women (by accent either from the US or Canada). At one point I explained to them why one of the priests was yelling at them (they were taking pictures of people in the confessionals). So realizing I spoke English, they turned to ask me to settle a debate they had been having, about who was buried at the cathedral. I explained St. James, and one turned to the other and said "see, I told you it wasn't Jesus in that silver coffin"

 

[VNwalking]

What people can think is sometimes stunningly misinformed.
(Not me. I never say dumb things....)

 

[SYates]

One day I saw a bottle of 'vino de mesa' in the albergue fridge and thought 'what a generous priest sharing the mess wine with the pilgrims'.

mesa=table, misa=mass

Yes, it was before I learned proper Spanish ... SY

 

[judydaisy]

Do you have a funny, embarrassing, or heartwarming Camino story to share?
@gerardcarey? Anyone?

Not a camino related story as such but I suppose it could have happened up in the Pyrenees
It took place in the Sierra Nevada. A group of young women went up on a ski lift and were going to ski down. One of them was dying to spend a penny (coloquial English!) but there were no loos up there or they were closed so... her friends formed a tight circle around her facing outwards naturally. Remember she was on skis. Having done the deed, she lent slightly too far forward and off she went with trousers etc around her ankles. Imagine the horror of her friends! Imagine the faces of the other people on the ski slope and imagine the ice burn she developed!!! Sometime later when in the emergency dept of a hospital while waiting to be seen for the above mentioned burn she got talking to a young man nursing what transpired to be a broken arm. 'What happened to you', she asked before he could ask her. 'You can't imagine, I was ski-ing down from the Sierra Nevada when all of a sudden I saw a young women with her trousers around her ankles. I was so distracted and surprised that I didn't see the large rock in front of me...'
Is it an apocryphal story? I met the young lady concerned and saw part of the scar from the burn. Walkers take care up in those mountains this winter. Buen camino

 

[SabsP]

When I was learning Spanish , first months, we went to Mexico on holidays. Partner had serious case of gastro-enteritis and tummy aches. I thought that I asked for papel higinieco ( toilet paper ) while rubbing my tummy for better expression but I was actually asking ' una toalla por favor ' aka a towel. The receptionist probably still thinks that we are Nean
derthals!!

EDIT indeed not Camino related but I could "have put my foot in my mouth" on a Camino too...

 

[Mark Lee]

Another time stayed at albergue (private) that basically locked you in for the night (until 6:00 am I think). Since it was warm and sunny and I was walking a bit farther that day I decided to start earlier, and so did a few other pilgrims there as well. Saw the locked doors at the end of the hallway leading out of the sleeping quarters and thought, well heck what we gonna do now. I saw that there was a bit of a gap between the two doors, and with the right tool could depress the latch mechanism and get out as there was no deadlock. I borrowed a Swiss Army knife from one of the other pilgrims and about a minute later, voila....freedom (it wasn't that secure actually) and out we went as it allowed us to go outside via the backyard of sorts.
I left the door open in case any other pilgrims wanted to leave earlier as well.
I've always wondered what the hospitalero thought when he/she arrived that morning...ha ha.

 

[poogeyejr]

The Camino Grapevine - Very Active!

I walked the Camino behind a person who unfortunately was carrying, and spreading, bed bugs. In their bite Bedbugs are a fairly harmless insect . . . they spread no disease and the bites often don't appear for 3 to 5 days. . . . Unless, you have been bitten by mosquitoes, scratched by poison oak/ivy in the woods and are very allergic to nature. Well, then you break out in an extensive rash! A rash so extensive that when I went to the hospital 3 days later for an allergy shot to alleviate the itching the lovely nurse who was helping me, asked if she could have a few people in to the room (12) to see my arms, hands and back as it was the worst bed bug reaction they had every seen!

We only found a half dozen bedbugs on the bed and none in our stuff, but boy did these bedbugs go to town on me!

After the allergy shot we were ahead of our Camino family, we had jumped ahead a hundred km to a big city to cook all our stuff, as we had to sterilize all our clothes and gear to make sure we did not spread the bedbugs down the Camino. A few days after the quick shot and exhibition at the hospital, one member of our Camino family caught up to us on the trail - he was very happy to see us out and walking as he had heard, through the grapevine, of the Canadian pilgrim who had ended up in the hospital for days because of bedbug bites!! A few weeks later I left the Camino to head back to work in Canada, my friends remained and were waiting to hear about the Canadian who was sent back to Canada because of those pesky bedbugs!

Camino Grapevine - very active, but not very accurate!

 

[SYates]

One Laura, hospitalera in Mansillas de las Mulas, loves to tell:

Female French pilgrim rushes into reception.
Pleading for 'tampon, por favor'.

Laura shrugs, things the pilgrim is a bit past 'that age' but still goes to her first aid supplies and hands a tampon to the pilgrim.

Pilgrim is dismayed - tampon in French means sello=stamp ....

SY

 

[Magwood]

A post to my blog a few months ago...

the riddle of the big knickers
Posted on 25/02/2016by magwood
I did a bit of camino shopping whilst I was in he UK. I bought some waterproof fabric to make a rain skirt (now made), and another length to have a go at remaking my ‘super-duper backpack cover/shoulder cape’. A pair of arm warmers. New hiking socks. A charity shop skirt for evening wear. A few gizmos.

And two pairs of new merino wool pants (knickers) – large and grey.

Large because that is the size of my bum and, being woollen, they are not very stretchy. So a size large looks huge.

I am very pleased with them, they are very comfy and stay in place.

They won’t look very pretty hanging on the washing line in the albergue – but, hey, I have earned my big knickers. I could even sew a camino patch on them.

As soon as arrived back in Spain I unpacked my case and actually put everything away, either in the washing basket or on the appropriate shelf in the closet (I have to admit that this doesn’t always happen quite so efficiently). But a couple of days later when I looked for said big comfy knickers they were definitely not in their allotted space. I looked in all sorts of other spaces where I knew they wouldn’t be. I looked in the washing basket where I knew they wouldn’t be because I had already done all the washing. I looked in my pile of camino clothes where I was pretty sure they wouldn’t be. And when I couldn’t find them I looked in the same places all over again, and then once more.

Now, merino wool pants are not inexpensive items and I was not prepared to give up on my search without a fight. So I started to look in places where I absolutely knew they definitely would not be, like in David’s underwear drawer. And lo and behold, there was a pair of my hiking pants nestling between his boxers. But only one pair – If I had found two pairs I would have been happier, but just one pair led me to believe the worst.

I marched to the living room where David was innocently attending to some domestic chore. He was quite taken aback when I demanded to know what underpants he was wearing. I don’t know if he thought his luck was in, but he was fairly quick in complying with my insistence that he reveal his underwear – or I should say, my underwear.

When he realised he was wearing my pants he thought it was hysterical – I was slightly less amused and issued an order for them to be removed forthwith.

And no – his luck wasn’t in.

And yes, he will get his comeuppance when it is known around the village that he has been wearing my pants!

 

[Sheffield James]

Last month, a group of us walked the 3-day Peak Pilgrimage in Derbyshire, UK. On the first morning we stopped in a pretty, little village for a coffee. There were lots of other people walking in the area, but we were the only ones with rucksacks displaying camino-related insignia.

Later that day, Ned Spencer -our esteemed leader- told me that a day-tripper in the queue for coffee had pointed to his concha shell and asked him in all seriousness why he had fixed an ash-tray to his backpack. You couldn't make it up!!

 

[Introibo]

In Fromista I slept on a bottom bunk. To my left was a pilgrim who was walking at roughly
the same pace as myself. In the morning the bottom bunk was empty but standing at the foot
of the bunk were a pair of flat shoes. As I left I picked them up thinking I'd see their owner
later that day and hand them over. I set off down the way with my little group. Twenty minutes
in, I asked one of them to remind me to give the shoes back to their owner. There was a sudden
group silence. Had I not noticed the girl in the top bunk ? The poor German girl who'd gone to
bed early with a heavy cold and was going home that day? The girl whose shoes I was holding?
I trotted back and yes there was someone asleep in the top bunk. Shoes replaced, no harm done.

Who was it who was in that bottom bunk and nearly got a free pair of shoes ..........Viranani

 

[Sheffield James]

I may have told this story before; apologies if I have.

On my first camino, I walked the third day (to Estella?) without bothering to apply any sunscreen. I have a fair complexion + unbeknowns to me over the course of the day my face began to resemble that of a beetroot.

I went to the Pilgrims' mass that evening, at which the priest asked us all to stay behind for a blessing.

Everyone was asked to form groups according to our native languages, then each person in the group went up in turn to receive a blessing, prayer card and a also personal message whispered in their ear. (fyi, the priest was a polyglot)

The English-speaking group went last, and I happened to be the last one of them to step forward. For a moment, I thought I'd been short-changed; I had had my blessing and been given my prayer card, yet the priest appeared to have forgotten to give me any words of encouragement or spiritual advice. I withdrew disappointed, only to be quickly beckoned forward again by the clergyman.

There, in front of the entire assembly, he delivered - in a stage whisper I'm convinced everyone could hear - his sagely advice to me.

What was it?

--- "Put ona da crema !! "

 

[HedaP]

Sticking with the underpants theme. I walked last autumn with a silver lined umbrella that I used to create my own personal, portable shade. Do you know an umbrella can reduce the temperature by 10 degrees? One hot sunny afternoon, a small group of young, fit, good looking, noisy, male pilgrims (you know the type) overtook me, laughing and making comments about expecting rain and using an umbrella. It left me feeling a bit embarrassed about my lovely umbrella until soon after I was overtaken once again, this time by a slightly older pilgrim who had his own unique way of dealing with the heat. He was jauntily wearing a pair of white y-front underpants on his head. Even better, I was pleased to catch up with the group of young men having a rest a little further along the way, knowing that they would have seen the pilgrim wearing underpants on his head. There were no further comments about my umbrella!

 

[Rick of Rick and Peg]

I did get a kick from the shop in Astorga labeled Perfumería that also had bags of cow manure fertilizer for sale too.

 

[Icacos]

Overheard in albergue when two peregrinos were preparing their beds:

English-speaking peregrino says, "I'm going to put a sheet on my bed first." Sound of alarm and look of horror on face of English-not-as-first-language peregrino. Response from English-speaking peregrino, "What!? That's a word."

 

[Mark Lee]

I may have told this already elsewhere, but before one of the Pilgrim Masses I attended in SdC there were two young women (by accent either from the US or Canada). At one point I explained to them why one of the priests was yelling at them (they were taking pictures of people in the confessionals). So realizing I spoke English, they turned to ask me to settle a debate they had been having, about who was buried at the cathedral. I explained St. James, and one turned to the other and said "see, I told you it wasn't Jesus in that silver coffin"

okaaaay....

 

[gerardcarey]

It's a while ago now....but
https://www.caminodesantiago.me/community/threads/so-what-was-your-most-embarrassing-moment.27000/
Regards
Gerard

 

[VNwalking]

Thank you one and all. Delicious!
I really did chuckle out loud...

I've always wondered what the hospitalero thought when he/she arrived that morning...ha ha.

Probably some version of , 'D*#n peregrinos, I'm sick of them trying to break the door."

I was about to tell my own locked out story...I left the private albergue early, by the front gate...which locked behind me. After meeting a friend, I realized I'd left my poles behind, and so went back thinking to break in, but the wall was like a fortress. I rang the bell. Of course no answer. So I called the number and woke up the owner, who was already the night before a little bit grumpy. And at 7AM he was really not best pleased to get up an open the gate. But he did.

Too bad. I should have waited a little while longer outside for @Introibo to come out with the German peregrina's shoes.

(Introibo that was you!?! Hahahahahaaaa! The joke's on me, well and truly. But I'm very happy not to have one extra pair of flip flops to carry around.)

 

[Kiwi-family]

More undies.....we are on the Via de la Plata, in the municipal albergue at Casar de Caceres and because there were eight of us we were given the usually-locked large room (none of that is relevant to the story - just setting the scene for anyone who has actually been there!) "We" are four kids and me - and hubby/daddy has joined us for a couple of weeks along with a brother-in-law/uncle to the kids and hubby's 84 year old dad/Grandpa to the kids. We had done our washing earlier in the day and not hung it anywhere visible as per the notices on the wall. We had gone out and tried to sketch the bus station, visited the cheese museum, sampled the ooey gooey cheese, sat in a bar for far too long using the wifi, taken a stroll down by the river, played cards in the plaza....and now we were packing up to be ready for the morning. Uncle asks if anyone has seen his underwear. Noone has. We all ferret around, looking, looking. (Almost deaf) Grandpa wonders aloud, "Are you looking for something?"
"Uncle's undies"
"What? The ones on the end of my bunk?"
"Were they blue?"
"Yeah"
"I'm wearing them"
"You're what?"
"I'm wearing them. They were dry so I put them on"
Laughter erupts. Even uncle manages to laugh.
A couple of days later one of the kids kindly brings in the washing off an outside line and leaves each person's pile on their bunk. I go to put mine away.
"Did you see my bra?" I innocently enquire.
"Ask Grandpa!" someone returns quickly!
I think we laughed harder that time....and had to compose ourselves in order to relay to Grandpa the conversation he had not been able to hear.

 

[VNwalking]

@Kiwi-family...
!

 

[Johien]

Viranani, I don't know why you need a laugh but I am sitting in my office in Pretoria, South Africa and when feeling very sorry for myself, I sometimes read the stories on this forum. I am so glad I did it today because I laughed myself into a better mood. When walking the Camino I met a women with a bladder problem and she was carrying a female urinal with her and she misplaced it and one day we ( four or five women) decide to make her a new urinal out of an empty plastic coke bottle and duck tape and with every attempt she went to the toilet to fit it and we had lots of laughter listening to her complaints about this home made urinal and then an older man approach us and asked why are we laughing like this and this brought on another wave of laughter but we did not inform him and said it is a woman's issue. But the laughter made the day better.

 

[VNwalking]

One wonders what happened when someone found that female urinal, @Johien . I hope they didn't use it as a funnel for filling their water bottle.

 

[SYates]

Ok, most embarrassing one ever:

I am a smoker. So I carry a lighter in my pocket.
I am a woman and if it is that time of the month I care a tampon in my other trouser pocket.
Fellow pilgrim-smoker (male!) asks me for fire.
Guess what I handed over. Correct!

Next one:

I layer my clothing. I am sitting in a bar and it is too warm. I take my fleece off. Just as my fleece is over my head I remember that I took the opportunity to put close to EVERYTHING into the washing machine and that I wasn't wearing any layers at all under it ...
The mostly raised fleece hid my blushing face beautifully, but I couldn't hide for ever in that position ...

SY

 

[David]

Not really funny but I thought it pleasant at least. Some years ago whilst I was doing first aid I met a Dutch pilgrim with his friends. It was hot and bright sunny. He was bald and did not have a hat - his dome was bright bright red. So I insisted he take my hat and also gave him my address, and he promised to post it back to me. Well, it never came back and I gave up on it - until -

Almost a year later I was packing to return to Camino and the postman delivered a package from Holland. Inside it was my (laundered) hat but also a series of photographs of my hat doing the pilgrimage, taken at iconic Camino locations, finishing up at the Cathedral, no people in the photos, just the hat! which I thought was brilliant (the kind soul also put in 20 Euros to help with first aid supplies).

 

[VNwalking]

Actually those photos are funny, and very sweet, @David...he took his ego out of the picture and let the generosity of the loan of the hat shine! And he was thinking of you all the way along the journey--with gratitude. Wonderful.

 

[Dennis D]

I met a French couple in Fromista that had started their Camino in Bordeaux. It seemed that we kept meeting on the trail and after a few days we started walking together. One day, we stopped at El Ganso to have coffee in the cafe next to the Cowboy bar. It was a beautiful day and a lot of pilgrims were sitting outside enjoying the day. When we were getting ready to leave, my friend's wife went to use the facilities. He jumped up and found a large rock and put it in her back pack. Many of the other pilgrims near us noticed what he did. After she returned, it seemed that there was an audience waiting to see her reaction. We got up and started to put on our packs and when she tried to lift hers, she mad a face and simply said, "No." The audience enjoyed the moment and we laughed about it for the rest of the day.

This was three years ago and we are now the best of friends. This friendship was an unexpected gift from this amazing experience called the Camino.

 

[VNwalking]

This is great..the stories keep coming!
There seem to be 2 main themes...language mishaps, and undergarments.
Surely there are many other things to laugh about?
The practical joke with the rock is different. I'd have been a sucker aand can easily imagine:
"Huhh?? I must be tired today, suddenly my pack feels like it weighs a ton...."

 

[Kiwi-family]

When this thread dries up you could either read it again or search "blisters"

 

[Silverton]

I don't know if you'll be able to zoom the attached photo sufficiently to enjoy it--but the English translation on this sign of rules and regulations at the Albergue Turístico in Atapuerca highly amused me when I stayed there in 2006. The dangers of Google-translation? Can anyone tell me if the sign is still there, or was it corrected long ago by someone more helpful than I?? Any language superiority of mine was contradicted by my total inability to figure how to use the albergue's lovely new digital-controls induction stove!
Thanks so much, Viranani and others, for the much needed light relief!

 

[Smallest_Sparrow]

This is great..the stories keep coming!
There seem to be 2 main themes...language mishaps, and undergarments.
Surely there are many other things to laugh about?
The practical joke with the rock is different. I'd have been a sucker aand can easily imagine:
"Huhh?? I must be tired today, suddenly my pack feels like it weighs a ton...."

I was a grad student at George Washington University, and the Veterans Office had arranged a hike around DC to many of the monuments for Veterans Day for vets and anyone else who wanted to join us (so it was just us). It was suggested we (the vets) carry 30-40 pound packs, and donate the food to the local shelter at the end of the march. We were resting on the road leading to Arlington Cemetery, and one guy went to use the restroom inside the Cemetery visitor's center. Each of his three friends pulled a can out of their packs and put it in his. They said they'd been doing it all day.

 

[Bala]

I don't know if you'll be able to zoom the attached photo sufficiently to enjoy it--but the English translation on this sign of rules and regulations at the Albergue Turístico in Atapuerca highly amused me when I stayed there in 2006. The dangers of Google-translation? Can anyone tell me if the sign is still there, or was it corrected long ago by someone more helpful than I?? Any language superiority of mine was contradicted by my total inability to figure how to use the albergue's lovely new digital-controls induction stove!
Thanks so much, Viranani and others, for the much needed light relief!

This is probably about how my Spanish sounds!

Seriously, I love translations like these. There's so much charm and character, how can you not smile? Many decades ago, before there was even Internet, much less Google translate, my husband and I had a good laugh in a Mexico City hotel where, among other things, it was "forbidden to introduce musicians in the room." So sincere. But can't you just imagine this whispered scene, "Psst, hey Joe, this is Hernando, he plays the saxophone..."

 

[Icacos]

After staying in a few albergues with bed and pillow coverings of somewhat dubious cleanliness, this sign in an albergue tickled my funny bone: "Please do not put backpacks on the beds - the sheets become clean every day."

 

[Rick of Rick and Peg]

Edit: I'm sorry, I forgot about the non-native English speakers - FerBal hair stylists, fur balls are what the cat spits up.

 

[Smallest_Sparrow]

View attachment 30290 View attachment 30291 View attachment 30292
Edit: I'm sorry, I forgot about the non-native English speakers - FerBal hair stylists, fur balls are what the cat spits up.

my boys want me to tell you "we get it, we're just not laughing"


but I am

 

[Anemone del Camino]

Also thanking Google Translate: tourist info sign explaining the history of the Irache Monastery and giving instructions as to the optionsfor the lath ahead.

But first you have to know that "coger" means "to take" but is also rude slang for copulation.

So this sign that talks about the virtues of a monastery ends recommending to F*... to the right to take option A and to F*... straight ahead for option B.

I have always had this picture of a monk in his cassok Googling to make this sign .... I always meant to write to the Monastery and suggest a correction but never have.

 

[VNwalking]

Anemone...oh, my...there'll be some mortified monks when they find out what they said. Please, do the kind thing and put those guys out of their misery.

@Smallest_Sparrow, those two look way too serious in spite of the white twinkle toes...
All good wishes to you and all vets of all nationalities here on this remembrance day. Thank you for your service, and may we (by remembering past horror and sacrifice) find a way on this small blue planet to get along with each other.

 

[Anemone del Camino]

Viranani,

A friend of mine has a son who started a 3 year retreat to become a Lama. Apparently he must remain in a "box" of some sort for the three years, meditating, and sleeping. 48 hours a go I emailed my friend and told him I was thinking that joining his son in one of those "boxes" for the next four years was sounding like a very good idea to me! So I thank you for starting this thread to liven my mood as well as yours.

 

[VNwalking]

In the Tibetan tradition they do this for long retreats (well, the box is where people meditate and rest...they do get to go out!).
In SE Asia, we are much more engaged.
No running, no hiding--from anything. Alas. It can be harder.
So. Lightness is essential.

 

[trecile]

I don't know if you'll be able to zoom the attached photo sufficiently to enjoy it--but the English translation on this sign of rules and regulations at the Albergue Turístico in Atapuerca highly amused me when I stayed there in 2006. The dangers of Google-translation? Can anyone tell me if the sign is still there, or was it corrected long ago by someone more helpful than I?? Any language superiority of mine was contradicted by my total inability to figure how to use the albergue's lovely new digital-controls induction stove!
Thanks so much, Viranani and others, for the much needed light relief!

I could never stay there, because I definitely always need to put nails in the wall wherever I spend the night.

Now I know how my translations into Spanish look to native Spanish speakers.

 

[trecile]

I have another language misunderstanding story.
One night I had dinner with a guy from Germany, a guy from Canada, a guy from the UK and a young Polish woman.
The Canadian was telling us about his family. Both of his daughters are married, and he told us that one was married to "an ozzie". (now, it's important to say that aloud, and blend the words together thusly: "a nozzie"). The Canadian said, "yeah, I really like him, he's a great guy". At that the German guy's the the Polish woman's eyes grew wide with alarm.
Finally the German guy says "you know, nazis are not nice people." After some confused looks around the table we native English speakers who understood what the other two had heard started laughing. We then had to explain that he was referring to an Australian.

 

[VNwalking]

the English translation on this sign of rules and regulations at the Albergue Turístico in Atapuerca highly amused me when I stayed there in 2006.

'The traveling ones," wandering around lost and bewildered, unable to put nails in the walls.
Yeah, Trecile, I can only imagine what my broken Spanish sounds like. But every day here someone laughs out loud at something I say. It's a permanent case of foot-in-mouth disease, I'm afraid...
Fortunately they think it's cute.

And thank you...your last post...hee heeeee...

 

[David]

Years ago in France, in a village. I fancied some strawberry jam to go with the bread and soft cheese I had with me and went into a small grocer shop. I strolled the shelves but couldn't find it. As I passed the counter for the second time the owner, who had his wife and teenage daughter also standing behind the counter asked if he could help.

I started to say yes, I want some jam, but suddenly realised that I had completely forgotten the word for jam .... I sort of stood there staring at him and trying to remember and, thinking in English "well, it is preserves in English so what on earth is preserves in French?" and then I blurted out that I was looking for préservatif (worth knowing here that in French jam is confiture and preservatif is condom) .. they sort of looked at me and both mother and daughter went pink.

He said "préservatif??" and I said "yes, frais" (strawberry) - he said "Préservatif à saveur de fraise?" (strawberry flavoured condoms?) in a slightly strangled voice, his wife and teenage daughter now seriously bright red .. I said yes, exactly what I wanted, and smiled engagingly at all of them, and he paused, stared at me, and then told me that I needed to go to the pharmacy down the street.

I thought this rather strange but thanked him and left .. wondering exactly what had just gone on and why they were so weird and why on earth did the pharmacy stock strawberry jam and as I walked down the street the proper meanings of confiture and préservatif popped into my head and I blushed madly as I walked away.

Never did go back to that village

 

[David]

I don't know if you'll be able to zoom the attached photo sufficiently to enjoy it--but the English translation on this sign of rules and regulations at the Albergue Turístico in Atapuerca highly amused me when I stayed there in 2006. The dangers of Google-translation? Can anyone tell me if the sign is still there, or was it corrected long ago by someone more helpful than I?? Any language superiority of mine was contradicted by my total inability to figure how to use the albergue's lovely new digital-controls induction stove!
Thanks so much, Viranani and others, for the much needed light relief!

Silverton, Hi - I have enhanced the photo for you as it was a little difficult to decipher - good post Silverton, it is hilarious!!

 

[SYates]

Which reminds me of a sign Swiss volunteers put up years ago in the parish albergue in Belorado:

"Evacuation at 8:00!"

SY

 

[Smallest_Sparrow]

Silverton, Hi - I have enhanced the photo for you as it was a little difficult to decipher - good post Silverton, it is hilarious!!

View attachment 30304

the thing that strikes me about prohibition against nailing into the walls is what I would always say when some apparently silly new regulation was handed down in the military--well, there's a good story in there somewhere (i.e. there must be someone out there somewhere that made this silly rule a necessity, with an act that would be very entertaining if we knew).

 

[VNwalking]

well, there's a good story in there somewhere (i.e. there must be someone out there somewhere that made this silly rule a necessity, with an act that would be very entertaining if we knew

One entertaining thing about reading the Buddhist texts about ethical conduct for monastics are all the framing stories. They're always some version of 'misguided monk or nun gets a dressing down and the Buddha has to make another rule...' You can almost hear the sigh of exasperation. One example I love is of a minor rule for nuns that prohibits tossing refuse over a wall. Huh? Why? So what, right? It turns out the community was throwing their chamber pots and rubbish over the back wall of the monastery, where there was a park. And one fine morning someone happened to be picnicking there.

 

[SabsP]

Which reminds me of a sign Swiss volunteers put up years ago in the parish albergue in Belorado:

"Evacuation at 8:00!"

SY

Or the occasional tourist who cannot find his parked car back in Germany because he parked it in the Einbahnstrasse . Einbahn not being the name of the street but just meaning ' one way street ".

http://www.adfc-fulda.de/cms_select.php?ID=437

 

[Anemone del Camino]

He said "préservatif??" and I said "yes, frais" (strawberry) - he said "Préservatif à saveur de fraise?" (strawberry flavoured condoms?) in a slightly strangled voice, his wife and teenage daughter now seriously bright red .. I said yes, exactly what I wanted, and smiled engagingly at all of them, and he paused, stared at me, and then told me that I needed to go to the pharmacy down the street.

Never did go back to that village

David, you naughty naughty boy! Strawberry flavoured no less!

Here in Quebec, we refer to flats that are 100% owned by the buyer ( that is not a renter nor a coop of somesort) as "condominiums", most often translated as "condos". So trust me, the French are often shocked thanks to their North Americans cousins in conversation, not only by the gentleman asking for preserves.

When you decide it is safe to go back to that village, remind them of what their Quebec cousins call their flats.

 

[Anemone del Camino]

Silverton, Hi - I have enhanced the photo for you as it was a little difficult to decipher - good post Silverton, it is hilarious!!

View attachment 30304

Honnestly, I think that translation is probably bang on, if it was supposed to reflect the original language: reading newspapers in Castellano is such a pain because of all the wordiness: blah, blah, blah blah blah.... Get to the point already!

 

[VNwalking]

Presumably the Castillian makes sense, though...the English is like those T-shirts you see people wearing in Japan sometimes. Word salad.
E.g.: "The seats will take care as the traveling ones are arriving..."
Have the hospis been turned into chairs?

 

[Wokabaut_Meri]

(This lady saying 'Buen Camino" in her sleep~it gets me in the heart somehow. How good is that!? Even asleep she can wish others well....)

(a bit late to this party as Deb's ailment appears to be transcontinental and I am only now back in the land of the living - thanks to the discussions in that thread)
Reminds me of that glorious line in The Way when Jack the Irish writer was commenting on his compañeros and he says of Joost:
for whom Kindness was an instinct...

 

[VNwalking]

A warm welcome back to health, @Wokabaut_Meri! I hope you're completely recovered soon.

or whom Kindness was an instinct...

It's a great line, but I have to say I really dislike the movie....
(Throw what rotten tomatoes you like at me everyone, it's fine--not asking anyone to agree...I'm aware that others totally love it...and know we can all appreciate each other in spite of our differences.)

 

[Wokabaut_Meri]

Neither love nor hate the movie - ambivalent really - although the development of the characters humanity and brokenness into healing as they walk is my main interest.

 

[VNwalking]

Right enough...(This week I'm more reactive than usual @ Wokabaut_Meri. No doubt I'll calm down soon.)

 

[Wokabaut_Meri]

Breathe!! this too will pass

 

[Wokabaut_Meri]

and... not a Camino laugh but a sign that touched me deeply for all sorts of reasons in Beijing. Many lawned areas are fenced off from people and one particular verdant expanse had this sign:
The tender hearted grass is smiling at you. Do not trample it with your heavy feet.
Whenever I see a Keep Off the Grass sign I always smile and remember that there is a far more eloquent way of saying this.

 

[David]

Breathe!! this too will pass

......

 

[VNwalking]

@David....

(BTW, is it possible to please redo some of the shoddy construction?)

 

[Wokabaut_Meri]

One more - off Camino again but, hey, we could all use a laugh

My hubby made the mistake of the asking me where in the world I would like to celebrate my 50th birthday The invites went out with the coordinates of Everest Base Camp, Nepal and Hubby and I ended up on a 35 day trek in the Himalayas with our own Sherpa crew. Very long story short, Hubby ended up sick from altitude and remained at Hillary's hospital in Kunde where he did some volunteer work while the Sherpas and I continued up track on to Everest.

It was a bitter sweet birthday, all alone on Kala Pattar with that amazing backdrop panorama of mountains. That night back down at Gorak Shep, my Sherpa crew invited me to dinner in the makeshift kitchen in a yak shelter ruin. We started with ‘altitude’ soup (pure garlic – an acquired taste), Dhal Bhat for mains and finished with birthday cake: an excellent carrot cake with a thick layer of Aussie meringue icing. Our cook had researched and found part of a recipe but the instructions ended prematurely and the pile of whipped up egg whites was still raw. I managed only one piece, despite all the effort and encouragement. In Buddhism, intent is everything, and the cake came complete with yak fat candles and a handwritten note: HAPPY BAD DAY BARBARA. Then they all sang it to me... Happy Bad Day to you... the tears were a mangled mess of emotions but it was a memorable day.

 

[Bala]

One more - off Camino again but, hey, we could all use a laugh

My hubby made the mistake of the asking me where in the world I would like to celebrate my 50th birthday ... complete with yak fat candles and a handwritten note: HAPPY BAD DAY BARBARA. Then they all sang it to me... Happy Bad Day to you... the tears were a mangled mess of emotions but it was a memorable day.

View attachment 30319 View attachment 30320 View attachment 30321

Wonderful story!

 

[VNwalking]

That is totally precious. Funny and heartwarming and bittersweet.
What beautiful hearts the Sherpas have...even if they can't do meringue!
(As I get older, "Bad day" becomes a closer and closer reality.)

 

[crazyloon]

Thank you everyone for the smiles. Sitting here giggling with my coffee. Great stories!

 

[Antonius Vaessen]

Do you have a funny, embarrassing, or heartwarming Camino story to share?
@gerardcarey? Anyone?

When I was in Oviedo to start the Camino Primitivo the next day, there was a market where student were stelling all kinds of stuff for the benefit of their schools. I bought two hearts made out of sugar. The next day at our first coffeebreak in a bar I thought it was a good opportunity to try my sweets. At first I thought "what strange tases of sweets they've got here"; to get rid of it, I quickly swallowed it. While my "sweetheart" was finding its way, my walking partner asked me if these hearts perhaps werd made of soap. Immediately I realised my mistake. For me it was another example of the way your brain can fool you. I was curious what effects the swallowing of the soap would have. Fortunately I did not have problems, allthough my walkingpartner would have liked to see that I would have been followed by a trail of "bubbles"

 

[DurhamParish]

I took my 18 y/o nephew with me on the Camino (second half) after his High School graduation. I had hoped to meet nice people to form a "camino family" that Josh would like. We had had no such luck for several days. Then we happened to meet a VERY NICE couple, who really liked Josh, and they also had a beautiful 16 y/o daughter. (Success beyond my wildest dreams.) We started walking together and it soon became clear that I was not able to keep up with their pace. I told Josh to go ahead with them and I would catch up when they stopped at a cafe.

"Oh no Uncle Carl, I'd never leave you."
"No Josh, go on ahead. I'll catch up."
"Uncle Carl, I'd never leave you."
"I appreciate it Josh, but please go on with them."
"I'd never leave you Uncle Carl."

I'd had enough of this. I wasn't going to let him spoil this moment for me. So I grabbed him by the shirt and pulled him down to my face and said between gritted teeth:

"BOY, WALK WITH THEM PEOPLE!!!!!"

He got the message.

 

[jimmcauley]

Do you have a funny, embarrassing, or heartwarming Camino story to share?
@gerardcarey? Anyone?

On my first Camino Frances as a group of 10 we started to make tracks about 6am after breakfast at a table of about 20 different nationalities. Some of our group had left earlier with one of them settling the breakfast bill for the group. The hospitalero stopped me on the way out and I could sort of work out he wanted me to pay for breakfast. My Spanish was very poor then and I tried to explain matters to him to no avail. This started a complete pantomime of "lost in translation" with French, German, Dutch & Italian guys all using their bits of English & Spanish to resolve the misunderstanding ending with much applause, laughter and hand shakes!
Buen Camino

 

[Smallest_Sparrow]

One of my earliest days walking, I paid for my drink in a rather crowded bar one night with the smallest bill I had, 20 Euro. I was given change for a 5. I hesitated, and in my non-confident Spanish said perhaps an error had been made, I'd given a 20. No, he insisted, it was a 5. I would have believed him except I'd just taken money from an ATM, so I knew I only had 20's. I persisted, with more English and still badly accented Spanish, that I was sorry, but I was quite certain. He shook his head, explaining Americans often confuse Euros so early in their walk, he was certain I was mistaken but an honest mistake many walkers make...with time I would get used to how Euros looked. I asked might he look in his drawer...where he found the 20 in his 5's slot. He apologized and said, in English so I could be sure to understand "of course, sometimes we confuse them also..." And yes, I believe it was a mistake...it was dark and crowded and he was in a hurry.

 

[trecile]

I took my 18 y/o nephew with me on the Camino (second half) after his High School graduation. I had hoped to meet nice people to form a "camino family" that Josh would like. We had had no such luck for several days. Then we happened to meet a VERY NICE couple, who really liked Josh, and they also had a beautiful 16 y/o daughter. (Success beyond my wildest dreams.) We started walking together and it soon became clear that I was not able to keep up with their pace. I told Josh to go ahead with them and I would catch up when they stopped at a cafe.

"Oh no Uncle Carl, I'd never leave you."
"No Josh, go on ahead. I'll catch up."
"Uncle Carl, I'd never leave you."
"I appreciate it Josh, but please go on with them."
"I'd never leave you Uncle Carl."

I'd had enough of this. I wasn't going to let him spoil this moment for me. So I grabbed him by the shirt and pulled him down to my face and said between gritted teeth:

"BOY, WALK WITH THEM PEOPLE!!!!!"

He got the message.

So, were there any sparks between your nephew and the girl???

 

[JennyH94]

Great thread Viranani and fantastic responses everyone ... a group LIKE, LIKE LIKE to you all!

My story goes back to when I volunteered at Refugio Gaucelmo at Rabanal back in 2014 and we had a Scottish pilgrim, Tom, stay with us one night. Tom had a wealth of hilarious stories, one of which still makes me laugh every time I think of it.

Imagine Tom talking ... speaking with that wonderful soft Scottish burr which is a pleasure to listen to ...

"I live in a small village in Scotland and there aren't many parishioners at our local church, so we all take turns doing the readings in the Mass. Some of the parishioners become a little nervous doing the readings. One Sunday, one of the nervous parishioners took a turn and before she commenced the reading she announced the response "May His dysentery last forever" ... she meant to say "May His dynasty last forever" ...

Tom said that the whole congregation, and the priest, couldn't help but laugh. The parishioner was mortified at her mistake but eventually she was able to have a laugh about her slip of the tongue.

Our small group at Gaucelmo loved his story.

BTW - when I finished the duty at Rabanal I stayed in Santiago for several days. I liked to go to the English Mass in the Cathedral and would go most days. Tom turned up on one of those days and so, after the Mass, I asked him if he'd relate the story to Fr. Jay and Sr. Bridget who were officiating at the time. They loved the story too!

Cheers everyone - Jenny

 

[VNwalking]

Thank you, @JennyH94 , for adding your story!
Yes--a big big LIKE to everyone who's posted--it's wonderful how this thread keeps going.

 

[Sheilajg]

One early morning, just getting up and getting ready to go, I was sitting on my bottom bunk having just put on my glasses and starting to find my clothes for the day I suddenly found a man literally in my arms! My new Camino friend had been trying to get down from the upper bunk and as he was descending the ladder he was holding the side of the bunk and it broke off. Down he came and landed in my lap! We stared at each other for a moment and checked for injuries. Luckily we were both okay, if a bit shaken up. A moment later as he climbed off my lap, I discovered my glasses all mushed up in my lap. We became a Camino family for the rest of the trek so it was funny several days later when I pulled my broken glasses out of my pack and perched them on my face so I could read the menu and a fellow peregrina looked at me and said "you!". I was a bit taken aback and asked her what? She said you were the one who had the man fall on her! I acknowledged it and the nice man sitting beside me put up his hand and said sheepishly, "yes, it was me!" Broken glasses, broken bunks and friends made. All good Camino experiences.

 

[VNwalking]

I'm writing something and just found these wise words in the Ramayana (it's Hindu, I'm Buddhist, and the Camino is a Catholic pilgrimage, but what the heck...):
"There are three things that are real: God, human folly and laughter. The first two are beyond our comprehension, so we must do what we can with the third"

So thank you for the humor and please keep it coming, everyone!

 

[Nanc]

thank you all.
during the week, I look forward to finding a smile here.
I hope this thread goes on a LONG time
nanc

 

[DurhamParish]

So, were there any sparks between your nephew and the girl???

Alas, no. But Josh says that they still keep in touch through social media. He was off for his freshman year last year and wound up with a girlfriend that didn't work out so well and the relationship didn't survive the summer. I'll have to check with him when he's home for Thanksgiving and find out if he still hears from her and if anything is shaking. She and her parents were VERY nice.

 

[Smallest_Sparrow]

Alas, no. But Josh says that they still keep in touch through social media. He was off for his freshman year last year and wound up with a girlfriend that didn't work out so well and the relationship didn't survive the summer. I'll have to check with him when he's home for Thanksgiving and find out if he still hears from her and if anything is shaking. She and her parents were VERY nice.

I'm betting he will be mortified to find he became a conversational topic for the forum
smooth it over by saying some of the nice ladies on the forum have grand-daughters they would like him to meet

 

[KinkyOne]

Alas, no. But Josh says that they still keep in touch through social media. He was off for his freshman year last year and wound up with a girlfriend that didn't work out so well and the relationship didn't survive the summer. I'll have to check with him when he's home for Thanksgiving and find out if he still hears from her and if anything is shaking. She and her parents were VERY nice.

Are you kind of "cheerleading" for that relationship???

 

[DurhamParish]

Are you kind of "cheerleading" for that relationship???

I think it would work out nicely. She was a nice girl and her family was very nice. After being married for 33 years I know that having "nice in-laws" is pretty important.

 

[amorfati1]

Years ago in France, in a village. I fancied some strawberry jam to go with the bread and soft cheese I had with me and went into a small grocer shop. I strolled the shelves but couldn't find it. As I passed the counter for the second time the owner, who had his wife and teenage daughter also standing behind the counter asked if he could help.

I started to say yes, I want some jam, but suddenly realised that I had completely forgotten the word for jam .... I sort of stood there staring at him and trying to remember and, thinking in English "well, it is preserves in English so what on earth is preserves in French?" and then I blurted out that I was looking for préservatif (worth knowing here that in French jam is confiture and preservatif is condom) .. they sort of looked at me and both mother and daughter went pink.

He said "préservatif??" and I said "yes, frais" (strawberry) - he said "Préservatif à saveur de fraise?" (strawberry flavoured condoms?) in a slightly strangled voice, his wife and teenage daughter now seriously bright red .. I said yes, exactly what I wanted, and smiled engagingly at all of them, and he paused, stared at me, and then told me that I needed to go to the pharmacy down the street.

I thought this rather strange but thanked him and left .. wondering exactly what had just gone on and why they were so weird and why on earth did the pharmacy stock strawberry jam and as I walked down the street the proper meanings of confiture and préservatif popped into my head and I blushed madly as I walked away.

Never did go back to that village

uh oh ...
apparently 'out there' is a whole batallion of "stranglers" of the french language ... as this brings back a tale from many moons ago in a small village in France - one fine August, we were floating down the Loire on our home-made rafts, and in the evenings often had simple meals in village restaurants.
my french was (and still is) rather a bit underwhelming in accuracy (i.e. abysmal) but I usually would get myself around town/village/river, and get the food I intend, etc. In that particular small village restaurant, I had ordered some good cooked leafy greens and sausages and vin rouge. Then I really enjoy good mustard w/ good sausages ...and wanted to order some ...
So I asked the kind waitress (approx in her late 30's early 40's) if she "aver-vous le moustache??"
- which prompted a stunned silence from everyone in the establishment. including the waitress.

--- until an outburst of smiles and giggles and laughters ended that particular awkwardness.

I had asked the waitress if she had a mustache.
and should have asked: "avez-vous la moutarde ?"

like david - never went back to that village ....

 

[jo webber]

Thank you all for sharing such wonderful stories. My hope is to have my own stories to tell after the coming year.

 

[Sr. Christina]

Not really funny but I thought it pleasant at least. Some years ago whilst I was doing first aid I met a Dutch pilgrim with his friends. It was hot and bright sunny. He was bald and did not have a hat - his dome was bright bright red. So I insisted he take my hat and also gave him my address, and he promised to post it back to me. Well, it never came back and I gave up on it - until -

Almost a year later I was packing to return to Camino and the postman delivered a package from Holland. Inside it was my (laundered) hat but also a series of photographs of my hat doing the pilgrimage, taken at iconic Camino locations, finishing up at the Cathedral, no people in the photos, just the hat! which I thought was brilliant (the kind soul also put in 20 Euros to help with first aid supplies).

Wow! i am glad i read this post because i think it reveals to me how the spirit of the pilgrims is truly beautiful! also, lessens the fear or concern about this wonderful expedition