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What a beautiful story.
Hot tea and new found friendship warms the soul. Funny, I was going through my photos last night and came across this one from my first Camino September 2013. Is it? Yes, I believe it is. 
Buen Camino indeed. 
Smallest_Sparrow,
When I walked no one answered my emails and the phone # I had didn’t work. When I asked in Lorca I was told (to the best of my understanding which is pretty basic) that the guest house was closed, part of the answer was the sisters were all getting on in years (I definitely understood that much) and either they temporarily lost their help (younger sisters? Other staff?) or permanently (it wasn’t worth figuring out which I was being told at that point). At any rate I decided against pounding on their door unannounced and was lucky, I really enjoyed San Miguel.
I do.
Sabine,
CF August 10, 2019 between Samos and Sarria. Note the calendar in the window pane. Do you ever get a tickle in your tummy when you’re walking through a small area that has signs of life but it’s so quiet and not a soul around?
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Your image may be closer to the view of these photos of the Dublin Bay rose...
On the Salvador, in Pajares, I think the Albergue was either the school or the schoolteacher's house in a previous life. The view from the back windows was far better than any celluloid screen...changing from moment to moment after a storm.
And another, Ozymandias... and so many more in different cultures...
I called my patchwork of caminos “my very Gaudi Camino” and saw all of his buildings except Bodegas Guell (and would have seen that except I got lost too many times trying to walk from Terrassa to Montserrat.
When you are walking and tired it is always such a pleasure to find a seat!
Bliss.
Sabine your insoles look very similar to my(Anne) custom made insoles!!Exactly . So the second of this day. Two minutes after seating...
The well used Lowas and the custommade insoles.
Smallest_Sparrow,May 2012 Norte/Primitivo transition
When I arrived at the Monasterio de Valdedios, I was told there were no other guests and no pilgrims in the albergue, and the brothers were essentially packing to leave--but I was welcome to join them in prayer. I of course immediately envisioned us walking across a moonlit night to El Conventin, the church of San Salvador consecrated in 892. Be still my beating heart!
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It was neither in San Salvador nor Santa Maria (1218). It was in a room in the monks' private quarters set up as their chapel. So while it didn't fill my desire for pre-Romanesque adventure it was very kind of them to invite an outsider into their private space while they were preoccupied with a move it seemed they didn't relish, and a day they weren't normally open to guests (I was used to the idea of "dark days" for shows from living in Las Vegas, but it seemed funny to me Spain's churches also had them). So a very special day nonetheless.
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Their retablo--the upper piece represents God's Providence, as well as the Trinity (the triangle)...sorry conspiracy fans
And maybe a bowl of their hot lentil soup! Which we enjoyed on our arrival there but on a warm sunny day, sitting outside in June, 2018!
And then it thaws. A month later....voila!
Amen.
They had Caldo Galego the day I was there - a very comforting dinner on that day!And maybe a bowl of their hot lentil soup! Which we enjoyed on our arrival there but on a warm sunny day, sitting outside in June, 2018!
After taking the photo, I stood there for a while trying to chart a course to avoid the worst of it. Which was impossible. The only way out was into it. Just like life.I've had some pretty muddy slogs but this one trumps all!!
Smallest_Sparrow,
they have those pretty substantial guard/hand rails but I don't know that I'd suggest it for those afraid of heights or prone to dizziness. But the trail up to the chapel was wide and if I recall correctly (big if) a combination of wide dirt path and some concrete. I don't mind heights but I wouldn't want to try to squeeze past a big crowd of people on the hermitage part. I don't remember there being any warning signs so I imagine lots of people of all ages wander up there
Why are they changed? Is it stressful to the birds (I imagine so being inside).
June, 2018.
It's had a bit of a facelift since then, and looking a lot shinier. We stayed and attended vespers, very beautiful. It is still functioning as a monastery with about a dozen or more monks. I slept next to the window. It stayed open.Sobrado dos Monxes.
The Monastery of Santa Maria de Sobrado was built in 952, it was dedicated to San Salvador. It soon rose to prosperity in the late 10thC when the abbot of Sobrado became a Bishop in Santiago. By the 12thC it was abandoned. Eventually the Cistercians began monastic life there in 1142, it was the Cistertians who established a pilgrim hospital within the monastery. The church was added at the end of the 17thC. By 1834 the monastery, along with most monasteries in Spain, was stripped of its wealth by royal decree.
It was an interesting experience staying the night in the albergue. We had a window shut/open experience with the one window in the room with a fellow pilgrim. We wanted the window open, he didn't! The dormitory room was packed and quite a smelly experience, luckily we won the window argument.
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In my experience the “open” faction always won, and I froze for my first four weeks despite sleeping in all of my clothes, including down vest and gortex jacket in a sleeping bag rated for sleeping outdoors in snow...which was sort of what i was doing since the windows were open while it was snowing
. When I was in Zarautz it was difficult not to steal this sign from the albergue (youth hostel) to post everywhere I stopped
The lit fortress and the color of the sky are a beautiful combination.
Dick Bird,
My first stay in Spain, two months in early 1994, was in a barrio on the outskirts of Zaragoza. The city centre holds fond memories, more for the people I was with, but that does make a difference to how we experience life, doesn't it?
Me. I’ll shorten my hilarious blog entry to note that pilgrims make or break an experience and provide the why without my joking comments.
at least in the military women would go to the men’s tent for that sort of thing. I didn’t mind the religious/social justice pitch, and I was inspired to try to see San Toribo, but I left at dawn and walked a unhappy double thanks to Guermes, and still in a bad mood was too grumpy to appreciate santillana Del Mar (I’ve walked other doubles but this one was fueled by anger which is never a good thing). Only Comillas was worse, which again was a great little albergue but a less than wonderful group of fellow pilgrims.
What a perfect description. The same place can be fundamentally different one day to the next, depending on who one ends up with. And who the hospis are.
It depends not only on the mix of people but also on the weather and the actual structure. What "works" in summer can be chaos in a blizzard and vice versa.
Yes. Realization that my odds of meshing with pilgrims increased if I stayed in places less likely to attract a party crowd (parochial) or small with the owners sleeping at the albergue. Although when I signed in at San Miguel in Estella the hospitalera asked me three times if I understood San Miguel was the parochial albergue…guess I must look like a party animal
Curious. Did you get a top bunk, you party animal.Yes. Realization that my odds of meshing with pilgrims increased if I stayed in places less likely to attract a party crowd (parochial) or small with the owners sleeping at the albergue. Although when I signed in at San Miguel in Estella the hospitalera asked me three times if I understood San Miguel was the parochial albergue…guess I must look like a party animal
Edit: each time she reminded me the place was church run, I’d reply “yes, I’d like a top bunk if possible please”
Yes, and by the door, my favorite spot: sparrow’s perch.Curious. Did you get a top bunk, you party animal.
.
I think she might have been saying 'this is a donativo' albergue, or maybe she was confused by someone actually asking for a top bunk. We did two weeks at San Miguel as hospis in 2018 and I know that the parish runs and finances the albergue entirely independently. Most of the party animals stay at the muni, next to the bridge. Of course, when she said 'parish run', she may also have been referring to Sabino and Ferdinando, our two parish contacts, who were solicitous to a high degree, they couldn't have been more helpful. The only time we saw the parish priest was when someone accidentally set off the burglar alarm.Yes. Realization that my odds of meshing with pilgrims increased if I stayed in places less likely to attract a party crowd (parochial) or small with the owners sleeping at the albergue. Although when I signed in at San Miguel in Estella the hospitalera asked me three times if I understood San Miguel was the parochial albergue…guess I must look like a party animal
Edit: each time she reminded me the place was church run, I’d reply “yes, I’d like a top bunk if possible please”
Phoenix,
i wonder if the left and right sides each apply to the center panel: "bread of the poor of San Antonio" and "your petitions to San Antonio" i.e. you are donating to the poor as part of your petition
Sending wishes of quick and complete recovery for your daughter!
We hope all goes well with you and your family. God bless.
Anne & Pat,
Wait, what?
I know, right? I’m clearly prejudiced but I loved pretty much everything about the Primitivo. I was confused by the stone markers at the divide between Hospitales and the other path, made my decision about which way based on a map, and knew I was headed correctly with the sign. Just that picture was all I emailed home that night to let everyone know I’d crossed without incident (and sadly no
)
Wishing your daughter and yourself all the best. A good recovery and safe travels!
