pillow/bathing suit

[marniedent]

I noticed a couple of people had mentioned places to swim along the way- Fromista and somewhere else. I hadn't given any thought to taking a bathing suit and have not seen it mentioned on any of the packing lists. Any thoughts on this? Also saw somewhere the mention of pillows at some albergues which I didn't expect. Are there generally pillows provided?

Five weeks to go and the reality is setting in, as is the excitement!!!

 

[Deirdre]

Hi!
Generally pillows were provided. On the few occasions where there wasn't one, my fleece did nicely.

I did not take a swimsuit, but there was a pool at Viana, Boadilla, the river at Ribadiso and of course, Fisterra. I found that I was happy with wading in shorts, but in Spain you could get away with a top of a two piece and shorts. Remember everything weighs something......

Buen Camino,

 

[lckgj]

With regards to swimming costumes..

I take two sets undies to wash and wear on alternate days and one of those sets is actually a comfortable cotton two piece swimsuit. This means that if I have the opportunity to swim I know what I am wearing won't become transparent the minute I get in the water!

Having said that, after a couple of weeks of staying in albergues then you soon lose whatever modesty you set out with and I'm sure the folk along the camino are quite used to seeing pilgrims in all kinds of improvised swimwear so you won't look out of place in whatever you use.

Whatever you take chose it for weight rather than style factor!

Kind regards, Laura

 

[notion900]

it's very rare to find somewhere you can swim, so I would say don't take a swimsuit, girls can always swim in a t-shirt with undies underneath, or underpants for the fellas.

You almost never find a hostel without a pillow, but they can be very grubby, so take a small piece of sheet or a pillow case to put over. Spanish pillows are a strange shape: longer and narrower than in the UK.

 

[Deleted member 3000]

My hiking shorts with built-in liner work great for walking, sleeping, or swimming.

I have a small camp pillow that I like, but I was never in an albergue that did not have a pillow. My sleeping sack has a pouch that fits European pillows. One commercial sleep sack at just 5 oz. is the Travel Hammock Silk Sleep Sack available on Amazon.com.

 

[Artemisofephesus]

Well, I'm going in November so I think there's little point in taking a bathing suit...
However, wouldn't it be nice to swim along the way if it was warm enough? Maybe one day I'll go in summer and then dive into the sea at Finisterre... (Off the end of the word!) Or maybe not.

 

[oursonpolaire]

Swimming pools are available in most of the large cities (including across from the albergue in Burgos) for the addict, so a swimsuit would be useful there. In other spots, near Mansilla las Mulas, or in the Canal de Castilla, people are as informal or as formal as they please. While there is no law against swimming or sunning in the buff in Spain, it would be better that pilgrims were demure in a place like Mansilla, where there is a riparian pool when the bridge crosses into the pueblo.

The only time I found mine useful was in Catalonia and central Aragon, where the September heat made the pools at some of the casas rurales very attractive, although the Spanish were horrified that anyone would want to swim when it was only 25°C. Los canadienses locos, they would mutter.