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Waiting for pilgrims in Calzadilla de los Hermanillos

@jsalt, Casa de Cura would not let Phil's pilgrims join them for a meal as they said it was only for their overnight guests. Wondering if this is a Covid arrangement? There is another Bar in town--Bar Camino and also another restaurant, but neither have seemed really popular with the pilgrims in Phil's albergue.

I do have to say that we are usually quite tired at 10 p.m. and ready to lock the door. When there were two of us working, we could usually get a nap in or one of us would get up early and the other stay up late to get things ready in the morning. The Camino schedule is so different than the usual Spanish time schedule with meals, work, wake up, etc.
 
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J Willhaus said:
@jsalt, Casa de Cura would not let Phil's pilgrims join them for a meal as they said it was only for their overnight guests. Wondering if this is a Covid arrangement?
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I don't think that it's just Covid related. When I stayed there in 2019 a friend from home was serving as hospitalera, and she said that dinner at Casa de Cura was just for hotel guests. I did have a tinto de verano there in the afternoon.
I joined a group of pilgrims for dinner at Vía Trajana.
 
Via Trajana seems to be the spot for Phil's pilgrims. He said one who spoke Spanish did go to Bar Camino and said it was more for local people. There is a restaurant in town that looks quite nice, but La Cena seems to be about 20 Euros or so which may be more than most pilgrims want to spend. You can also get beer and wine at the store across the way so several pilgrims have just decided to make do with the microwave and frig and eat in house. There is a nice large common room with a long table that is good for writing in journals, eating a snack, or visiting with others.

Phil has learned a thing or two about exits in the morning and his predecessor left him a note on how to tell Pilgrims to leave before his usual 5:30 or 6 a.m. wake up. No one should have to climb the backyard fence.

Phil did tell the peregrina who was hesitant about the open cubicle door that in some albergues she might be sleeping with 20-50 of her new best friends in one room. She said she did know that, but perhaps she has bypassed those arrangements in the past. I remember sleeping in a room at Los Arcos with 49 of my new best friends while Phil slept in a little room where the electricity worked for his CPAP with only three new best friends...
 
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I think it looks quite deluxe, the community and the volunteers have done an amazing job.
 
Well, its either feast or famine! Completo yesterday and turning people away, but as of the morning report, no pilgrims yet on Friday! It was raining when it was time for last night's pilgrims to depart. The peregrina who intended to leave at 5 a.m. finally got underway at 7:15. One pilgrim wrote in the book in Dutch that it was a long stage and a bus into Leon might be a possibility today. By early afternoon it had cleared off, but more rain forecast for this afternoon and tonight. Its still pretty warm which is good because the wood would be wet and it still isn't chopped into usable chunks yet. He still has a little dry wood in the cleaning closet just in case.

Phil was busy with the usual albergue chores yesterday, mopping up after pilgrims, replacing toilet paper rolls, ensuring that things are in order. They do use the giant toilet paper rolls and despite the pandemic he does have plenty. What is in shorter supply is hand sanitizer and he only has two "squeeze" bottles that he was able to get from Monica. He says they are using the "disposable" sheets on the beds and he hauls the trash around behind the albergue to the community dumpsters daily. I do worry about the landfill burden and I read yesterday in El Pais that there a plastic ban proposed on packaging for fruits and vegetables by 2023.

Pilgrims have been leaving various food items behind which seem to be quickly used by later pilgrims (cartons of milk, individual yogurts, etc.) Phil has a "para hospitalero" note on his meat and cheese in the fridge for sandwiches, but he is always willing to share if someone has a need. A few people have written in the book that Phil was helpful and he said he does sit with them and look at maps and albergues. He shows them the Gronze website and encourages them to stop a town early or go a town beyond the stage if it seems crowded. As is his signature feature, he listens when pilgrims need to talk. He has seen no Korean pilgrims this year and recent years we had many. We also had Russian pilgrims and more pilgrims from North America. This year the mix has been from the UK, Ireland, France, Germany, Holland, Italy, Denmark, and Spain.

The community Mass is at 5 p.m. and he set an alarm to remind him to attend. I am curious to see how many will attend and get a report on the inside of the Ermita.
 
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The 9 p.m. check in phone call finds Phil with no pilgrims tonight. After yesterday's tsunami of pilgrims, he's wondering what happened, but such is the Camino with the ebb and flow of pilgrims. We did discuss that the alternate Via Romana (unlike the Senda on the Real Camino) is over pathways frequented by tractors and might have been pretty muddy today after the rain and thunderstorms. That could have been a deterrent, however, he said he did see pilgrims when he went up to Albergue Trajana for his noon meal. In any case, everything will still be clean and ready for tomorrow. He might sleep a little later and he said it will definitely give him an opportunity clean his own hospitalero area which is on the second floor. If it isn't raining he might get a longer walk.

Earlier at 5 p.m. he struck out to find Mass. He went to the old Ermita--door locked. Then he went to the new Ermita--door locked. He then went to the big church--door locked. He was on his way back to the Albergue a little perplexed when he heard the church bells sound at about 5:20 p.m. He made his way back to the old Ermita and the doors were open. Apparently Monica's Mom had the time wrong and services were at 5:30 p.m.

The priest was dressed in street clothes getting everything ready and then slipped off his suit coat and donned his robes just before 5:30. There is apparently no side room for preparation or changing for this kind of thing at the Ermita. My stepmother in Missouri usually prepares everything for the priest in advance at her Catholic church, but there did not seem to be anyone with a similar role in CdlH. Maybe that person was on vacation? Phil said the Mass was very short and he did not believe there was a homily. There was no singing. He went forward during communion for a blessing with his arms crossed, but the priest did not come over and bless him for some reason and so Phil just returned to his seat to pray. In all he said there were about 20 people present. All were older women except Phil and just one other man. Phil is 70 and he said he considered himself among the "young folks" at the service and possibly the youngest. After the service he got a lovely photo of the altarpiece which is Mary holding the crucified Christ. We wondered how many pueblos this particular priest served. We have seen a similar aging of the faithful at other small communities where we have served and also the same deep divide in the numbers of men vs of women who attend.

Tomorrow will be a new day and hopefully there will be pilgrims to care for. One week from today Phil will turn over the albergue to another volunteer and continue his own Camino. His time is a little over half done now and the wanning days are like gems to be treasured.
 
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Af of the 2 p.m. check in (6 a.m. my time in Wyoming), Phil had one pilgrim. I will check to see if there are more later tonight. Phil described his pilgrim as an older German man who spoke little Spanish or English so Phil was glad for the Google Translate app on his phone. The main difficulty seemed to be describing the donativo system. The pilgrim kept asking how much and then finally said he would pay anything for a bed. Phil patiently tried to explain that pilgrims donate what they think the experience is worth and what they can afford and that the proceeds go to help future pilgrims and the upkeep of the albergue. Finally the pilgrim was just stuffing money in the slot and Phil turned away as he does not want to see what anyone gives or does not give. Its better that way and you treat everyone as if they gave a fortune.

Apparently beds are still tight elsewhere on the Camino Real. This pilgrim told him that he had to sleep outside last night. He tried to look at the map and show Phil where, but in the end shrugged and indicated there were too many little towns. All the albergues were "completo". It rained last night and the pilgrim at first told Phil he "just wanted to sleep", but then gathered up his camera equipment and was out snapping photos in the gentle rain. The credential did have last night's date missing and the pilgrim had started in SJPDP originally.

Phil's taken to emptying the trash in the cans both in front of the albergue and in front of the tienda. He says the "little girls" in town love to congregate on the two benches in front of the albergue and their candy and popscicle wrappers sometimes blow about so he is keeping the trash cans empty to keep the wrappers inside. For a small town, there are quite a number of children and he says young and old seem to have bikes. The little girls gather with their bikes and giggle and chat and share their ipads sitting on the albergue benches. Today there were two adolescent girls first riding bikes and then later walking together under a single umbrella. Next door is a multi-generational family and the grandparent is often positioned in the doorway to catch the sun when it is not raining. There are children playing outside many days and last weekend he said there were 15 or 20 family members visiting with lawn chairs in the yard. I asked him about little boys and he said mostly he had just seen the little girls, but that he did see boys on bikes from time to time.

Today without pilgrims to clean up after and the morning rain, Phil cleaned his own hospitalero quarters and then just waited for pilgrims. Two carloads of men were out front inspecting some marks made on the pavement and Phil is wondering if there will be some kind of construction or repair planned. He's hoping, if so, that it waits until he leaves next week although it is interesting to see what is happening in the community.
 
As of the evening check in, it has rained much of the day. Only the German pilgrim is in the albergue tonight. He and Phil are the same age (70 although Phil will be 71 in about a week). Their conversation was mainly using Google Translate, but it sounds like they talked quite a bit. Our German pilgrim has done three Caminos. He said he did one when he was young which he completed in vacation segements. He said that he was 'very fast' then and did not get to see things. He did one when he was middle aged which was also in segments and he said he was still fast although not as fast as when he was young. Now he is doing the Camino at his own pace. He has a very nice camera and Phil says he is taking some beautiful phots. He told Phil that he had to sleep outside between Roncevalles and Pamplona and the he was "too old for that now". He also had to sleep outside last night so he took a good long nap in the afternoon. He is a bit of an artist in several ways. He also wrote a poem in the guest book. He told Phil he meets every week with a group of people. Each week they get five words and have a week to make up a poem which includes the five words.
The one he wrote for Phil was a humorous one and he said he "won" the prize for that one.

Some good news. Phil learned from Monica and also from another local in the store that there would be Mass again tomorrow at 11 a.m. so he will be able to attend before he opens up the albergue. He is wondering if it will be the same 20 people or if there will be some others from the community. It will be in the old Ermita again.

He is considering the Inveirno for part of his month after leaving the albergue so if any of you are on it now, you might let us all know how things are going. He has not made any firm plans yet although he does need to get back to Madrid in time to do his Covid test before his flight on Nov. 3. He can book it at the Madrid airport. He had a terrible time getting to Spain with cancelled and missed flights so he is not wanting to leave things to the last minute. He is thinking about getting his train ticket from Santiago to Madrid in Leon or Ponferrada. I know sometimes you can't buy the day of departure and that there are fewer trains than there were pre-Covid. We have never been able to book on our phones since we have US phones and credit cards. Don't know if any of that has changed or not.

On the homefront, remember those 100 green tomatoes I picked last week? Well a few have gotten red, but most have not and showed no sign of getting ripe, so today I canned 8 pints of salsa verde using green tomatoes. It tastes pretty good. I had some trouble finding the canning supplies and was told we are starting to see shortages of certain items again here. In fact, I had a list and had to go to two different stores to get this week's groceries (not that much just for me) and the items for the salsa canning.
 
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The German pilgrim is on his way and Phil now has a Spanish pilgrim in house. Phil said he gently encouraged our German pilgrim by opening he rolladen in the common room (sorry, but I don't know the Spanish name for those shutters only the German one) at 7:30 a.m. The pilgrim called out Guten Morgan and asked if Phil was waiting on him to clean. Phil replied that he would begin cleaning when the pilgrim was on his way. (To be fair, the pilgrim's alarm had already rang twice.)

There was Mass at the Ermita today at 11 a.m. Phil said there were three men today including himself and maybe 25 or so women. There was one "middle aged" couple and one young man and the remainder were in the senior age group. No children. He's going to look around to see if he can find the phone number of the person in town who may have the key to the big church. He says he would like to see inside before he moves on Friday.

He also had visit today from Chima who was the hospitalero at Calzada de Coto the night before he arrived to CdlH. Chima had told Phil that he "checked" on HosVol albergues for the Federation. He and his wife were making the rounds near Leon. They have a home in Leon and spend summers there, but actually live in Madrid. Phil and I have never had anyone check on us except the local albergue managers in the past so I am not sure if this an official thing or if Chima just enjoys making the rounds. They had a nice talk and he told Phil we should look him up if we are able come back to volunteer next summer.

Chima said the new albergue (HosVol staffed) west of Leon in Villadangos del Páramo is very nice. He said the two hospitaleros there right now are Americans and that one is from California. He said they have the same "pin" from American Pilgrims on the Camino that Phil wears which is how he knew they were Americans. I'm sure Phil will try to stop there now for sure at least to visit although the Americans will be long gone as they should rotate on Friday at the same time as Phil. (The schedule for volunteers is either the first half or the last half of the month.)

So far today only one Spanish pilgrim. This pilgrim said the Camino Real is still very full and that it was only after he switched to the Via Romana that he stopped seeing so many pilgrims. He said everyone else he met was headed to Bercianos del Real Camino.

Today there were three little boys on bikes instead of the usual bunch of little girls out front on the benches. Lovely that kids can get out and play in the fresh air and get their excercise in the community. CdlH has several nice parks an as Phil put it "many tractors" so it is obviously still a farming village.
 
I just did a quick search and looks to me it is the old municipal albergue that got a big makeover. And a much needed one!
I did not know that municipales also were able to ask for the help from the HosVol?

Albergue de peregrinos de Villadangos del Páramo | Albergue de Peregrinos en Villadangos del Páramo | Gronze.com

Información del albergue de peregrinos Albergue de peregrinos de Villadangos del Páramo, en Villadangos del Páramo: Precio, plazas, características, etc...
www.gronze.com
 
HosVol requires that the albergue be a donativo. I am not sure what other requirements there are. I believe that the big albergue in Najara has recently gone to one of the other Spanish organizations who staffs with volunteers so albergues obviously have choices.. Here is the homepage for the Federation. There is a listing of all the organizations that make up the federation under the volunteers page. I had a list of the albergues we could staff at one point, but can't readily find it now. Phil had asked if there was a list of HosVol staffed albergues that were open at the beginning of his Camino in September but the volunteer coordinator said there were too many changes to send him a solid list.

We did get word that Granon will reopen in November and @kirkie broke this news in an earlier thread. We know the hospitaleros who will staff it in those re-opening weeks. Our friend who manages that albergue told Phil last week that she felf that November would be a good time because there is usually a thinning of pilgrims and a need for albergues in the winter to shelter the fewer winter pilgrims. We loved being there over Christmas three years ago. It was never crowded like it is in the summer and there would certainly be space for everyone. No word on whether they will be able to have communal dinners or not.
 
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It's interesting to hear about the Camino from a hospitalero's perspective.

When I walked the Via Romana from Calzada del Coto to Reliegos 2 years ago I only saw 1 other pilgrim all day. Glad to hear CdlH is getting so many people!
 
As of 9 p.m. in CdlH, Phil had 7 pilgrims from Spain, Croatia, Malta, Austria, Hungary, and Ireland. He said he had three that came in mid-afternoon and said "We have reservations". He explained that he did not take reservations and that they were likely booked in at either Albergue Trajana or Casa de Cura. He explained that his albergue was donativo and municipal and therefore did not take reservations or hold beds. The three left in the direction that he had pointed and then returned a short while later saying they had cancelled their reservations and wished to stay with Phil. They called a friend and encouraged her to "hurry" and she showed up around 6 p.m. with two other pilgrims. The various young pilgrims had walked from Ledigos and some had walked from Caldazilla de Cueza which is 30-40+km!

He said three of them told him that they had not been religious, but were beginning to see that there was something changing inside them and that a higher power had to be at work. Phil's heard this before at more than one albergue and he listens carefully to these new revelations. One pilgrim said her shoes were falling apart early in the Camino and they were all worried whether they would have the money or find a place to buy some new ones. At the next albergue, there was a pair of "donated" shoes in the give-away box in just her size. She said someone had told her "the Camino provides" earlier in the day, but she had not understood until that moment what it might mean. The Irish pilgrim told Phil the Camino was not what he expected and that he was learning the relationships and people he meets were more meaningful than the walk itself. He, too, was wondering about a higher power.

Some of the pilgrims asked Phil what his plans were after the albergue work was finished this weekend and he shared that he certainly wanted to stop at the newly remodeled Villadangos del Páramo after Leon at least to say hello, maybe use the bathroom, or stay the night if there was room. Having now stumbled upon the donativo idea, these young pilgrims on a budget were eager to hear of the new facility. They were also interested in the Camino Invierno which Phil told them he was contemplating after Ponferrada and they were looking it up on the Gronze, etc. So much youth and energy! Phil said they were a lot of fun to have in the albergue.

They all did go down to Via Trajana to eat as the store is closed on Sunday evenings. Phil says there is still food in the fridge from other pilgrims and that he's always willing to share his cornflakes or sandwich supplies lest anyone go hungry. No one plans to leave earlier than 6 a.m. so he will be up and be able to bid them farewell. It's still in the 60's so he was going to put down the rolladen blinds again to keep any heat inside the common areas tonight. He sounded so happy and upbeat to have a house full of pilgrims.
 
Early afternoon and there is one pilgrim from the Netherlands. Phil says he's walked the Camino several times and has stayed in this very albergue before. He arrived early as Phil was airing out the "cleaning chemicals" smell with the doors wide open so Phil just booked him in. It means that Phil had to rely on the Tienda for lunch rather than the Menu del Dia, but that is ok. Normally he goes for an early lunch and Albergue Trajana opens up for him so that he can be back for a usual 1 p.m. albergue opening.

He mentioned today that he wished he had a pair of kneepads because cleaning often involves some scrubbing done on the hands and knees. They would be too heavy to carry on a Camino, but he might hae picked up a set in Sahagun and left them for the next hospi if he knew he would want them. I think the shower requires some real scrubbing to keep it clean and I imagine if you had a full house (non-Covid) that other areas might need it as well. He did bring rubber cleaning gloves (the platex living gloves kind for dishwashing, etc.) as he has wished for them at a few other albergues and it is hard to find his size.

Nothing too exciting in town to far today. No workmen tearing up the street or any broken bikes to attend to. Phil said he was going to go out to sweep his section of the sidewalk again. He said that the regular shopkeeper Monica was not there today before siesta and that a gentleman was working in her place. No sign of the cat returning, nor the handyman with an ax for chopping the wood. It is supposed to be colder tomorrow night so Phil may have to take action again with a phone call to the city offices.
 
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I spoke too soon and Phil said they began doing the street work at about 6 p.m. They are grinding out the "pot holes" and then filling them using large machinery. He said it was very loud when they were on the street next to the albergue, but better now that they have moved to a different area of town. He says they are using the water spigot in front of the albergue for the water supply of what they need for this work though presumably since the albergue is part of the city/community property that makes sense.

He has seven pilgrims again tonight from France, Belgium, Netherlands, and Italy. He had a good chat with two of the pilgrims. They remarked that conversations on the Camino are "deeper" than they have had before and that people seem more genuine than they are in everyday life. At least one of the pilgrims has a tent and is camping part of the time. This was her fist experience with a donativo albergue. Two other pilgrims are brother and sister. Phil's enjoying the conversations and the diverse backgrounds of all the pilgrims.

He has counted up and has "broken the record" for his two weeks assigned at the albergue. Since the last half of July the pilgrim numbers had consistently been about 28 or 29 for either the first or last halves of the months. He already has had 35 pilgrims in his half and has a few more days to go before his time ends on Thursday night. The Camino must really be picking up. I know this is a popular time to walk so it will be interesting to see how October is when he is walking again.

We had the wood discussion again since it will be cold tomorrow evening. I was lightly raining tonight, but warm. He did say that he thought he could dig around and find some more usable wood in the pile (which he may need to do). He said the smaller pieces were just on the bottom with the large tree trunk sized pieces on the top so it really must be a "pile" of wood and not a stack (like a rick or a cord) like I would want my wood stored. I might have him take a photo tomorrow. Maybe he will enlist a pilgrim or two to help him get it in order? Or maybe that is just what I would do if I were there.
 
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As of early afternoon, there were no pilgrims checked in yet. Phil said the street work was done. All the potholes were ground out and filled in and the street repaved so it was relatively quiet again in the pueblo. His last night pilgrims were all out the door by 8:15 and he had the place cleaned up and ready for more today. It had rained overnight and was supposed to rain today, but as of our check-in call the sun was shining. He had done the laundry and hung it inside, but did not plan to move it now. It will dry in due time.

He told me about his Dutch pilgrim from yesterday. They had a chance to talk before lights out last night for about 20 or 30 minutes. This pilgrim was 71. It was his fourth Camino. He shared that his wife had died last year of a brain tumor. He and his wife had walked the Camino together, but she had also done a 5 month Camino with a friend from their home in the Netherlands all the way to Santiago and the sea at one point. As she was dying he asked her what to do with her ashes and she said, "just let them go into the wind". He asked "At Muxia?" and she said "I could not ask you do that". And so he is walking to Santiago where he will meet his son (or sons, Phil was not sure) and they would walk together to Muxia to let her ashes go to the wind and waves. A tear came to my eye as Phil retold the story. The pilgrim said he would leave a few ashes at Cruz de Fero and maybe a few other meaningful places. So it isn't just in movies that this kind of thing happens I suppose. I wonder if Phil would do that for me as well? I'm sure he would if he were able.

The other young pilgrims yesterday were quite a collection. Phil said a few had not intended to walk the Camino, but ended up on the Way. One had only a string backpack and a kind of a dufflebag that he had fashioned into a backpack with the carry straps. They all felt the draw that many of us feel to undertake this experience. Many of them were not well-equpped and were on a tight budget--eating mainly from the tienda instead of the local bar, but they were there and they were walking the Way.

Phil didn't go for the Menu del Dia again today, but instead bought a new loaf of bread for a bocadillo. Someone had eaten his "para hospitalero" ham from the fridge, but he still had cheese and there was a bit of chorizo that another pilgrim had left so it was fine. I'll check in with him tonight to see who may have arrived.
 
No pilgrims tonight. Phil said the most pilgrims he saw all day were the ones that left this morning. Don't know if this is a thinning of the Camino traffic or just that no one is on the variant.

He spoke a while to Monica today as they stood out on the sidewalk. The municipal albergue where Phil is serving and Albergue Trajana both close on November 1 and don't reopen again until spring. Monica said she also changes her shop hours November 1. She is only open weekday mornings through the winter and is closed weekends and holy days.

Phil said it is really boring without pilgrims. Tomorrow morning (Wednesday) he will go for a bacon and eggs breakfast though since he does not have cleaning to do. He expects his relief on Thursday and we discussed what he might do on Friday morning. He thinks he will walk to Reliegos and try to get a bunk. He said if there is little pilgrim traffic their way tomorrow, he will check in with Monica to see what her mom is saying about pilgrim numbers coming out of Sahagun. That may tell him if he needs to try to make a reservation or not. Phil's planned slow walking schedule gives him about 27 or 28 days to get to Santiago from where he is now. If he takes the Invierno he will need to walk longer days toward the end, but it will put him in Santiago about the same time. He's been reading the forum resource guide on the Invierno and I also bought him the Brierley guide which he has now downloaded on his phone. (First I have seen of Brierley guides electronically except the CF Maps book.)

I want to confirm. If he should decide to get go to the pilgrim office when he reaches Santiago, does he need a new credential showing he "started" in Ponferrada? He mentioned reading that if your credential showed you started on the CF (like he did in Burgos this time) that you would be counted as a CF pilgrim and not as an Invierno pilgrim. Maybe someone can let us know.
 
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From what I can recall, the Camino you walked 100 kms prior to ending up in SdC, will be the Camino you have walked. So yes, he would be counted as a Camino Francesian, as I understand it. Thank you for your updates: good reads.
 
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J Willhaus said:
@alexwalker are you saying that he will be counted as a Camino Francesian even if his last 100 km were on the Invierno?
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It’s so interesting to see things from the hospitaleros’ viewpoints. The ebb and flow seems to be consistent with what others have seen on other caminos, and I suspect that October will bring a big drop.

The cathedral recognizes the Invierno, and I think there would be no problem being counted in that category even if one has walked several hundred more kms. In my experience, though from a few years ago, is that even though I had walked a lot of prior kms, I was able to specify Invierno for purposes of cathedral statistics.

As far as accommodations on the Invierno, you might want to consider starting a new thread, @J Willhaus. I helped a forum member a few days ago to get accommodations in Las Médulas on a Saturday (Oct. 9). I communicated directly with Agoga, Casa Socorro (closed) and the albergue, and no luck. Finally the forum member got a four-person room at the Hotel Medulio, though only one bed was needed! But it seemed to be the last thing available for that day. Las Médulas is a popular weekend travel destination for Spaniards, but a non-weekend day should be fine. Highly recommend Agoga, and others have enjoyed the new albergue, La Senda. Both use WhatsApp, which is, IMO, the way to go with making reservations on the Invierno.
 
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Yes will start a new thread when he leaves CdlH as he will be a simple pilgrim again. If he does the the Invierno will post to that thread.

One pilgrim as of early today who started from his home in Poland. He has 5 credentials so far on this Camino. Although Phil had no pilgrims yesterday it is apparently still crowded on the Camino Real. Phil said no bags/backpacks piled up today at Albergue Trajana when he went for breakfast. It is a variant so I suspect it is bypassed more often than not.
 
At 8 pm in CdlH, the one Polish pilgrim was already asleep. Phil said he would wait until the sun went down and maybe lock up a little early to turn in. The pilgrim from Poland had done many Caminos and had started this one at his home in Gdansk, Poland. He has done the CF before and also the Norte and the Portuguese. He told Phil he has also done some other long distance walks from somewhere in Russia so he is very experienced. Although said he thought the Camino seemed pretty busy, that he had spoken to the owner of one of the albergues in Morotinos (not San Bruno, but the other one) who said he was closing next week because he has not been busy enough. Morotinos is not on a stage and is a very small town so it may be bypassed or overlooked by some pilgrims. He did call ahead to Mansilla de las Mulas to reserve a bed for tomorrow.

Phil said also Eric and his wife who are forum members came by to visit and say hello. He told Phil he was following on the forum and so Phil gave him an albergue tour. They are staying at Albergue Trajana.

He also had a visit from a non-pilgrim, a woman who said she wanted to reserve for a group of school children who were walking. Phil explained that reservations were not accepted. There was some language barrier and the woman finally left and said she would try to find someone who spoke English. Phil wondered if this was a legit request of if she was just trying to get some money from him. That has happened periodically in the past that people will try to take advantage of "foreign" hospitaleros especially since we are volunteers and may not know all the rules or traditions in a community. She did not return today and it would be a strange time for school children to be walking.

Tomorrow will be his last day "in charge" and he will hand off to whoever happens to arrive to take his place. After he cleans the albergue for the last time, he will make sure his bill is paid up at the store with Monica and get a few snacks for his walk on Friday to Reliegos. He will make sure all his laundry is done and repack his bag so he will be ready to leave early on Friday. He is pretty certain he will do the Invierno once he reaches Ponferrada and I forwarded him the thread from @mspath about the upcoming holiday weekend. He isn't scheduled to reach Ponferrada until the 10th or 11th at this point.

Tomorrow will likely be the last posts for this thread. I will try to look up the links to some of our other hospitalero adventures from years past for those who have not read them and are interested in the hospitalero life.
 
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At 3:15 p.m. there were seven pilgrims checked into the albergue. They represented Lithuania, France, US, and Italy so far. Phil's first US pilgrim was from Nebraska which is just one state over from where we live in the US although still probably several hundred miles away. It was good to hear the bustle of pilgrims in the background on his last day and he had to stop talking a moment to show someone where the Lavadoro is out back of the albergue.

Obdulio came by (not to split the wood) to try to repair a light in the bathroom that Phil had pointed out last week. He brought a bulb he thought might fit, but it ended up that the whole light fixture had to be removed and taken away. Guess that part of the bathroom will be a little dark for a while. Obdulio told Phil that the albergue would be renovated in the next year. Some work has already been done upstairs. Our handyman went across to the store and got two beers which he and Phil shared out front while talking to passersby (probably would not have happened in the US or someone would have reported them both for drinking on the job).

Phil said he did start a fire in the fireplace this morning which burned while he was cleaning. He may start another one tonight. We have had numerous discussions about the wood, wood pile, and fires in the stove for the pilgrims. He sent some photos of the wood piles (plural) and I would have had them tidied up by now. I would have also cleaned out the bike shed early in my two weeks, but these are the differences between our hospitalero styles. I'm sure I would have missed an interesting chat with a pilgrim or someone in town in my toiling. Phil spends more of his time with people than things.

As of midafternoon, there was no sign of his relief hospitalero so Phil did send an email to Paco, his contact at the city offices in El Burgo Ranero. At Zamora a few years ago we waited and waited and no one came to relieve us. It was a holiday (Jan 1) and the relief from Italy could not get transportation on a holiday. We were told where to leave the keys and that someone from the community would come let pilgrims in until he arrived.

Phil thinks now he will just take the bus to Leon tomorrow. He needs a haircut and beard trim before the next portion of his journey and he would arrive in Leon on Sunday if he kept to his walking schedule. Everything would have been closed. This will allow him Friday afternoon and all day Saturday (two nights in Leon) so he can do a bit of shopping and try to book a haircut. We always stay at the AC Hotel next to the El Cort Engles since I am a Platinum Marriott member and we love to collect the hotel points...We've been to Leon several times so he can find his way around. He's going to be 71 on Sunday and he can resume his Camino as a birthday gift to himself.

Another update later in the day to let you know if the hospitalero showed up.
 
Just to add my voice to others, I've really enjoyed these posts. Sorry to miss Phil as i hope to pass through CdlH in the next couple of weeks. Thank you
 
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As others have said, your style of writing brings us right there into the scene. I can almost feel the heat from the logs burning away! Thanks, and may the rest of Phil's camino go well.
 
The albergue is completo tonight so there are eight pilgrims for Phil's last night. He has had 52 pilgrims during the last 15 days which is more than any two week period since the albergue opened in mid-July. The other two week periods have been about 28 or 29 pilgrims. (Paco who is the hospitalero "local contact" called Phil the "champion".) Interestingly enough, no one has ever come to count and take the money. That's OK, because we can continue to believe that everyone was as generous as they were able to be.

The new hospitalero is Spanish and from Leon so he is relatively local. He arrived in the late afternoon and Phil has been showing him the ropes. Phil said he had been quite busy with orientation and also caring for the 8 pilgrims! He's ready to relinquish control in the morning although since he will be catching a bus mid-morning, he can still answer any questions about the a.m. routine and maybe he'll go eat bacon and eggs at Albergue Trajana. He told me he's leaving his rubber cleaning gloves behind so one less thing to carry in his pack.

All the pilgrims were out to supper when we spoke at 8:30 p.m. in Spain. Phil was going to prepare himself something to eat and I reminded him to call for his hotel reservation in Leon. He called me back because he was having trouble with his hotel app so I think he was just going to call them to reserve a room for two nights. He has had to set up his own Bonvoy (Marriott) account since sometimes in the past they have not wanted to honor a reservation that I made on my account on his behalf. We usually stay at a Marriott property in Madrid near the airport when we fly in and also when we leave and we've stayed at a variety of Marriott properties along the Camino over the years as a splurge from albergues. We usually even stay in the beautiful property in Santiago when we are there. (It is a renovated monastery.) I'm not promoting their brand, but that is just what we usually do since I get extra points and extra nights and extra nice room upgrades from them. Before the pandemic I traveled quite a bit to conferences and meetings and have been a lifetime "Platinum" member now for a few years.

Phil had settled up with Monica and his grocery bill for the two weeks was about 110 Euros. He had 5 coupons left and he paid cash for the rest. Coupons for the new hospitalero will come tomorrow per Obdulio who had visited earlier today. Phil got 10 euros per day of coupons which are accepted at both Monica's store for groceries and Albergue Trajana for meals, but not elsewhere in town. I think he saved back a couple of coupons for the relief hospi in case the coupons are not delivered tomorrow as promised.

The bus to Leon comes at 10:28 a.m. tomorrow and looks like it will stop at all the little towns before arriving in Leon at 11:50 a.m. He knows the way from the bus station to the hotel so that will be fine. Unless I hear something interesting from him before he goes to sleep, this will end the Waiting for Pilgrims in Caldazilla de los Hermanillos thread. I am sorry to have missed the opportunity to serve this year and look forward to us trying to serve as a team next summer somewhere. I just wanted to give those of you walking now or those at home dreaming about the Camino some idea of what its like to support pilgrims on the Caminos.
 
One small update/correction. The new hospitalero Emilio is from Madrid, but came by train to Leon, then El Burgo Ranero and was then transported by the hospitalero at the donativo in El Burgo Ranero to CdlH for his two week service.

Phil made it to Leon on the bus and got a haircut and beard trim.
 
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Fail to prepare? reduce your risk by buying this book full of practical info.
2nd ed.
J Willhaus said:
same deep divide in the numbers of men vs of women who attend.
Click to expand...
J Willhaus said:
Our first hospitalero gig in Zamora is here. Our second one at Granon is here. Our third one in Estella is here.
Click to expand...
I imagine more women because of the average age of parishioners

Yay, prequels!!! I got behind and was binge reading but telling myself “oh no, it’s almost over, stop reading and save some for later…”
J Willhaus said:
We usually even stay in the beautiful property in Santiago when we are there.
Click to expand...
AC palacio del Carmen is amazing.
 
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