104 - Camino News Update 2/7/24 with Leigh Brennan & Johnnie Walker

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Speaker 1: 0:04

Hello Pilgrims. It's Wednesday, february 7th of 2024, and we are coming to you from Santiago de Compostela and all along the Camino routes. I'm Lee Brennan, and Johnny Walker will join us shortly. As Pilgrims, what and where we eat becomes a big part of our Camino, doesn't it, and we were curious to see what do Pilgrims enjoy eating the most while walking. We did a little survey and wow over. Well, in just a few hours, we had over a hundred responses. Surprisingly, though, not many items were repeated. We expected tortilla to win, but our favorites are as widespread as a number of countries we come from and the various routes we walk. Are you ready to find out the winner? Well, hold on, we'll get to that in just a few minutes, but first off, we have Johnny Walker. Johnny, what do you have for us this week?

Speaker 2: 0:52

Hello Lee, hello everyone. This is John in Santiago, in a very sunny Santiago today, still a wee bit chilly in the morning and in the evenings, but there's nothing quite like. Look behind me, the cathedral bathed in sunlight, the Plaza Obradoro bathed in sunlight, and I've decided to go for a wee walk. Come with me. I went right along the the Rua Franco, off the Plaza Obradoro to the Porta Fasheira where the Portuguese Camino, the route from Portugal, enters the city. I walked along past the two Marias, kept on going through the gardens and I came to the Mirador of the Alameda, which looks over. The University of Santiago is split into two campuses. There's the medieval campus in the old town around the cathedral and then this modern campus, not so modern now, but the southern campus which stretches out before us. Well worth walking round there. I'll take you there one day.

Speaker 2: 1:48

The pilgrims are still arriving in Santiago and, of course, in the last week, 529 pilgrims have arrived and you know that means since the 1st of January this year, 2601 pilgrims have arrived. Now the question is are numbers going up? Are they going down? Are they staying the same? Well, in the same period 1st of January to the 5th of February 2023, 2415, compostela is Mauritius, so already we're 200 Compostela ahead based on last year. So we'll see whether that trend continues and we'll be monitoring this as the year goes ahead.

Speaker 2: 2:31

But at this time of the year, as we said last week, we're all preparing for our pilgrimages.

Speaker 2: 2:36

Our Camino is an antique of going on a Camino at the beginning of September, beginning to think about that, and it's always exciting when you're preparing, but spare a thought for another lot of pilgrims who are going to travel by sea Now.

Speaker 2: 2:51

As you know, pilgrims in the Middle Ages from England and Scotland, wales, the Scandinavian countries, ireland had to come by boat to venerate the Tourist of James and they got a boat from wherever they were embarking from and sailed to Acarunya, and three pilgrims Simon Jenkins, ned Spencer, peter Hor experienced pilgrims decided that they would try to re-enact this and make this available to other pilgrims, so they've chartered a boat, the Morgenstham, which is a tall ship which has sailed to Acarunya before, and 36 pilgrims have signed up to be trainee sailors on the journey, which is going to take a week, from the 8th of June, to arrive in Caracaga, and they will be re-enacting the pilgrimages of all. Many of them will walk the pilgrims way, which runs from Padstow, in the north of Cornwall, to Fowie in the south of Cornwall, which is the end of the same way. Then they'll get on the boat and the boat will sail down the Fowie estuary.

Speaker 2: 3:57

It'll cross the English Channel, the Bay of Biscay hope it's not too rough for them and eventually arrive in Caracaga it's a very exciting journey and we will be tracking the preparations, the mounting excitement, and we'll be hearing much more of the sailors on the journey as time goes past. But I have to tell you I suffer easily from seasickness, so I will be walking the route from Caracaga to prepare some walking notes for these sailors when they arrive, and I'll tell you more about that later. That's all for this week, folks. Thank you very much for listening bye, bye.

Speaker 1: 4:33

One food item though that was mentioned more often than any other and drum roll, that was polpo. And here's what Brad Thomas Batten wrote about Popo, answering our survey in the Camino Cafe podcast group. Well, it has to be my first Popo experience on the French way in Malide. This is back in 1989, when Malide was a touch quieter than it is now. The Poporea we went into is still present now but has been modernized. It's on the main drag just across the street from San Roque.

Speaker 1: 5:04

Back in 89, the place looked like a large warehouse. On the inside, benches and tables are scattered up and down the sidewalks, a concrete floor, I believe the place was packed with pilgrims and locals. At lunch the Popo was cooked and prepared in large pots on the roadside outside. You'd line up there and you'd see the octopi cooking away on medium heat, bubbling in water. A couple of women would serve you up, plopping the Popo on wooden plates, cutting into pieces and softly drizzling the serving and olive oil, sea salt and paprika. Then you'd head inside, find a table full of pilgrims and let the celebration begin. Side dishes of salad and potatoes sliced at a half an inch or so would follow and a jug of wine and small glasses. It's an acquired taste, popo, but the atmosphere relieves any trepidation and that first bite rounds into the mouth and brings about a smile.

Speaker 1: 5:52

Well, responses proved over and over again our theory that hunger and tiredness may be some of the best ingredients. I loved Matt Norris' response in the Camino Pilgrim International Discussion Group when he said the pilgrims meal with a steak and fries and Tarte de Santiago was my go-to choice. But the day I climbed the Pyrenees I got two boiled eggs and a can of Coke from the food truck up on the top and that might have been the best meal I ever had up until that point. Dave hits. His response really cracked me up because it felt so true. He said in the Camino de Santiago All Routes group oh my, everything was my favorite Cafe Con Leche by the Gallons, fresh squeezed orange juice from those neat machines. The tortillas.

Speaker 1: 6:40

I ate well and still managed to lose 20 pounds. Burning north of 5,000 calories a day is great for the appetite. And what the heck, two hours into the next day, the calories you consumed. They were history. I just loved all the responses. There were too many for us to list and read them all. Check out the Facebook groups If you want to read through them. There are so many great food recommendations and restaurant recommendations. Links are wherever you are watching this. I caught up with Lindsay Taitionne. He's on the Vieta La Plata. Here's just a little bit of an excerpt from our chat yesterday.

Speaker 3: 7:15

Monday 29 from out of Sevilla, and it's about 630 kilometers, gives me about 370 to go before Santiago. The second time on the Vieta La Plata. I walked it last year for the first time and I started at the end of February, whereas this time I've started beginning of January. This last time I walked there were more pilgrims because it was a better season. It meant that I always had company. Now, for the last week, I've been the only person in each of the Albergues I've stayed at, so I feel like a bit of a king, just really enjoyed it because I could do whatever I wanted. The only thing is that if I left any rubbish, it was obviously me that left it.

Speaker 3: 8:00

You can't avoid walking over 30 kilometers. I'm a person that likes to walk 20 kilometers or under, and there's some days you just there's just no services in between. Morning I couldn't even get a coffee in town. I had to wait 15 kilometers before I could get to a bar to have my morning coffee. So I'm learning Spanish through Duolingo, and so one of the things about the Viadolà Plata is hospitality. People speak any English, so it's forcing me to actually start to ask simple questions and interpret the answers. So as I go along, I'm getting more confidence. Last year I had a company that translated for me, so I didn't need to do that. Very easy for me now to go into bars go into what appears to be full bars. I was once a bit intimidated by old Spanish men. You walk into a bar and all the heads turn and what should come in? Now I just smile at them and realize that I'm just part of the whole culture. So it's actually that part's very empowering. I don't feel like an oddball anymore.

Speaker 1: 9:10

Next up is birthday boy Rocco Rossi. He celebrated his birthday this week on the Via de la Plata.

Speaker 3: 9:17

Just made it to the historical center of Caceres. What an extraordinary place. Listen to the Spanish guitar and slow your breathing Totally in my happy place. My goodness gracious, the theater here in Merida is absolutely spectacular. I highly recommend a visit as you're walking the Ruta de la Plata.

Speaker 1: 10:13

From all the team here, especially Johnny and myself, may we say thank you for watching and pilgrims will see you in Santiago.

The Camino Cafe

104 - Camino News Update 2/7/24 with Leigh Brennan & Johnnie Walker

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