111 - Camino News Update 3/6/24 - Featuring Santiago, Camino Mozarabe, Pilgrim House, San Martin Pinario, Pilgrim Photos of the Week, Age in Spain, Camino Angel Award Winners, and more…..
March 06, 2024Leigh BrennanEpisode 111
The Camino Cafe
111 - Camino News Update 3/6/24 - Featuring Santiago, Camino Mozarabe, Pilgrim House, San Martin Pinario, Pilgrim Photos of the Week, Age in Spain, Camino Angel Award Winners, and more…..
https://www.facebook.com/alberguelabiznagaFeaturing Santiago, Camino Mozarabe, Pilgrim House, San Martin Pinario, Pilgrim Photos of the Week, Age in Spain, Camino Angel Award Winners, and more….. with:
Johnnie Walker Santiago Leigh Brennan Rocco Rossi Lindsay Teychenne
The Camino Cafe's intro and outro song with thanks to fellow Pilgrim, Jackson Maloney. Original Song - "Finnis Terre" - written and performed by Jackson Maloney - Singer, Musician, and Songwriter. Connect with Jackson: https://open.spotify.com/artist/3fdQsSqq9pDSwKcWlnBHKR
Speaker 1:
Hello Pilgrims. It's Wednesday March 6th. I'm Lee Brennan, johnny Walker and our team will join us shortly. This and all the past episodes of the Camino News updates are available on Facebook, the Camino Cafe Podcast YouTube page and by audio on the Camino Cafe Podcast, available wherever you listen to your podcasts. Now let's get to it. Great news this week, the Pilgrim House reopened for the 2024 season and we want to visit them on opening day, just so we can get a little tour for you. Let's go.
Speaker 2:
Welcome to Pilgrim House. Come on in. What you see up front here is our living room, so to speak. This is a space that's really meant to house the social aspect of the Camino, the community, and so you're welcome to come and join and sit with us here. You can bring your friends, meet your friends. You can see a desk over here. It's kind of our operational hub in Pilgrim House, and this is where we help a lot of the practical needs. So if you have boarding passes to print, if you have laundry to do, we will help you with those things. We'll help you figure out how to find things in the city. We have some things we can share with you, like debriefing guides to help process your journey. Those can be found up front here, and so we offer all that through the front room and as you move through. The next room we have is the kitchen. You can see that through the window there and that's for pilgrim use. You may come in and use the kitchen. We have coffee, we have tea, you can grab a drink and sit down with us and chat about your journey, about whatever is on your mind for that day, and then, as I said, this is all about the community of the Camino. You're just come be part of the Pilgrim community here.
Speaker 2:
When you go through this door we're going to head to the back. We have a room that we call the Reflection Room and it's all about the solitude of the Camino. So if you need time to yourself to read, to write, to process, do that here. So follow me back. We've got a wall here with some art, some information. There's a board here you can interact with. We have a question every year, so we have a brand new question for 2024. So you can engage and answer that question for us and then all the way back you'll see a really beautiful Reflective Room.
Speaker 2:
We've got a few desks. If you want to sit in the right, we've got some couches and chairs to sit. We've got what works as a candle filled space to light a candle and kind of set the mood and really just make yourself at home. We've got a small library that if you like a book you can read it. We do ask that you leave it here, but they are good books, ideally suited to processing the Camino, and we will do on a daily basis. If people are interested, we will do what we call a Pilgrim debrief, and we meet back here for that frequently as well and that's a time to just process your journey and talk about what's been happening, think about going home and work that way, and so that's part of what we are. So we want to help with practical needs, we want to be social with you and we want to help process help you process your journey and think about returning home. So we're excited to have you Come visit us when you get to Santiago. We're super close to the cathedral.
Speaker 1:
Here's Johnny Walker with this week's weather report and the Pilgrim numbers. Hello.
Speaker 3:
Lee, hello everyone, this is John speaking to you from Santiago, Although the scene behind me is of the ascent, the Othabraero on the Camino Francesa and, as you can see, there's plenty of snow around and pretty cold here in Santiago. You can still be rainy and blustery Out there on the Camino Francesa in particular and on the Camino del Norte. Pilgrims need to be very careful of the changing weather. There has been snow around On Thebidon was cut off for a day or so and, of course, snow at the Cruz de Ferro. So it's very important to have pilgrims you look at the weather forecast and that you dress and you prepare accordingly and the pilgrims are still around. You know, since the 1st of January until the 4th of March, 5,799 compostelas have been issued here in Santiago and that means there are more pilgrims out walking parts of the route. Just in the last week, 988 compostelas have been issued here in Santiago and in total that means, compared to last year in the same period, 7% more programmes arriving and, as we say, we'll see whether that trend continues or not.
Speaker 3:
I have walked in winter many times. I've walked over to the Briro when you couldn't see the path for the snow. I was with a friend, we knew what we were doing, we were well prepared and we had all of the equipment. And I would also advise people always download the app left covers and register for it. I've done that. You send them a photograph, you send them your details and with GPS, they will track where you are. So if you need help, you can text them in English or call them and they will respond in your language and they'll know where you are and send help immediately.
Speaker 1:
Johnny will be back in a few moments with a special report. Rocco Rossi arrived in Santiago this past week and he wanted to share his favourite place to stay when he's in town. Let's see it.
Speaker 4:
There is the traditional entrance to the Plaza de Doia for those coming on the Cathedral of Francesca. Here is the Cathedral and over here you have the major seminary Pro tip. One wing of the seminary has been turned into a hotel, the San Martín Panario, and their website doesn't show it, but if you know the exact date of your time in Santiago, there is a special pilgrim raid. It's not unlimited, there are only a certain number of rooms, but for 29 euros, including an all-you-can-eat buffet breakfast, it is the best deal in the city and you cannot beat this location. Buen camino. Being off season, I totally lucked out the pilgrim rooms. The regular cells were under renovation, so I was upgraded, for the same charge of $29 a night, including breakfast, to this deluxe room, and it just keeps getting better and better.
Speaker 1:
Buen camino. I published two new episodes of the Camino Cafe podcast this week. They're great ones to listen to during your training walks and on commutes to and fro. The first one was the third annual interview with the board of the American Pilgrims on the Camino. This talk was so informative and it was so much fun getting to know them. And the second interview is with Dr Christina Jacobson, and she's a pilgrim, a professor and a professional singer-songwriter and she offers wonderful singer-songwriting combined retreats with a walk on the Camino. I hope you'll take a listen. Now here's Johnny Walker with his special report on awards for some very, very special pilgrims.
Speaker 3:
Hello everyone. As well as being a pilgrim and living in Santiago, I'm also the president of a charity called Age in Spain, and one of the things that Age in Spain does is it runs a good neighbour award, a campaign every year to find an example of really good neighbours throughout the country. And when we advertise this, we began to get nominations from pilgrims pilgrims nominating people along the Camino routes who had given them special help, and so we've introduced a Camino Angel award, and this year I'm delighted to tell you about the winners, and the overall winner is Juan José Sierra from Valencia, and he runs a website, wwwcaminovalenciaes, and he provides particular information on the route in the south, the Camino de la Lana, the Will route. But the pilgrims who nominated him spoke about the particular personal help and support he gives to pilgrims meeting them, giving them information, showing them around and generally being a really good pilgrim friend. Now we got many nominations, and so we decided to also issue some special commendations.
Speaker 3:
Commendations to Tania Valdez of the La Cala Pilgrims Inn. Tania took over this derelict building in Oya on the Portuguese coastal route. She's turned it into the most wonderful Pilgrims hostel, and the Pilgrims speak about her hospitality and the food that she provides, also nominated by a pilgrim to whom Gonzalo Thalo gave special help. Now we know Gonzalo. He lives in Santiago, he used to be the most helpful taxi driver in the city and he now runs a bar, the Conga 7, where some pilgrims congregate just near the cathedral. And for his friendliness and help and the help he always provides when it's needed, we commend Gonzalo Thalo.
Speaker 3:
And finally, a pilgrim wrote to us. They were suffering from the contracted COVID out on the Camino and they got in touch with Susan and Rothio from the Albergue Beeth Naga. They came, picked the pilgrim up, took the pilgrim to their albergue and nursed them back to health over several days and weeks and looked after them. And this pilgrim has a special place of funness in their heart. And to all of these winners we say, on behalf of pilgrims everywhere thank you very much.
Speaker 1:
Lindsay made it to Cordoba this week. Let's see how he's doing.
Speaker 5:
Hi there, lindsay. Here I'm on day 21 of my Camino Mazzarrabe. Today I walk from Cordoba to Cerro Muriano, which was a slightly challenging uphill walk of about 18 kilometres. Yesterday I had a rest day in Cordoba, taking in its rich architecture which preserves much of its Arabic and Muslim heritage. Before the day was over, though, I was keen to put on my backpack and back to the relative solitude of the Camino. The Camino route through these towns seemed to be very well planned to visit all the key sites, so I haven't missed out on anything.
Speaker 5:
It took me a while to get out of Cordoba because I was trying to find an ATM that wasn't going to charge me a lot of money to withdraw cash. I found in the past that any bank in the Euro 6000 network is cheap. I needed cash, as many places I've come through haven't accepted credit card. I eventually found one in the suburbs, well away from the Camino, but I got back okay and I arrived here. As much as I love the intense agricultural areas I've been through up till now, it was something of a relief today to walk in the forests. The wildflowers are making full use of the recent rain and the warm spring sun, and I'm hoping the forests follow me from now on. Tonight I have a private room in a hostel for 25 euros. I mean, what can only be considered the Camino Suite, with Camino memorabilia adorning all of its walls. So now I'm on the homeward stretch, and until next time, buen Camino.
Speaker 1:
And now for the pilgrim photos of the week. These are courtesy of Rocco Rossi and they are good and well. That's a wrap for this week's news. Thanks to our amazing team that contributed this week. We'll be back next Wednesday. And pilgrims, hey, we'll see you when you're in Santiago. Ciao.