2 WEEKS TO GO

Training hikes this week were spotty.  Work and issues with Eddie's car made for much importing/exporting and little time in the evening for walking.  I did get in:

Friday - 6.68 miles

Sunday - 16.57 miles

This week, I'll be getting Eddie set with Skype and using the webcam.  He still won't text, so Whatsapp is out of the question.  

Below is the info I promised about the credential or pilgrim's passport and info about how my day's will go, while on the Camino.

What is a credential or pilgrim's passport?

While walking the Camino de Santiago, pilgrims carry a credential (credencial), a small, folded document in which the pilgrim authenticates his or her progress by obtaining stamps (sellos) along the way. Sellos can be obtained from many sources including many bars, hotels, town halls, museums and churches and from allalbergues.

The credential or 'passport', as it is sometimes called, is not to be confused with an official, government-issued passport. The former is strictly a record of passage along the Camino; the latter is a required document for international travel. Also see "Do I need a visa in addition to my U.S. government-issued passport?" on this page.

When registering at an albergue, you will be asked to present your credential to verify that you are walking or cycling the Road. In addition, upon reaching Santiago de Compostela, at the Oficina de Acogida de Peregrinos (Pilgrims' Office, Rúa do Vilar 1, MapQuest map, Google Earth image), you can present your stamped credential to confirm that you have walked at least the last 100 kilometers or cycled at least the last 200 kilometers, whereupon you will receive a compostela, a wonderful document that certifies your pilgrimage. 

Pilgrim credentials can be obtained from numerous sources—including from American Pilgrims—before setting out on the Camino, or from locations actually on the Camino.

This message is on the back of the Credencial del Peregrino:

Live In The Moment
Welcome Each Day - Its Pleasures and Its Challenges
Make Others Feel Welcome
Share
Feel The Spirit of Those Who Have Gone Before You
Imagine Those Who Will Follow You
Appreciate Those Who Walk With You Today 

What is typical day on the Road like?

Of course no day is 'typical' but this might be a common scenario. If you are staying in an albergue—and this is highly recommended—your day will typically begin about 6:00 a.m., although the 'bag rustlers' may have been up and about since 5:00 or before. You may also have endured a professional caliber roncador (snorer) during the night. A lot of peregrinos use earplugs! Sometimes a breakfast will be available in the albergue, although often not. Most likely you will be able to find something to eat nearby, but sometimes you may have to walk for an hour or more to find something open. Almost always this will be in a bar—Spanish bars serve a much wider purpose than they typically do in North America. Breakfast will typically be a café con leche - un grande, por favor, toast or bread, butter, jam and most likely freshly-squeezed orange juice.

Then you will walk. Or bicycle. Sometimes you'll travel alone, sometimes you'll find yourself traveling and talking with a complete stranger. You will learn to execute the 'language dance' wherein you determine the best common language between you. How late in the day you will walk will depend on many factors—your endurance, the weather, how many kilometers you want to cover, the spacing between towns. Many peregrinos stop for the day around 1:00 or 2:00 which is typically more or less when the albergues start registering for the night.

The albergues are where you will meet others on the Camino and this will become one of the most important memories of your experience. In the albergues a typical routine will be to claim a bed, dig some clean clothes out of your pack, take a shower, wash dirty clothes, take a siesta and then early in the evening find something to eat. In most of Spain eating in the evening before, say, 9:00 is very difficult—not to mention considered completely uncivilized! On the Camino it will generally be easier because there will be restaurants and bars catering to the daily cycle of the peregrinos. Then you will crash for the night, quietly praying to yourself that that guy next to you isn't one of the roncadores profesionales. Then you'll get up and do it all over again!

© 2014 American Pilgrims on the Camino