Albergue Ave Fenix

Another television crew ....
Last night just before Hospitalero/a dinner in walked another television crew this one from PLANETAzul they interviewed Jato and our dinner was once again at a very late time.

The Pilgrims ...
The pìlgrim stories are numerous and there are many who are walking injured. Those who started from France or Roncesvalles (just over the Pyrenees in Spain) have worked out their injuries and are usually better by VF del Bierzo. Those who have started from Leon or Ponferrada, closer to here, have just found their pains, blisters, tendonitis and knee pains. Two to three days before this alberguie there is a very steep down hill from Cruz de Ferro to Molinaseca and that kills the knees of those who are going to get problems. Dowhill hurts! But then the days walk out of VF del Bierzo is up the mountain to the village of O'Cebreiro which is the last obstacle before Galicia so the pilgrims are nervous about this day. About 1km before O'Cebreiro is the border of Galicia, the magical region which the camino goes through all the way to Santiago de Compostela. Gallicia is just like Ireland and is the seventh Celtic Nation.

There is a group of Canadians with beds reserved today and I wonder will it be Sue walking another group. I will find out later. BTW, the Canadians will arrive and will not have beds. The group of 24 Italians turned out to be 35 Italians ... there was much confusion for quite sometime. Jato say´s no the Canadians will only eat here, well here's hoping what he is saying is what I am hearing. Agnes and I, both multiple time pilgrims, are concerned for pilgrims who are walking towards what they believe is their reserved bed. Now I hope it is not Sue walking another group of Canadian pilgrims.

Another chance meeting ....
There was a woman here talking with Jato and others this morning whom I thought was a friend of all. I was working so I took little notice. Then later as Agnes and I were checking in the pilgrims she was at the table behind me and I heard the conversation which was now in English. I turned around and said, Tracey? It was Tracy Saunders who was supposed to meet with Sue last weekend and I could have met her then but sadly did not. That evening Tracy was in Finisterre and had trouble with her car and sent Sue a text that she could be with us in Santiago de Compostela.

 

When I read Tracy Saunders book, Pilgrimage to Heresy: Don't Believe Everything They Tell You, I was captivated by the story of Priscillian and wanted to know more. I had some email contact with Tracey then but I did not know her. We sat and talked and now I want her second book to be published asap. I want to know more. Tracy has continued on her journey but it was another special meeting from along the way and over the years.

What a day ....
We are Completo (no beds) as are the other albergues in the area. It is a very hot day and I feel so sorry for the pilgrims who must now walk on. We offer cold water and a rest but cannot offer a bed. There are hotels in the area but some pilgrims do not have the money for hotels which cost ten times what an albergue charges.

The guy from London who was allocated the last bed does not quite understand how lucky he is. I asked for his Credencial, he had no clue what I was asking for. He was simply walking the Camino from the stop before us, Ponferrada. We issued him a Credencial and he has a bed, this was at 1400 (2:00pm), in other words we filled up in two hours, we open at noon.