MANAGING A HOSTEL ON THE CAMINO DEL NORTE Part 2: Days 6 to 15, 23rd Sep to 2nd Oct 2024

Описание: This video represents the second - and last - of the Miraz Hospitalero Diaries, being days six to fifteen (23rd September to 2nd October 2024) of our shift at Refugio San Martín.

In the past fortnight, we have welcomed 111 pilgrims from 23 countries (108 on foot and 3 on bikes):
19 Spaniards, 17 Italians, 13 Germans, 10 Dutch, 7 from Britain, France and Romania, 6 from the US and Poland, 3 from Austria and Belgium, 2 from Canada and Korea, and 1 from each of Argentina, Czechia, Hungary, Lithuania, Mexico, Slovakia, Switzerland, Uruguay, Venezuela and the Ukraine.

As predicted, our daily lives are largely like 'Groundhog Day' with little variation, apart from two shopping trips (Guitiriz and Friol), a walk to Parga market, and various interactions with the colourful locals, hence the last ten days being condensed into this video.

Along with the weather becoming more unsettled as we enter autumn proper we have seen a general drop in pilgrim numbers as we near the end of the season (the albergue closes the end of October). That said, in the past week we have had a maximum of 17 pilgrims (higher than during Jane's summer shift at Miraz) and, four days later, just the one pilgrim (Uruguyan Martín).

Some pilgrims inevitably remain in the memory: French Canadian Louis, walking the Camino in memory of his late daughter (and using her backpack); retired Dutch couple Jan & Fija, who had walked from their town near Rotterdam, leaving in March); and a Spanish man who was retracing his ill father's steps to collect all the stamps for the credencial his father had lost.

Another 'highlight' was the discovery that the lockers I had ordered off Amazon for the dormitorio were flat packed, and the subsequent realisation that dawned as to the intensive labour that was required to assemble them. Jane then beseeched Saint James for a pilgrim who could help with their construction, and lo and behold, the aforementioned Martín showed up - who runs his own hostel in Punta Ballena, Uruguay - and helped us with assembling the first one, which took three hours in total. The next day the second one took two hours, and the third about 80 minutes. The Miraz Committee has sent a 'round robin' to all CSJ members:
"𝘚𝘗𝘖𝘕𝘚𝘖𝘙-𝘈-𝘓𝘖𝘊𝘒𝘌𝘙!
"𝘈𝘴 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸, 𝘸𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘪𝘯𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘶𝘤𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘣𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘟𝘶𝘯𝘵𝘢 𝘥𝘦 𝘎𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘤𝘪𝘢 𝘵𝘰 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘷𝘪𝘥𝘦 𝘪𝘯𝘥𝘪𝘷𝘪𝘥𝘶𝘢𝘭 𝘭𝘰𝘤𝘬𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘪𝘭𝘨𝘳𝘪𝘮𝘴 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘺𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘯𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘢𝘵 𝘈𝘭𝘣𝘦𝘳𝘨𝘶𝘦 𝘚𝘢𝘯 𝘔𝘢𝘳𝘵í𝘯. 𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘴𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘣𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘪𝘯𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘰𝘳𝘮𝘪𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘺. 𝘞𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘢𝘭𝘴𝘰 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘶𝘺 '𝘱𝘰𝘶𝘤𝘩𝘦𝘴' 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘪𝘭𝘨𝘳𝘪𝘮𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘮𝘰𝘣𝘪𝘭𝘦𝘴 𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘯𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵, 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘩𝘶𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘦𝘯𝘥 𝘰𝘧 𝘦𝘢𝘤𝘩 𝘣𝘦𝘥. 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘴𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘭𝘰𝘤𝘬𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘱𝘰𝘶𝘤𝘩𝘦𝘴 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘴 𝘵𝘰 1,005€ (£840), 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘤𝘩 𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘦𝘴 𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘢 𝘥𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘪𝘯 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘣𝘶𝘥𝘨𝘦𝘵. 𝘌𝘢𝘤𝘩 𝘭𝘰𝘤𝘬𝘦𝘳 𝘩𝘢𝘴 𝘢 𝘴𝘭𝘰𝘵 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘢 𝘴𝘱𝘰𝘯𝘴𝘰𝘳’𝘴 𝘯𝘢𝘮𝘦 (𝘰𝘳 𝘯𝘢𝘮𝘦𝘴) 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘣𝘦 𝘪𝘯𝘴𝘦𝘳𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘰 𝘸𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘪𝘯𝘷𝘪𝘵𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘱𝘰𝘯𝘴𝘰𝘳-𝘢-𝘭𝘰𝘤𝘬𝘦𝘳!"

Incoming hospitaleras Annie (coming straight to Miraz after her two-and-a-half week shift as a hospitalera at Refugio Gaucelmo, Rabanal), Suzy and Netty have now taken over duties, while Jane and I make our way to Lugo, where we are hiring a car to start our northern Spanish road trip, to Donastia-San Sebastian, Lourdes and Chartres, via the Ruta de Cares in the Picos de Europa, three (count 'em!) Paradors, San Toribio Monastery and the 13,000 year-old cave paintings at Altamira. Watch this space!

Music:
1. 'A Herba de Namorar' ('The herb of love'), by Faltriqueira, a Galician quartet celebrating the Celtic heritage of this corner of Spain, interweaving polyphony with the sound of the 'pandereta' (tambourine).
2. Guitarist Samuel Diz (Tui, Galicia), playing the 'Española' (1933) by Rosa García Ascot (Madrid; married to the composer Jesús Bal y Gay, from Lugo), who was the only pupil accepted by Manuel Falla, and a friend of García Lorca. This piece opens Diz' album, 'Guitarra Clásica Galega', a second copy of which I have recently ordered and have donated to San Martín for the pilgrims to enjoy. On receiving my order, Diz emailed me, saying:
"𝘐'𝘮 𝘨𝘭𝘢𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘢𝘨𝘢𝘪𝘯 𝘪𝘯 𝘎𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘤𝘪𝘢, 𝘩𝘦𝘭𝘱𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘪𝘭𝘨𝘳𝘪𝘮𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘭𝘪𝘷𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘨𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘭𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘴𝘤𝘢𝘱𝘦. 𝘐 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘥𝘪𝘧𝘧𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘳𝘦𝘤𝘰𝘳𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴, [for example] 𝘐𝘮𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘦𝘴 𝘺 𝘱𝘢𝘪𝘴𝘢𝘫𝘦𝘴, 𝘢 𝘊𝘋 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘐 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘤𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘥𝘪𝘧𝘧𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘴𝘤𝘰𝘳𝘦𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 20s 𝘢𝘯𝘥 30s, 𝘪𝘯𝘤𝘭𝘶𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘈𝘵𝘢𝘳𝘥𝘦𝘤𝘦𝘳 (𝘚𝘶𝘯𝘴𝘦𝘵) 𝘣𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘎𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘤𝘪𝘢𝘯 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘱𝘰𝘴𝘦𝘳 𝘑𝘶𝘢𝘯 𝘑𝘰𝘴é 𝘔𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘤ó𝘯, 𝘢𝘧𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘥𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢 𝘱𝘪𝘭𝘨𝘳𝘪𝘮𝘢𝘨𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘚𝘱𝘢𝘪𝘯 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘪𝘳𝘴𝘵 𝘣𝘰𝘰𝘬 𝘣𝘺 𝘎𝘢𝘳𝘤í𝘢 𝘓𝘰𝘳𝘤𝘢. 𝘖𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘳𝘪𝘱, 𝘣𝘦𝘵𝘸𝘦𝘦𝘯 1916 𝘢𝘯𝘥 1917, 𝘩𝘦 𝘢𝘳𝘳𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘯 𝘎𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘤𝘪𝘢 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘪𝘳𝘴𝘵 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘪𝘵'𝘴 𝘢𝘮𝘢𝘻𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘥𝘪𝘴𝘤𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘧𝘦𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘱𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘷𝘪𝘦𝘸 𝘰𝘧 𝘊𝘰𝘮𝘱𝘰𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘢 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘤𝘦𝘴 𝘪𝘯 𝘎𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘤𝘪𝘢 𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦. 𝘈𝘧𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘫𝘦𝘤𝘵, 𝘐 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘰𝘱𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘶𝘯𝘪𝘵𝘺 𝘵𝘰 𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘤𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘭 𝘨𝘶𝘪𝘵𝘢𝘳 𝘰𝘧 𝘎𝘢𝘳𝘤í𝘢 𝘓𝘰𝘳𝘤𝘢, 𝘣𝘶𝘪𝘭𝘵 𝘪𝘯 𝘎𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘢𝘥𝘢 𝘢𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥 1906, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘐 𝘳𝘦𝘤𝘰𝘳𝘥𝘦𝘥 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘤𝘪𝘢𝘭 𝘨𝘶𝘪𝘵𝘢𝘳 𝘢𝘯𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘢𝘭𝘣𝘶𝘮: 𝘔𝘦𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘪𝘢 𝘥𝘦 𝘭𝘢 𝘮𝘦𝘭𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘰𝘭𝘪𝘢."