Thank you for the music.

I welcomed spring this year with a beautiful week on the Portuguese Camino.

We walked a trail that is familiar to me, from Porto to Valença.

We made it to the border between Portugal and Spain, and then we crossed into Spain just to say we did.

Six friends. 80 miles. 12 pitchers of Sangria. 28 Porto Tonicos. 16 plates of gambas. (give or take)

And SO MUCH MUSIC!

In between visits to the Camino, I forget how much I love the energy of this network of paths.

But once I get on the trail and see a yellow arrow or a Camino shell, my heart is all aflutter with Camino memories.

When I am on the Camino, all my other Caminos are present with me.

All my fellow pilgrims, past and present, are walking alongside me.

This Camino evolved out of a couple of desires expressed by my somewhat regular group of early spring walkers.

We wanted to go back to Portugal. Three years ago we walked the Rota Vicentina in Portugal and we all loved it.

And we wanted to hike somewhere (in Europe) that would be warm and sunny in March.

So we chose the Portuguese Camino. Once we settled on it, we reached out to other past spring walkers until we had a group of six.

We met up in Porto. Some arrived early, and some arrived late (delayed flights!), but eventually we all made it and were walking together.

Four of us started from the Porto Cathedral in the afternoon and walked out along the River Douro to the sea.

We did a short day just to stretch our legs and (for those based in the US) to reset circadian rhythms.

By late afternoon we were in Matosinhos having Porto Tonicos by the sea.

It was a perfect way to ease in. And Matosinhos was an easy hop from the airport for our late arrivals.

We stayed in a crazy bunk room that first night. (It’s fine. No one sleeps well on the first night anyway because of jet lag, right?)

We loaded up on coffee and fresh squeezed orange juice the next morning while we waited for our final hiker, Kelsy, to arrive.

And then we began together, ignoring a few tiny raindrops and the clouds.

We walked along the sea all day. Sometimes we walked on cobblestones, sometimes on pavement, and then most blessedly, on these wooden boardwalks that are so much easier on the joints than concrete.

Even with the clouds it was a beautiful day, and we were in high spirits to be walking together again.

This was the first full day of walking and it was all about catching up with each other and hearing what’s new.

I love to walk by the sea, and one day I want to walk the full Coastal Way in Portugal, but I so loved my time on the original route in 2022 that I wanted my friends to get to experience that as well, so we really just had this one full day by the sea (and a half day the day before).

Because we knew it was short, we tried to soak up our surroundings.

There’s a balance to stopping enough to take everything in, but not so much that the day drags on for too long.

We stopped to rest a couple of times, once for a snack and a leg stretch (and a nap for Kelsy who had literally just gotten off an overnight plane).

Then later in the day we stopped for a late lunch before leaving the seaside.

The sun even came out for a little bit. The little bits of morning rain were long forgotten.

We had a gorgeous lunch by the sea and then about an hour to go to get to our hotel for the night.

We stayed in a hotel that had an indoor pool and spa, a big step up from the bunkroom the night before! Three of the gals were even able to book last minute massages!

I spent over two hours in the pool and sauna. We had it all to ourselves and there was a large water spout in the pool that shot water at such a high pressure that it was like a thera-gun but with water. It was delightful!! Zoë discovered it and then we played in it for an hour at least, laughing that we were re-engaging our theme from last year on the GR7 of making love to the water.

But the true theme of this year’s trip was still coming…music.

We weren’t totally tuned into it yet, but there were hints as the hotel lobby area played total bangers all afternoon. We had to walk down a hall that was at least a mile long to our rooms and you could not help but dance as you walked down it to the music they were playing.

The next morning we transferred from the Coastal Route to the Central Route and started walking north on the original Portuguese Camino.

It was still pretty cloudy, but warm enough to be in shorts. (Among our group we vary in our desire for sun or shade, so someone is always happy!)

We carried on along the cobblestones to Rates, the site of Saõ Pedro, one of the oldest Romanesque churches in Portugal.

After Rates, we walked on towards Barcelos, the destination for the day.

We made one coffee stop in the morning and then a stop for lunch later on. When we stopped for lunch, I hoped we had only about an hour left to walk.

(I’ve learned that it’s better to have LESS to walk after we eat, especially if there are drinks at lunch.)

We ate lunch at a tiny bar that didn’t even have menus, but the waitress kindly listed off several sandwiches you could have for lunch.

I asked if I could have a salad and she said sure! It was a different combination than other salads I’ve had on the Camino. I’m used to the ensalada mixta in Spain, but I’m happy to have a salad in almost any form.

This one had hard-boiled eggs, chickpeas, tuna, olives, corn, tomatoes and melon.

Later that afternoon, I had some tired girls with me as we crossed the bridge over the river into Barcelos. We’d come 13 miles.

Barcelos is one of my favorite stops on the Central Portuguese Camino, probably because of the sweet Pilgrim Blessing they do at mass there, but also it’s a beautiful town on a river. You could easily spend a couple of days wandering around.

After we checked in and showered, we went to sit in the main square for the afternoon before going to chapel and dinner.

The pilgrim blessing was as sweet as I remembered it.

We laughed so hard at dinner that night and I think it might have been the result of a combination of tired + joy.

The next morning we set out in the rain. You have to put your rain covers on at least once in a week in order to justify carrying them, and gratefully, this was the only time we needed them.

I was so excited on this day because we were headed to Casa Fernanda, which is one of the most beloved stops on all Caminos. I couldn’t wait for my friends to experience Fernanda’s special brand of Camino hospitality and I was curious about who else we would meet.

This was one of only two nights on this trip that we were sharing rooms with other pilgrims.

The rain continued through the morning but broke around midday.

We made our usual coffee and lunch stops.

It seemed quiet on the trail, maybe because of the weather.

We had seen several other pilgrims leaving Barcelos, but we soon spread out over the trail.

We ate lunch at a place that was full of mostly locals as it was off the beaten path a bit.

They had two lunch plates you could choose from and one of them came with veggies and rice, so I asked to have just the rice and veggies, which was plenty.

After lunch, we only had a little ways left to walk to reach Fernanda’s house.

When we arrived, there were already three or four other folks there sitting in the garden.

We sat down and joined them, and Fernanda mixed up Sangria for us all to enjoy.

While we visited with each other, Fernanda made croquettes and chorizo with bread in her outdoor kitchen.

Then we all dispersed to take showers, do yoga, take naps, etc.

While we were doing yoga in the garden, four German students arrived to take the final spots in Fernanda’s back garden hut.

They threw their packs in the room and came back out to join us.

We were thoroughly entertained by this foursome, who sang several songs in German for us after dinner.

This night ushered in our music theme. We all took turns sharing songs and then sang ones we all knew until I was literally hoarse.

Then Fernanda’s husband Jacinto pushed the kitchen table back to make room for us to all dance.

And really, a kitchen dance is the best kind there is.

I had to take a shower before bed because I was so sweaty!

The next morning we came to breakfast a little tired, but excited for the SUNNY day!

We told Fernanda and all our other new friends goodbye and set out on the trail.

This day we were properly in the countryside and the sunshine all day, so it might have been my favorite.

It’s hard to say. There was something to enjoy every day of this walk!

But on this day we passed one million beautiful calla lilies. We’d seen a lot of them already, but never this many together.

And we stopped for coffee (and other bevvies) at a place where we could sit in the sun and eat from a giant bowl of kiwis that were just the right form of ripe!

I think we ate about 20 of them between us.

We were headed to Ponte de Lima this day, which is another favorite town on the Portuguese Camino.

You enter town along the river underneath the most lovely promenade of trees.

As we sat down to order lunch by the river a gal who was a contestant on the Spanish version of the Voice was setting up to sing for the afternoon. She was live streaming on Tik Tok or Instagram and she was so great.

We stayed for a long time listening to her and singing along to songs we knew.

It was one of those perfect sitting-in-a-square moments that I live for after a good walk.

Finally we pulled ourselves away from the riverside restaurant when our private concert ended to go check into our rooms, which had lovely views of the town.

We went and walked on the bridge at sunset before dinner.

The town is named after the bridge and the river it runs across.

It was a gorgeous night.

Then we went to dinner, and we interrupted a sweet lady’s 80th birthday party. We had to sit outside at first because the place was packed and the whole party was singing along with a man playing a guitar. Then as the guests started to go home, our waiter squeezed us inside. The temps were dropping and we were cold, plus we were so curious about what was happening inside.

One of the birthday gal’s friends started singing Fado songs a cappella. The whole place got quiet as her voice filled the room. I have read that the best Fado is a spontaneous experience and so I was so excited we were getting to listen in. When she finished, we all applauded and I went over to thank her and ended up meeting Alice, the birthday girl, and all her friends, one of who had come over from Madeira from the event and told me I need to come hiking there next.

The whole evening was one of those wild, magical experiences that you aren’t sure was real after you leave. Did that really happen? We asked ourselves after the portal we had stepped into closed after Alice and her friends paraded out at the end of the evening, after many hugs and kisses goodbye.

But I have a small reminder that it was real: a book of poetry that Alice had written and self-published for the occasion. When she discovered how close our names were, Alice and Alison, she inscribed one of her books to me, and now I’m using it to study Portuguese.

The next morning the sun was shining again as we crossed the bridge to head up the hill on our biggest climb of the week.

We left Hayley behind to hang around gorgeous Ponte de Lima on this day because her knee was hurting her so much.

As we walked over the hills into the next village we heard a choir singing. We couldn’t figure out where it was coming from at first, but we finally decided that the music was coming from a church that was far away on a hill. We think they were projecting the service on a speaker on the outside of the church, maybe because they know pilgrims are walking by and will hear the music.

We made it to the top of the hill around noon and sat out in the sun for rest. Lizard time, Kelsy calls it when we have little naps in the sun. I’m a fan.

Then a little while later, we had lunch on the side of the trail at a little cafe. I love the Camino for its MANY roadside cafes.

When we got to Casa da Capela, where we were staying for the night, the big surprise was that there was a pool and it was open! It was absolutely freezing but Zoë and I jumped in anyway and then headed straight to the hot tub.

Our host served a yummy dinner, lots of bits at the beginning…bread, cheese, meats, olives.
And then a vegetarian hash with eggs and potatoes and I don’t even know what all, but it was delish. As was breakfast the next morning.

We loved this spot, just a little bend in the road between Ponte de Lima and Valença.

Our last day of walking came oh-too-soon. We only had a short 8-9 miles to go into Valença.

It was another gorgeous day, with lots of final arrows, shells and photos.

I think this little taste of the Camino definitely had these gals wanting to come back for more.

We had a very sweet week together and I would go right back tomorrow and do and all over again.

We ended in lovely Valença with the beautiful blue tiles and textile shops everywhere.

Valença’s old town is preserved within its medieval fortress walls.

We had lunch in a sqaure, did a bit of shopping and sitting in the sun.

A final bottle of Tinto Verde.

A last wander at sunset, across the bridge into Spain and back again to Portugal.

One more dinner together. And one more sleep.

Goodbye Portuguese Camino! We’ll be back one day!

Many of the photos in this post come from my fellow hikers: Kristie, Zoë, Koko, Hayley and Kelsy! I’m super thankful to them for trusting me to lead them on this adventure. 

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I often receive emails with questions about how to plan a Camino or about the Camino in general.

There is A LOT to know about the Camino.

There are over 200 recognized Camino routes. I have barely scratched the surface of Camino walking! So of course, I can’t possibly cover everything, but I can tell you what I tell folks when they ask. And maybe, if you find yourself planning a Camino, which, by the way, I highly recommend, you might find some of it helpful.

If you ask me how to plan your Camino, first, I’ll start by asking you some questions. The answers to these questions can help you map out the best Camino for you, which is important. There are as many ways to do the Camino as there are people walking it. I believe that the Camino’s accessibility is part of what makes it such a great experience, so please feel the freedom to craft your Camino your way. 

And part of how you do that is by asking and answering questions:

Do you want to complete a Camino or just walk on a Camino path somewhere?

How much time do you have to walk?
When do you want to go?

Do you want to walk by yourself or with others?
Do you want to stay in communal hostels or in bed and breakfasts/hotels?

Do you want to carry your stuff or use a luggage service?

So let’s take those questions one by one.

Do you want to complete a Camino or just walk on a Camino path somewhere?

All Camino roads lead to Santiago de Compostela, the official end point of the Camino. Do you want to walk into Santiago de Compostela on your trip or are you looking for a pretty section of the Camino to walk?

If you want to reach Santiago on your Camino, then you take the amount of time you have to walk and work backwards from the town. If you have a chunk of time and you just want to spend it “somewhere” on the Camino, then I might recommend a more scenic stretch of the Camino that does not necessarily get you all the way to Santiago.

How much time do you have to walk?

So if you know you want to reach Santiago and you have a week, consider walking the last 100 km from Sarria to Santiago. If you have 35 days, maybe you want to walk the 800 kilometers from St Jean Pied a Port and walk into Spain from France. If you have two weeks, consider walking from Astorga to Santiago or taking the Portuguese Camino from Porto. 

If you have a week to walk and you don’t mind if you reach Santiago this time, you might walk from St Jean Pied a Port to Livorno. That way, you will have walked the “beginning” of the Camino Frances and if you fall in love with Camino walking, you can come back and pick up where you left off. Another fun week would be to walk from Irun to Bilbao on the Camino del Norte or you could walk all the way to Santander if you have two weeks. When choosing a random section of the Camino, if you only have a week or two, it’s best to pay attention to which entry and exit points are easier to get to. You don’t want to end your walk in a tiny town with no bus or train service. 

Also in choosing a route, ask yourself if you are most after the “Camino camaraderie” or scenery/beautiful trails. My favorite trail in Portugal is the Rota Vicentina in the south of the country, but I loved walking the Camino Portugues into Santiago for the traditional “Camino” experience. 

On the final 100km on the Camino Frances and on the Camino Portugues, there will be lots of other pilgrims. 

When do you want to go?

The Camino routes in Spain are open all year long, but if you go between May and September, the weather will be warmer (so you can carry less) and there will be more fellow pilgrims. 

I have walked the Camino as late as November, which had its own kind of charm. Fewer pilgrims but strong camaraderie. We didn’t book ahead because we weren’t competing for beds, but also a lot of albergues were closed for the season. But the weather was definitely a challenge most days. (We had rain, snow and sleet on the trail.)

If you have flexibility I recommend April-early June before it gets too hot in Southern Europe or late September-October. The routes are very popular from May to September, so I would book lodging ahead of time, which brings us to the next question.

Private albergues vs public albergues? And b&bs or hotels?

Some pilgrims really like to just go with the flow and walk as far as they can and then find a bed. Most of the time, I am not that pilgrim. I like to map out how far I am going each day. I know myself and about how far I can walk each day. And I also find that I can walk as far as I have planned to walk. I would posit that even if you know where you are ending up each day, you can still go with the flow, stop for breaks when you want, take as long as you want throughout the day, but while still having an exact destination in mind so that you know you have a place to sleep and (if using a transfer service) where to send your luggage each day. 

So when you get ready to start making your bookings, decide if you want to stay in hostels or in private rooms. If you’re walking with a friend or two, you can usually get a private room for close to the same price of 2-3 beds in a shared bunk room. (This is one advantage of walking the Camino with others.) If I am walking on my own, I usually do a mix of private rooms and hostels. 

I stay in a private room about every third night. After a couple of nights in hostels, I just want to get a really good night of sleep, be able to go to the bathroom in the middle of the night without putting on clothes and not listen to other people snoring or alarms going off at 5:45am. 

But I love an albergue that has a shared meal option, so that you are at the dinner table with others and you have a chance to meet and talk to other pilgrims in shared spaces. 

A lot of public albergues do not take reservations (although more and more do) and you have to bring your own sleeping bag or sleeping bag liner (summer), so I lean more towards private albergues that have linens and duvets so I don’t have to carry them. Many private albergues also have towels and toiletries. (More things that don’t have to go in my pack.)

If you are walking your Camino in the summer, as a treat, I would look for places with a/c and/or swimming pools for at least a few of the nights.

You can book rooms ahead of time easily with Gronze, which has the best and most updated lodging lists that include hostels. The website is in Spanish but you can use a browser to translate it if you don’t read Spanish. Or if you prefer, you can use booking.com or even a Camino guidebook to find places to stay. 

Do you want to carry your stuff or use a luggage service?

For me, figuring out the answer to this question is all about how much stuff you want to bring. My favorite way to Camino is to carry my small 24 liter pack. If I am walking alone, I don’t transfer anything and I don’t store things in Santiago for before/after the trip. You can buy a new outfit in Santiago if you’re sick of your hiking clothes. Honestly you can buy anything you need on most Camino routes. 

But usually when I lead a group on the Camino, I have the option of luggage transfer because it’s quite hard to get people to leave home without over-packing. Haha. But I’m training folks. For about half the trips I lead, we just take smaller packs. You’ll be amazed at how you just don’t need that much, especially in the summer months. And it’s so freeing to have less. Because you are moving every night, the small pack keeps you from exploding (as much) all over the room every day, and it’s quick to pack up in the mornings. 

However, this is an area where it’s helpful to know yourself. The handy thing about the luggage transfer is that you can take along the extra shoes and then change if something is not working. You can wear tennis shoes on easy days and hiking boots on harder days. You can leave your rain gear in the suitcase on sunny days and only carry your water and your snacks in a day pack. 

There are all kinds of reasons that some people just can’t carry a backpack and so it’s great that the luggage transfer service is available. You can book it online at Correos and make adjustments to your schedule right up to before you leave if you need to. 

So once you know how long you’re going, when you’re going, what kinds of places you want to stay and what you’re bringing, you have most of your Camino sorted. You just need to buy a plane ticket and book your lodging. You’re on your way.

BUT HERE ARE SOME OTHER QUESTIONS YOU MIGHT HAVE

Can someone else plan my Camino for me?

Yes! Two services I recommend for doing most the planning for you: Ramble Worldwide or MacsAdventure. These services will also book your luggage transfer and for an additional fee will get you from the airport to the start of your walk if you want. I have worked with both of these companies over the years and they are both great. Ramble Worldwide even does a group tour from Sarria if you want to walk with a group. (I lead tours for them a few times a year.)

How do I train for the Camino?

What I love about the Camino is that people from all walks of life make their way to this trail. All ages and all varieties of fitness levels are represented. Many people do it without any preparation, but the more you do ahead of time, the more you are going to enjoy your Camino.

Here is a great 12 week training plan for walking the Camino. If you find it hard to keep the schedule this training plan suggests, incorporate as much of it as you can.

Mostly I tell people to just get walking. Walk to work. Walk to the store. Google how far it is to the places you normally drive. For the places that are less than 5 miles away, start walking. Walk at least 4 days a week. Start slow and build up. Walk in the shoes you are going to wear on the Camino and carry the backpack you are going to take.

What shoes should I wear?

People walk a lot of the traditional Camino routes in every possible kind of footwear. It is such a well established path that you don’t necessarily need hiking boots. I walk the latter sections of the Camino in trail runners, so not a full on hiking boot but a bit more supportive than a tennis shoe. But if I’m hiking for longer than a week, I walk in a full hiking boot. I find I just need the support for longer treks. 

My favorite hiking boots are Scarpas and my favorite trailrunners are Altras. But I have a wide toe box with a narrow heel so those are the brands that have worked consistently for me. So try on lots of different shoes to see what works best for you. Buy several pairs and walk around for a day in your house to figure out which ones feel the best over time and then return the rest. Or buy from REI because they will let you return them even after you hike in them!  

How do I get to/from the airport in Santiago/Madrid/Barcelona?

Follow up/similar questions to this one include:

Should I fly into Madrid and then make my way to Santiago? 

If I find a cheap ticket to London, then can I just book a separate flight to Santiago?

If you are short on time (like you don’t have time to visit London/Madrid/city you are flying into), then book a flight all the way to where you are going. If possible, I book a multi-city flight to fly into where I’m starting and out of where I am finishing.

If you’re walking from Sarria to Santiago, fly in/out of Santiago, get a bus to Sarria and then walk to Santiago. If you’re walking from St Jean to Livorno, fly in/out of Pamplona. Or you can fly into Pamplona, get a bus to St Jean and then fly out of Livorno. If walking from Porto to Santiago, I’d fly into Porto and out of Santiago.

Flying in/out of different airports or into smaller towns tends to be more expensive on the front end, but whenever I try to fly into a bigger city to get a cheaper flight, I usually spend whatever I saved on airport hotels because I end up needing to stay in that town in order to fly out the next day. That is in addition to the cost of buses/trains from the city. Also I lose a day on either end, which I don’t mind if I have plenty of time. There is a new fast train from Madrid to Santiago that I would totally take if I was trying to spend some time in Madrid.

Also if you fly into a big town and then book a budget airline (Ryanair or Easyjet) separately, you have to give yourself a lot of time between your arrival flight and the departing one. As they are not linked, if you miss your flight, you will have to buy another one at the last minute. Also, the budget airlines charge extra for any bags you carry on so the “cheap flight” isn’t always as inexpensive as it seems. 

To figure out the best way to get from one place to the other I use the app Rome2Rio. To buy train tickets in Spain I use Spanish train app/website Renfe and for buses I use the local bus apps, often it’s an Alsa bus I need but it’s good to check all the options. For checking flight prices, I use Kayak and Skyscanner to set alerts for flights I’m watching.

How do I navigate the Camino? Do I need a guidebook?

I use Alltrails for all hiking navigation these days. I pay for the subscription so I can download maps and have them offline. They still work with my phone on airplane mode.

You can also use a guidebook if you want, but I don’t think they are super necessary. I usually read one from the library before I go and make notes of anything I want to remember because I don’t want to carry it.

For the Camino Frances and Camino Portugues, all you need to do is follow the arrows. Really! They are so well-marked. For lesser marked routes, I sometimes download a guidebook ahead of time, but I usually find that just the map in Alltrails is enough.

I also use the Buen Camino app to see all the info for each town.

Should I read anything else before I go on the Camino?

Isn’t the Camino Frances really crowded? Especially the part from Sarria to Santiago?

There are so many different opinions about this but I actually think it is one of the benefits of the trail. It is amazing to get to experience the feeling of walking with people from all over the world to the same place. It’s beautiful to me. And if you lean into it, you’ll have your world widened by meeting so many people. But also, you might have to wait in line for a bathroom or a coffee. Even this can be an opportunity to just enjoy the slow pace of walking and meet someone new. 

I find that if the path feels a bit full in the morning, over the day you get spread out on the trail and it’s not that bad. And because so many are walking, you will find that there is water/drinks/food/bathrooms wherever you need them, which makes the walking really easy to me. You just follow the other folks on the trail and stop whenever you need a rest. 

One way you can avoid a little of the congestion is to book places to stay that aren’t in the main towns. I usually do a little bit of this but it’s tricky because you have to make sure they serve an evening meal since you’re not close to the restaurants in town. One thing I have found is that after we finish for the day, sometimes folks don’t want to walk a long way to dinner because they are tired. So it can be a relief to stay in places where they serve dinner and breakfast in addition to having rooms so that when you arrive for the day, you don’t have to move again unless you want to.

What do I pack for the Camino?

I have two Camino packing lists, one for if I am carrying only my 24 liter backpack and another packing list for if you are transferring a carry on suitcase every day while only carrying a small day pack on the Camino. 

Like I said earlier, when I take folks, sometimes we carry our packs and sometimes I have everyone bring a small day pack and a carry-on suitcase, and then I have the suitcases moved every day. It really depends on the group I am taking, but if possible, I prefer to make the decision ahead of time because if you pack in a large backpack and then decide on the trail that you want to start shipping it, then you need to purchase something else to carry while you walk because you still need something for your water, rain jacket, etc. 

I have a (very rambly, unpolished) video showing what to pack in a small backpack for a week or two of hiking that you can watch if you want. It’s a video I made for folks who are coming hiking with me so it won’t all apply to your Camino. I’ve also done a video for if you are traveling with a day pack and moving bags. This second video was made as we were coming out of the pandemic, so there are some dated bits. Also, I mention buying SIM cards ahead of time but now you can get an inexpensive eSim on Airalo or a similar service, if you have an unlocked phone. 

Do I need trekking poles?

I don’t use trekking poles on most of the Camino Frances or the Camino Portugués. It’s mostly level paths so I don’t find that I need them. If you change your mind you can buy them there. I do use trekking poles for hiking harder trails and for sections of the Camino that have more elevation.

Do you have specific recommendations for where to eat or stay?

I stay and eat at different places every time I go, and there are always new albergues and cafes opening, so it’s impossible to keep track of everything. However, I do have a few favorites that I try to not miss when I head to the Camino, so I’ll list them below for each Camino.

Camino Frances

I recommend staying at La Casona de Sarria if you start in Sarria.

In Portomarin, we always hit up D’Gusta Cafe for breakfast before we hit the trail. Yummy coffee, bacon and egg option (unusual on the Camino), tostadas and other pastries. 

Casa Roan Casa Rural This family-run rural stay is off the trail a bit (near Ligonde), but they will come pick you up from the Camino, feed you dinner, give you a beautiful room, feed you breakfast and drive you back to the trail. I don’t generally like to leave the Camino, but one year I was trying to shorten the stage from Portomarin to Palas de Rei, so I ended up staying here and now I always go back. Their outdoor spaces are like a little retreat on a sunny afternoon. 

Casa Domingo has my favorite cookies and pastries on the trail. 

For a splurge experience, 1930 Boutique Hotel in Arzua is maybe the most beautiful hotel on the whole Camino Frances with an exquisite dinner (and breakfast) experience. You’ll never want to leave. If you want to stay in a hostel in town but just want a special dinner spurge, they have a sister restaurant in town that might be your best meal of the whole Camino: Casa Nené.

If you miss everything else on this list, don’t miss the little farm shop right on the Camino called A Granxa de Tato. If you are staying in Arzua and you didn’t get breakfast, wait until you get here and have breakfast here, in the garden if it’s a pretty day. If it’s cold, there is a fireplace inside. Cozy inside and out, I have found I can spend hours in this tiny spot looking at the artwork and reading the messages on the communal board left by other pilgrims. I have a gorgeous painting hanging on my wall that my Camino group bought here for me one year.

Camino Portugues

Do not miss staying at Casa Fernanda.

What about the spiritual experience of the Camino? Do I have to be religious? Or Catholic?

The Camino has a long beautiful tradition of being a spiritual pilgrimage, but there are plenty of folks doing the Camino as “just a walk.”

However, sometimes folks who are looking for a deep spiritual journey don’t find it to be as meaningful as they had hoped and sometimes folks who are “just doing a walk” end up finding the experience to be wildly meaningful.

Wherever you find yourself, go with an open heart.

I like to go to a few pilgrim masses along the way, even though I am not Catholic. And I always appreciate the Pilgrims’ Mass in Santiago.

I love reading the traditional pilgrim blessing out loud in the mornings before we walk.

There are lots of simple ways to create space for meaning on the Camino.

I’ve walked with a fellow pilgrim who chose to be silent in the mornings, to let the trail be her companion and to give herself the gift of meeting each day without having to talk. Another pilgrim who is Catholic wanted to find a mass every evening before dinner if possible, marking the end of her day with the routine of communion. Once on Sunday, when it was snowing on the Camino and we were freezing, a group of us decided to stop for mass mid-morning, as much in the hope of waiting out the weather as out of a desire to go to Mass. The tiny service ended up being one of the best gifts of that Camino.

I love these words that were written by a fellow pilgrim about how our bodies become prayers while we are walking. These were written by Margaret Hebblethwaite on walking St Cuthbert’s Way:

I see a pilgrimage as a way of turning my body into a prayer. Most of us do not pray well enough or often enough, but on pilgrimage I do not have to do anything clever with my mind: I just reach towards God with my body in a way that is both difficult and simple. It is difficult because I get blisters and sunburn and aching limbs, but the spiritual uplift comes because of the physical effort, not despite it. It is simple because all I have to do is put one foot in front of the other and go on doing that all day. That action is a prayer because it is a striving towards God, a movement towards a place made holy by the influence of others – the saint who is the inspiration of the pilgrimage, and the many good people who have gone there before me, seeking God.

I love to remember that so many good people have gone before me on these paths and to think of my own body as striving towards God as I take each step. There’s nothing else I have to do today but walk.

Do you have any other important Camino advice?

For all Camino planning, the best advice I can give you is to do your best to ‘know thyself’ ahead of time and then to make the best of what you end up planning. 

A couple of examples:

Luggage Transfer vs Carrying Everything: You probably know if you’re going to find carrying a full backpack for 10+ miles in the sun to be an exciting challenge or a total bummer. If it’s the latter, book the luggage transfer. But if you want to carry everything and then you arrive and are discouraged that you’ve chosen that for yourself, there is always the option to ship your pack forward tomorrow.

Communal Hostels vs B&Bs/Hotels: Are you introverted or extroverted? Do you want to talk to people all day on the trail and then be by yourself in the evenings or vice versa? Are you ok to eat by yourself or would you rather have other folks around? Book what you think you will enjoy and then make the best of what you’ve booked. If you need to cancel something because you find yourself wanting more private rooms and or more community, that’s ok!

Mainly, just get your plane tickets ASAP and everything else will fall into place. You’re going to have a great time no matter what! Enjoy the journey!!!

Once you decide to go on a Camino,

You have already begun your ancient pilgrimage.

By committing to this walk,

You have started your journey.

In fact, every step you take to prepare to walk the Camino is actually part of your Way.

I hope that excites you as much as it does me.

The first step on any epic journey is the one you take out your front door.

In Norway, they call it the “doorstep mile.”

And every time you walk out your front door to go for a walk, you are taking the hardest step there is.

The beginning.

Once you’ve begun a journey, everything else is just an obstacle to be faced along the way.

But since you’re already on The Way, you have everything you need with you in order to face whatever comes.

Whatever is waiting for you around the next bend in the path is just something to walk through.

So consider that all the other things you need to figure out are just the next steps on your path!

Buen Camino!!

XO
Alison

PS. The Camino is one of my favorite topics of conversation, so please do ask any questions you have in the comments and I will do my very best to answer them. I have written loads about the Camino on this blog. Lots of stories, but also maybe some helpful details there.

PPS. Also, this online Camino Forum is a wealth of information. You can search old threads (most of the questions you have thought of have been asked), but also folks are super generous to answer questions for new pilgrims who are starting out. The Buen Camino app has lots of info, both for on the go and for planning ahead of time. 

PPPS. Most years, I take a small group of 6-8 gals on the Camino. If you would like to walk with our camaraderie in 2027, please get in touch. (alison AT alison chino DOT com)

The post How To Plan A Camino appeared first on Alison Chino.

Walking long days can push you to your edge.

So when you’re walking long days with other people, sometimes everyone’s edges bump up against one another.

But more often, what comes out is something beautiful.

Someone will have a blister, and someone else will have exactly what they need.

Or someone runs out of snacks, and someone else offers an extra tangerine.

Often it’s in the small things that you see love on the Camino:

Slowing your pace just enough that the person next to you won’t fall behind.

Carrying your roommate’s suitcase down to the lobby.

Grabbing an extra coffee or an extra cold drink.

A host offering to find a restaurant in town where 12 people can sit together.

Someone listening to someone else tell about losing someone they love.

Someone making someone laugh when they are too tired to keep going.

On the Camino, there is love to be found every day if you are awake to it.

And I suppose that is true everywhere in the world.

But on the Camino, I am paying better attention. I am watching for it. And I think maybe I am more ready to give love as well.

Ted and Stephanie, who you might remember as the owners of an extra suitcase, arrived on the Camino after they had been traveling together all over Europe. They were sightseeing, but they were also still working remotely, so they would start their work day in the afternoon.

I expected that they might be tired of traveling and juggling work. I thought they might even be a little tired of each other when we all met up in Porto.

But they were not. Far from it.

They literally held hands every day while we walked the Camino. Not all day, but at multiple times throughout the day. It was absolutely precious.

They were good-natured and genuinely happy to be together. And seemingly happy to be with all of us as well.

They showed up with love on the Camino.

And this has been a theme all year…folks showing up with hearts open and ready for the walk and for the new friends they are going to make along the way.

It’s been fun to watch.

Since I often pray that I can meet everything and everyone in my path with love, I have enjoyed learning from others this year about how to do just that.

Mini Walking Stories is a project I’m doing this month to catalog a fabulous year of walking. During December, I’m inviting you to come along with me on one of the walks I took in 2022. Read more stories here. Or subscribe to get stories to your inbox here.

The post Mini Walking Stories: Love on the Camino appeared first on Alison Chino.

Hey y’all, do you think you can all be ready in an hour to walk to Santo Antonio church together for the pilgrim blessing?

We had just finished a long day of walking, but I had read about a pilgrim’s mass at a church in Barcelos that I wanted to attend. I told everyone that it was totally optional.

You can just meet us at the restaurant if you want a little more time to decompress after the day.

But one fun detail about this group was that they were consistently game for whatever I threw at them. They were all ready to go to church at the appointed time.

We planned to slip in the back pew, maybe not even stay for the whole service if it ran long. We had an 8pm dinner reservation.

But two volunteers met us at the front door and ushered to the special seating reserved for pilgrims. We sat down off to the left of the congregation in a choir stall, so that we were facing everyone.

I guess we won’t be slipping out early, I whispered to Stephanie.

The church was packed on this Tuesday evening mass, not with pilgrims, but with folks from town for whom I assumed this practice of evening mass was a regular one. There was singing and readings and faces lit with joy.

Everything was in Portuguese, so our group plus one other pilgrim from Germany, sat and joined in where we could. Sometimes a chorus would repeat and we could sing part of it.

At the end of the service, the volunteers brought us to the front of the church for the special pilgrim blessing, which the priest read in Portuguese, English and German.

The whole crowded church participated in the blessing. You could tell that this business of blessing pilgrims is a ministry that they all embrace as part of being a church along The Way.

We learned that many of them have walked the pilgrimage route themselves. They have a heart for folks walking the Camino, so they make sure that two volunteers stand outside the church every evening to welcome any pilgrims who come.

When the service finished, our volunteers ushered us off to a side room where they had gifts waiting for us: a bookmark and a list of other places along the Portuguese Camino that offer pilgrims’ mass.

There was a world map on the wall full of pins representing the many places from which pilgrims had journeyed to walk this Camino. We added our pins to the others. We were excited to place the first pin on the state of Arkansas.

Joy

They also asked us each to choose a rock from a collection that had been hand-painted by a woman in their church who especially loves the Camino.

Diane chose one that had the world JOY on it. She later said that she chose it because it echoed her Bible reading from that morning. She had read these words from Psalm 5:

Let all who take refuge in you be glad,

Let them even sing with joy.

She said later that her rock is special to her because it’s a reminder of God speaking the same message to her from all different directions, just for her heart. JOY was the world God continued to speak to her throughout our time on the Camino.

Before we left, the volunteers asked us if we needed anything. Did we have a place to stay that night? What about water? I had the sense that if we had presented any immediate physical needs, these ladies would have done whatever they could to meet them. When we walked back through the church, we paused to take a photograph with the priest who had blessed us.

He and Diane’s son, Alex, were speaking together in Spanish, and I think they could have continued visiting well into the evening had we not interrupted them.

We left the church with hearts full and with our new pilgrim friend from Germany, Kerstin. She joined us for dinner that evening and brought along another friend as well. At the restaurant, we sat chatting with them for so long that they missed their curfew at their hostel. They had to find someone to open the door and let them in.

We saw Kerstin many more times on the Camino and shared several more meals and masses. I felt like our shared experience at Santo Antonio in Barcelos bonded us together for the journey. Meeting her was one of the many gifts we received at our special pilgrim blessing in Barcelos. We will remember it always.

Mini Walking Stories is a project I’m doing this month to catalog a fabulous year of walking. During December, I’m inviting you to come along with me on one of the walks I took in 2022. Read more stories here. Or subscribe to get stories to your inbox here.

The post Mini Walking Stories: Pilgrim Blessings appeared first on Alison Chino.

One of the best reasons I can think of for walking the Camino is to eat Spanish tapas, which are widely available along the route.

And I think the Spanish tortilla and Padron peppers are probably my favorite of all the tapas.

Spanish tortilla is a dish of eggs and potatoes that have been fried together in a skillet. It’s kind of like a thick omelette with potatoes. Similar to an omelette, you can add other things to your tortilla, like mushrooms or cheese.

It’s a simple dish, but it’s consistently good in Spain. I usually have it as a snack mid-morning when I am walking.

The first time I tried to make Spanish tortilla at home, it did not taste right. I couldn’t figure out what I was doing wrong as there are only a few ingredients.

Then we moved to England and I started having farm eggs delivered to my house. They have these rich yellow yokes, so the eggs are almost orange when you beat them in a bowl. And they just taste divine.

There are a few other details that I think make the tortilla taste more like the one I eat in Spain. You need to be generous with your olive oil, and of course, use the nicest olive oil you have. And then I think flaky sea salt helps it taste its best.

Alongside Spanish tortilla, I love to order Pimientos de Padron, or Padron peppers. These are seared peppers that look like jalapeños but are more like Japanese shishito peppers. For the most part, Padron peppers are not spicy. Every once in a while you get one with a kick, but mostly they are just yummy. You drop them into a hot skillet of oil until they blister all over. Then sprinkle them with sea salt.

They are so easy to make. The hardest part is finding the peppers. My local market here has them sometimes when they are in season (summer months), so I snatch them up and serve them alongside my Spanish tortilla.

Even without the peppers though, you can enjoy Spanish tortilla. Splurge on some fancy eggs and make yourself a little taste of Spain.

Spanish Tortilla Recipe

(adapted from Jamie Oliver)

Ingredients:

300 grams potatoes, peeled and diced (around one large potato or 2 medium ones)

1 onion, diced

olive oil

5 large eggs

sea salt

Directions:

Pour 3-4 tablespoons of oil into a small frying pan over a medium heat.

Add the onion and potatoes and cook for 20 minutes or until the onions are done and potatoes are cooked through.

Beat the eggs with a fork in a small bowl with a little salt and pepper.

When the onions and potatoes are cooked, remove the pan from the heat and carefully stir them into the eggs.

Add a little more oil to the pan and then pour the whole mixture back into the pan.

Turn the heat down to low and cook for around 20 minutes, or until the eggs are cooked.

Loosen the sides of the tortilla with a spatula. Carefully flip out the tortilla onto a dinner plate. Then slide it back into the pan and cook for 5 more minutes on the other side.

Flip the tortilla onto a serving plate. Slice and serve with bread, a few greens or Pimientos de Padron if you can get them.

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Something you might already know about me is that I like to travel light.

It’s a point of pride for me to leave home for weeks at a time with only my trusty blue 24 liter backpack.

Sometimes when I’m walking with a group, I find that supplemental things I carry – a first aid kit, extra snacks and water, etc – make my rucksack quite full.

Usually I have everyone else’s bags transferred each day, so that people only carry a small backpack on the trail. So I have started bringing a tiny collapsable backpack that I cram with my clothes and toiletries to be transferred with the rest of the bags. That way my backpack isn’t so heavy during the day. The small pack is also a waterproof liner if I need to use it in my backpack in the rain. And it doubles as a purse or shopping bag in the evenings. It’s so handy!

So when I arrived on the Camino in March, I had this small pack transferred each day along with the suitcases. After my first ever Camino with the princesses when we had way too much stuff, I now limit everyone to one small carry-on suitcase and one small daypack. It felt a little silly to pay to have my tiny backpack transferred each day, but I appreciated having less weight to carry around.

So in June, on the Portuguese Camino, I was planning to repeat this process.

But my friends who were joining me – let’s call them Ted and Stephanie – had been traveling around Europe already for several weeks. And it seems they had acquired a few souvenirs. Stephanie texted me before I arrived and asked if there would be any extra space in the luggage.

I replied: SURE! Why don’t you buy a big collapsible duffel bag that we can both throw our stuff in. I’ll toss in my little pack of clothes and you can fill the rest with your souvenirs. Since I was going to move my little bag anyway, I won’t have to charge you for a whole extra bag.

When I flew to Porto, I discovered that Ted and Stephanie had not bought a duffel bag. They had purchased a small European sized carry-on suitcase. European carry-ons are much smaller than American ones. They are for tiny Ryanair and Easyjet flights.

The bigger problem was that this tiny suitcase was already full of cheese and wine. I couldn’t just pop my little bag into it. Instead, with quite a bit of effort, I could squeeze my clothes around the souvenirs. Even then, I could not properly close the suitcase. The suitcase had to be perfectly aligned in order for the clasps to work. And when you sat on it, it would just bend, and then it would no longer be aligned. You had to hold both sides of it in alignment and close it at the same time.

After a couple of days of fighting with their new suitcase, and dragging it into the lobby to ask for help with closing it, Stephanie came up with a plan. She and Ted would take care of packing and unpacking the suitcase, and I would stop resenting their souvenirs. Now when we arrived each day, they would deliver my small bag of stuff to me. And in the mornings, I would deliver it back to them, and Ted would pack the suitcase. It was a daily comedy of errors.

Ted and Stephanie now had three suitcases that they unpacked and packed at every stop. I honestly have no idea how they ever made it on time to breakfast.

Missing Suitcase

We had another suitcase adventure just outside of O Porrino a day after we crossed the border into Spain. When we arrived at our guesthouse after a long, hot day, we discovered that one of the suitcases was missing.

Our host helped me to track down the driver who said that they knew they had one missing and they would bring it later. So poor Diane, who was the owner of the neglected suitcase, had to go to dinner without a shower and clean clothes. She was a great sport about it though. She said that she was glad it was her and not one of the other ladies who had just arrived.

(On the Portuguese Camino, five of us walked from Porto to Santiago, and seven more folks joined us for the section from Tui to Santiago.)

But when we came back from dinner, Diane’s suitcase had still not arrived. I got back on the phone with the company but did not receive assurance that our missing suitcase was still coming.

Our host had gone home for the day but his father happened by while I was trying to sort out the problem. Between my broken Spanish and another guest’s better Spanish, we communicated our problem to our host’s father. He then got on his phone and somehow managed to track down the suitcase. It was apparently waiting at a nearby post office.

I still don’t understand how it got there or how he found it. I also don’t know how one gets inside of a post office at 10pm at night. Undaunted by this detail, our knight in shining armor headed out with certainty that he would be able to retrieve Diane’s luggage. The other guest who had been helping us went along with him, just for the ride.

About fifteen minutes later, they returned with Diane’s suitcase, much to our delight. We all said goodnight. Diane headed off to the shower and I went to bed.

When Diane flew home at the end of our trip, somehow her suitcase was diverted to Miami and didn’t make it back to her house until a week after she had arrived home in Arkansas. That suitcase must have really wanted to have an adventure of its own.

Mini Walking Stories is a project I’m doing this month to catalog a fabulous year of walking. During December, I’m inviting you to come along with me on one of the walks I took in 2022. Read more stories here and subscribe to future stories here.

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One morning on the Portuguese Camino, we met a couple from Ukraine who were living outside their home country when Russia started a war there.

Feeling helpless, they decided to walk the Camino to raise awareness about the war in their country.

Walking extra long days, they wore the Ukrainian flag on their backpacks, and stopped to tell anyone who asked about what was happening back home to their families and friends.

Olha, the wife, spoke perfect English, so everyone quickly gathered around her to listen.

But her husband, Ivan, was still learning English, and of course, none of us spoke Ukrainian.

But when you’re walking, you can’t all crowd around just the one partner who speaks English.

There were folks on either side of her and just in front and just behind, but some folks had to fall back and were not able to hear her.

Ted, who was with our group, had been using the speak feature on Google Translate already to talk to people, mostly in restaurants. He would talk into his phone and let the app translate and speak the request back in Portuguese.

So when he fell side by side with Ivan, he pulled out his phone and started using Google Translate to talk to him. I hadn’t really seen him use it for much more than to ask for a recommendation for wine or food, but Ted and Ivan talked back and forth for the entire stretch we walked with them, both of them speaking into the phone. They told each other about their families, their jobs, and their lives back home.

Even without smartphones, I am often amazed at how much of a conversation you can have with someone when you don’t share a language. You can get a lot across with body language, broken phrases and a version of charades.

But who knew we would one day be able to break through languages barriers with pocket-sized technology?

A few days later, the couple sent Ted a message. People had started to write messages and blessings on their flag, so they said we could add one as well if we liked. They would write it in for us. Diane sent back this message:

The Lord bless you as you walk the Camino telling others about your beloved country. You are keeping hope alive!

Later in the week, we rejoiced when they sent us a picture of their flag in the cathedral square in Santiago.

Mini Walking Stories is a project I’m doing this month to catalog a fabulous year of walking. During December, I’m inviting you to come along with me for a few minutes on one of the walks I took in 2022. Read more stories here.

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I am a total sucker for a big tree-lined pedestrian promenade.

Whoever first had the idea to plant two gorgeous rows of trees to create a shaded walkway was a genius, as well as a visionary, because giant trees take a long time to grow.

It’s like having a little bit of forest right in the middle of town. If you don’t have time to go to the woods, at least you can still get under the trees.

There is one in Bristol about two miles from my house and I walk myself over there at least once a week to walk beneath the trees.

We had one in Tübingen as well, dreamily set right alongside the river.

On our first week on the Portuguese Camino, we finished the day with a tree-lined walkway in Ponte de Lima. After we’d had our lunch, we headed back there to occupy several of the benches for our afternoon naps. It turned out to be the only place in town where you could be kissed by the gentle afternoon breeze from the river.

In the Parque da Alameda in Santiago de Compostela, you can walk under a similar row of trees, another perfect place for a rest at the end of your long walk.

When I pass a bench under these inviting trees, I long to sit down for a while. Even I am not tired, the benches seem to call out to me to come and enjoy them. To be present for a moment, and to watch others walking along the way.

Like I said, I just adore these tree-lined avenues.

And so when we walked into Padron on our second to last day of the Camino and from a distance, I saw that we were about to walk under a promenade of trees AND that there seemed to be a few restaurant tables set up, I thought, Dear Lord, I HOPE they have stopped there!

And by they, I am referring to the folks walking ahead of me on the Camino.

It was nearing the end of the day and we were all a bit spread out on the trail. There were a few folks ahead of me and a few folks behind me. And then in the middle there was me and a few others. We had just stopped at an open air market where I had grabbed a wheel of my favorite Galician cheese and a big fresh baguette.

Somehow I had a hunch that any snacks I had on me would be happily consumed by my fellow walkers.

Then we saw the tables,

situated merrily underneath the shade of the trees,

and as we got closer, we realized with delight that

YES, it was our group sitting there!

And they had already ordered drinks.

We joined them and pulled out our snacks while we waited for the rest of our crew to show up.

As folks arrived, they were immediately pulled into the welcome of the table, sitting down with relief in the shade.

Two friends ran back to meet the last straggler and walk the rest of the way with her.

They arrived to claps and cheers and soon there we all were, sitting under the trees like we would stay there forever.

And I believe I might still be there if the restaurant hadn’t eventually closed up for the afternoon. Soon the tables and chairs would need to be stacked and carried away. And so it was time to go.

Besides, we had a swimming pool waiting for us.

Mini Walking Stories is a project I’m doing this month to catalog a fabulous year of walking. During December, I’m inviting you to come along with me for a few minutes on one of the walks I took in 2022. Read more stories here.

The post Mini Walking Stories: Meet Me Under the Trees to Rest appeared first on Alison Chino.

One of the best bits of taking a friend on a walk is that you get to see the world through their eyes.

My friend Shana really likes birds. She and her husband have a big picture window in their living room and outside the window, they have put loads of bird feeders so they can sit inside and just watch the birds that visit.

They have these apps on their phones for discovering new birds. They know how to identify a bird by its song or by its features. They’ve even turned my family on to this super fun strategy game called Wingspan that stars all different kinds of birds.

So when Shana joined me on the Camino, she was ready to see some European birds. All day long she would point out and name different birds, some that were already familiar and some that are like close cousins to North American birds.

I enjoy seeing (and hearing) birds, but I don’t often know the names of them or how unusual they are, so it was fun to have Shana along as a bird guide. The same is true for my friend Diane with the names of flowers and plants, for my friend Kirstie when it comes to food, or for my friend Ted when choosing a wine. Other folks’ interests and expertise expands my own experience.

One day on the Camino, we were walking along a graveyard when Shana spotted a large stork.

I had read that there were white storks on the Camino, but I had never seen one before.  Apparently, they can often be seen nesting in church towers.

Maybe it was because we were on the Camino at a quiet time of year (in March), but it’s more likely that I got to see the stork because Shana was there to point it out to me. It was much bigger than I imagined, perched statue-like for long enough for us to get a good look.

I was excited to get to see the stork. But I think it actually brought me more joy to see Shana see the stork. Her delight was a good reminder to me that when I walk with others, I get to see the world anew.

Mini Walking Stories is a project I’m doing this month to catalog a fabulous year of walking. During December, I’m inviting you to come along with me for a few minutes on one of the walks I took in 2022. Read more stories here.

The post Mini Walking Stories: Stork Delight appeared first on Alison Chino.

Mini Walking Stories is a project I’m doing this month to catalog what has been an AMAZING year of walking. Every day during December, I’m going to choose one photo and invite you to come along with me for a few minutes on one of the walks I took in 2022. Read more stories here.

Secrets in Santiago de Compostela

I have walked into Santiago de Compostela on a Camino four different times.

Each time, I have stayed in a different hotel. I suppose I was trying to discover my all-time favorite place to stay.

And in March of this year, I think maybe I found it.

Our walking group was quite small, so we were able to squeeze into a boutique hotel that I had earmarked a long time ago. Usually my group is too big for this hotel. Also, it always seems to be booked, and now I understand why.

The hotel itself, a restored 18th century home, is gorgeous, with lots of fun, small details, like antique mirrors, exposed wooden beams, and bath tubs for soaking tired feet.

One of us stayed in the room on the top floor that had a window with peekaboo views of the rooftops of the city, including the cathedral.

We could hear the cathedral bells ringing from our rooms, and when we stepped out of the hotel, we were right in the middle of town.

But maybe the very best part of the hotel was that when we checked in, our hostess handed us a special map of the city. Of course, it was the same map that is available at hotels and tourist offices all around town, except that she had hand-written all over it, circling her favorite spots and pointing out do-not-miss corners of Santiago.

This hostess (and her map) opened up the city of Santiago to me in a way I had not previously experienced it on multiple other visits. Even with extensive reading about the city, I had not been to see most of her suggestions.

I had missed her favorite view of the town from Parque Da Alameda, even though I had visited the park.

I had not been to the Old Mercado or the smallest street in Santiago, nor had I seen the shadow pilgrim in the cathedral square at night.

We had a wonderful couple of days in Santiago exploring all of her suggestions.

With the constant arrival of pilgrims, Santiago seems to embody a perpetual spirit of celebration. My own (not really) secret of Santiago is that I find an empty cafe table in the square by the main cathedral entrance, order a drink, and sit there for a full afternoon. It’s some of the best people-watching in the world.

But now I have a whole collection of Santiago secrets for what I hope will be many future trips to the city.

I don’t want to spoil the secret of how lovely this particular hotel is, but if you are planning a trip to Santiago, drop me a line and I might just spill the beans. Be sure to book the attic room.

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