While walking along The Way, every night we needed somewhere to sleep.
A place to lay our heads and rest our weary bones.
Sometimes it was a cabin on a farm, set back from the farmer’s vineyard and vegetable garden.
And then he would feed us from his farm.
Sometimes it was a room with a sunset view of the village.
And I would hang out my window and feel the last of the sun on my face.
Or watch the sun come up over the countryside.
Sometimes it was a posh hotel.
With a fancy lobby and lovely breakfast.
Sometimes it was a country house.
With a swimming pool.
And a place to sit outside.
Most of our rooms were right on the path.
And all our beds were soft and comfy, and particularly hard to get out of in the mornings.
(But that might have had something to do with the late hours we kept along the Camino.)
We were super grateful for every host that provided us with shelter along The Way!
Because there are so many pilgrims walking, there are many lodging choices. There are hotels and farmhouses (more like B&Bs), which is where we stayed. There are loads of Albergues, hostels with rooms full of bunk beds. Some of these have smaller rooms with fewer beds and some of them are like giant halls with endless rows of bunks. We heard mixed reviews of both the hostels and the food options in the Albergues, but we all agreed that if we go back, we would like to spend at least one night in an Albergue, just for the experience. We also met folks who were old school camping in fields.
Lots of people on The Way just walk as far as they are able each night and then stop whenever they are ready and try to find a bed. I was grateful that all of our accommodations were arranged for us, especially when I heard from some people that they would reach somewhere ready to stop and then discover that it was full and have to walk on until they found a vacancy. Also, I know myself well enough to know that I would stop earlier than I really needed to if I could stop wherever I liked.
