Camino Tips: Check the Free Box 2018

One of the best Camino Tips I can give you is this one:

Check the Free Box!

Almost every albergue has a Free Box. 

The Free Box is a box that contains items 

pilgrims dump when they realize 

bringing everything from home except the kitchen sink 

wasn't such a great idea. 

Sometimes it is a cardboard box out for everyone to see. 

Sometimes it is a shelf on the wall. 

Sometimes it is hidden in a closet behind lock and key. 

If you don't see it and you need something, 

ask!

Why do people dump things in the Free Box, you ask?

Pretend you've begun walking 

and your pack is heavier and heavier as the days go by.  

You begin to take items out and look at them and say, 

"Do I really NEED this?"  

(This is all part of being a pilgrim, so don't feel guilty).  

You make a pile of things that really, 

you can live without.  

You realize that you really didn't need to bring 

that heavy novel or that can opener, 

or the blow up mattress or the 3 fleece shirts, 

or the extra socks, 

or the 12 pair of underwear.

What do you do with this "stuff?"  

You could mail it home, 

but that would probably cost more than it's worth.

You could throw it in the trash... 

but please don't.

Instead, ask the hospitalera to put it in the Free Box. 

Someone will surely come along who needs it, 

and this is one way

"The Camino Provides."

It's always a good thing to check the Free Box 

as you walk along the Camino, also. 

You may find things you didn't know you needed!

Things I've picked up from the Free Box include the following:

A hydration system - complete with tubing and bite valve found on the road

A nice featherweight fleece shirt

A sports bra - mine broke!

A pajama top - used for sun protection

A handkerchief - used for peeing along the trail then washed with the day's laundry

A microfiber towel - I thought I'd like it better than my old worn out terrycloth-towel, but I didn't

A guide to albergues along the way - complete with notes!

Some German Dr. Scholl's type foot cream that saved my feet on the Aragones Route

Things I've left in the Free Box include:

My sleeping pad - I saw more of these than any other item in the box

A jacket - too heavy to carry

A pair of wool socks

A rain hat

A cheap poncho

Other items I can't recall - seems I was dropping weight daily!

Oh yes, my guide to the Via de la Plata which I'd sure love to have back if someone found it. It was specially spiral bound and left at the Convent in Leon!

Zip off trousers  

Things I've SEEN in the Free Box are too many to mention, 

including sleeping bags, pads, knives, stoves, 

camping dishes, tents, boots, all types of clothing, 

and on and on and on...

So... when you are doing your last minute check 

of the gear you're going to take... 

and you run across an item 

and are not sure if you need it or not... 

ask yourself this question:

Am I willing to spend the $$ it will take to mail this home?

Or will it end up in a Free Box!?

Then walk away and leave it ...

If you need it, you can be sure it will show up again along the Way.

Learn to live and step lightly on the earth!

Buen Camino!

* * *

Note:  If you are interested in walking the Camino Santiago, 

but are not quite ready to go it alone, 

consider joining Annie

on one of our small, affordable Camino walks. 

For more information see our website 

at this link: AnnieWalkers Camino

To Zubiri

El Puente de la Rabia

In Basque, the word “zubi” means “bridge.,” 

To me, the most interesting thing about Zubiri’s history 

is the Gothic bridge there, El Puente de la Rabia, 

which is famous for its folkloric ability to cure cattle of rabies.

To protect your cows from rabies,

you must walk them 3 times

around the bridge's central pillar.

That pillar is said to contain the relics of Saint Quiteria.

So who WAS St. Quiteria?

St. Quiteria. Feastday: May 22

St. Quiteria was a 2nd century virgin martyr and saint 

whose cult and devotions were popular in Portugal, Spain,

Italy and France, 

as well as in all Portuguese and Spanish settlements in America 

and in the Far East of Asia. 

After her Canonization by the Pope in 1716, 

her devotions were spread by the Jesuits on his request.

St. Quiteria still enjoys great popularity,

especially at Aire in Gascony, 

where her reputed relics were preserved 

until they were scattered about by the Huguenots.

In most legends, 

Quiteria is said to be one of nonuplets 

born to Galician royalty.

The nine babies were named 

Eumelia (Euphemia); 

Liberata (Virgeforte); 

Gema (Marinha, Margarida); 

Genebra; 

Germana; 

Basilissa; 

Marica; 

and Vitoria (Victoria)  

 According to one Portuguese version, they were born in Minho. 

I have to admit that my Portuguese relatives

seemed to be fascinated by multiple births.

My great grandmother kept a box of old circus freak show photos

depicting every type of fantastic human genetic mutation

one could imagine.
Included were photos of multiple births.

Multiple births, including the Dionne quintuplets, 

supposedly distant cousins of mine, 

were her favorite.

"Just like puppies," she'd cackle and say!

Well... times were different in the 1950's.

The phrase "political correctness" wasn't in her dictionary,

and I have to admit,

morbid curiosity often got the better of my childish imagination.

Back to our legend:

The mother of the nonuplets 

was embarrassed and horrified by the birth of 9 children. 

She felt only peasants gave birth in litters like dogs. 

She was even more horrified by nine daughters 

(as opposed to sons).  

She gave the babies to a maid 

and instructed her to put them in a gunny sack,

take them to the river 

and drown them. 

The maid disobeyed, 

and found homes for the babies, 

where they were taught to oppose the worship of Roman gods. 

They all were reared to become devout Christians. 

Eventually, the sisters were brought before their father, 

who recognized them as his daughters. 

He wanted to marry them off to pagan Roman officers 

or other "proper" suitors. 

They refused and were promptly imprisoned in a tower,

a popular theme in Christian hagiography

as well as folk tales.

In the Tower

Through angelic intervention, the girls not only escaped, 

but they liberated all of the other Christian prisoners

and subsequently waged a guerrilla war 

in the mountains against the Roman Empire.

Quiteria was caught 
and after again refusing to come to her senses
and marry a good pagan man,
her frustrated and domineering father had her beheaded. 

Her sister Euphemia,

unable to escape from the soldiers who pursued her, 

threw herself from a cliff situated today in the Peneda-Gerês National Park 

(it is called today Penedo da Santa, Cliff of the Saint).

A rock opened up and swallowed her 

and on the spot there sprang up a hot spring.

Some Portuguese traditions say Quiteria 

was a native of Balcagia (Baiona, Pontevedra) 

who was decapitated and thrown into the sea. 

This legend states that she emerged from the water 

walking with her head in her hands.

Quiteria’s patronage against rabies stems from her legend 

which states she held two rabid dogs at bay

with the power of her saintly voice.

I couldn’t help but make another association with water here, 

as rabies is also known as hydro-phobia. 

Hydrophobia is an older term for the disease rabies.

The word means "fear of water." 

Because of this, many people believe 

rabies makes one afraid of water. 

Although rabies does cause mental confusion of other kinds,

it does not make people afraid of water. 

Animals and people with rabies get spasms in their throat muscles 

that are so painful that they cannot eat or drink,

and so will refuse water in spite of being very thirsty.

The Church of Sainte-Quitterie in Aire-sur-l'Adour

is dedicated to St. Quiteria. 

This church was on the French section of the pilgrimage route

called the Way of St. James.

Church of Sainte-Quitterie in Aire-sur-l'Adour

 Quiteria was especially venerated in the border region 

shared by France and Spain, which includes Navarre. 

However, there were many churches dedicated to her in France, 

Spain, Portugal, India , and Brazil. 

In Tamil Nadu, India she is known

as Archista (saint) Kitheriammal. 

Archista Kitheriammal

 It is believed by some that Quiteria's name may have originated 

from a title that the Phoenicians gave to the goddess Astarte,

Kythere, Kyteria, or Kuteria, which means "the red one." 

Some believe the saint, represented in icons dressed in red, 

may simply be a Christianized version of Astarte.

So there you have it...

A bit of lore about the famous bridge in Zubiri 

and how that bridge might relate to an ancient goddess 

preserved by a web of veneered associations 

including muses, war, dogs, livestock, rabies, 

water, treachery, decapitation, 

and a Christian Saint who walks about 

carrying her head in her hands.

Thalia, one of the 9 Muses

St. Quiteria

Thalia holding the mask in Raphael's painting, Parnassus

Thalia

Procession of Santa Quiteria, Huerta, Spain

See my AnnieWalkersCamino website at 

Anniewalkers Camino

for more information about

Guided Walks on the Camino Santiago 

and on other Pilgrimage Trails of Europe

To Burguete or Zubiri

2006 

Leaving Roncesvalles, 
I was sore, but excited.
The trail began flat and easy.

I really enjoyed walking through
the pretty village of Burguete.

Interesting decoration above the door of the house, 
which states it was built in 1853

Watch carefully for the yellow arrows, 
which are on the GROUND leading out of Burguete.
They are easy to miss,
and many pilgrims end up walking the road.

A beautiful place for a drink!

 The steep descent into Zubiri was painful 

because my feet were recovering from Hell Day.
It is very steep, 
and luckily, the weather was dry.
Those rocks must be slippery as heck
in the rain!

We walked slow and steady, finding mushrooms all along the path.

Edible Parasol Mushrooms and my Pilgrim's Staff

Joe found a place to soak his feet.

Down another steep hill and into Zubiri, 

we found beds at the Municipal albergue.

This was a dirty place and not particularly friendly. 

The bedding was dirty, the floors were dirty, 

and the toilets, which were located 

in a trailer around the back of the building, 

were overflowing and filthy.

This was also the place I got my first 
and only bedbug bite, 

although I didn't know at the time what it was. 

But remember, 

this was my experience in 2006.

You might have a totally different experience today. 

You must ask yourself, are you are pilgrim?
Or are you a tourist?

A Pilgrim is Grateful

So I'm grateful for that little dirty albergue -
with its dirty linen and dirty toilets -

at least I had a safe, warm, dry place to sleep!

2012
Spring Group

This night we slept at Casa Pedroarena in Burguete.

While the lodging was nice, and the lady of the house was lovely,
the owner's husband was not very nice,
and so we will not stay here again.

I do recommend you try Casa Pedroarena,
as it was exceptionally clean and beautiful.
Perhaps the husband was just having a bad day.
I just can't risk it with a group.

Some of our walkers attended the pilgrim mass at Roncesvalles
but getting a taxi from Burguete at this high season
proves to be a problem.

Dinner was fresh trout with potatoes,
a huge green salad and ice cream. 

I fell into bed exhausted but happy!

Next day we walked from Burguete to Zubiri.

Unfortunately, I didn't take photos of the walk.

But I did take photos of some of us,

hanging out in the back yard after doing our laundry.

Part of the group stayed in this little private apartment.

The married couples and Joe stayed across the street at El Palo, in private rooms.

Miranda got in a good foot soak

while the rest of us doctored our blisters

sang campfire songs, and shared stories.

The sun was out so we got our laundry done.

Teresa caught up on her journaling

Catherine wishes the camera "Peace!"

The wild roses were in bloom, and their scent permeated the air!

Fred and Judi

 Fred and Judi arrived from Burguete. 

They said the walk was not too hard at all!

They will now settle into their room at El Palo
and come down for bacalau dinner at 7:30. 

Just thinking about bacalau makes my mouth water!

Galia doing what Galia does! 

Galia immediately got busy taking photos.

She carried that big camera all the way from SJPP to Santiago! 

Galia's smile was always like a ray of sunshine!

2012
Autumn Group

The walk to Zubiri in the Autumn
was wet and wild!
Good thing Patty was prepared with her ALTUS poncho!

A challenging day, especially the last few kilometers.

It was extremely steep and extremely slippery because of the rain!

I was glad I had a walking stick!

Two would have been better!

After a long wet descent into Roncesvalles Wednesday, 

we were praying for a break in the weather but it was not to be.

Everyone had a second day of rainy weather 

to test out those Altus ponchos I'm always touting, 

and boy, we're they happy to have them!

The rain actually made for quite nice walking 

once you got over the swishy feeling in your shoes.

My Altus Poncho had served as a blanket for me
Thursday night in Roncesvalles. 

They no longer hand out blankets there. 

Make a note. 

The new alburgue us lovely. 

There was a nice warm drying room for our wet gear 

and the showers were blissfully hot. 

Dinner was the famous trout and everyone was so exhausted, 

most slept soundly.

Watching all the Altussed pilgrims marching along was surreal - 

like a parade of rainbow humpback tortoises - 

a new species found only along the Camino!

This is what the trail looked like for most of the day today.

Water rushing down the trail.

I've always thought this was such a pretty house.

Haha!  Some pilgrim has a sense of  humor!

Joe stops for a snack.

The trail is rocky on this stage.

The signage to Zubiri was hilarious. 

First we saw a sign telling is it was 6.5 kilometers. 

Then about 2 kilometers later, the sign said 7.4. 

Huh?!

I'm always happy to see this little trailer

as I come off the trail,

a place to get something to eat and drink.
It sits a few kilometers before the village of Zubiri.

And don't forget to check the FREE BOX!

I picked up a well-needed sports bra here!

We put Joe and Father Jeff in El Palo Albergue.

The rest of us stayed in Pension Amets.

I love this little Pension!

A bit difficult to find,

it's worth the time to look.

This pension is in a complex of apartment type buildings.

The rooms are clean and comfie.

A nice dining and living room downstairs.

Linda and I shared a room at Pension Amets.

We arrived at Pension Amets soaked to the skin and chilled. 

My body responded by coming down with the flu. 

Yup! Again! 

 All I can say is "Oh CRAP!"

Linda was also feeling like she had a cold 

so the group quarantined us to a room together. 

I hope that works!

Tomorrow, we head to Pamplona!

A reminder...

Photo by Linda Hendricks

MCS and My Camino

I haven't posted much about MCS lately.

Although part of my healing process is NOT focusing on the MCS,

I don't want to lose track of the reason I do these trips on the Camino.

Life for many people with Multiple Chemical Sensitivities (MCS) can be nothing short of Hell until they find a safe place to live and become very aware of which substances trigger their reactions.

Once they know that their "brain fog," "emotional distress," "fibromyalgia," "rheumatism," or "mysterious migraines" are all symptoms of MCS, there is little that can be done to make life normal apart of staying away from the trigger substances (which you learn to identify over time), and chemical chelation or long-distance walking to chelate those substances.

After being diagnosed with Multiple Chemical Sensitivities, I was given two choices.

I could undergo chemical chelation, where they give you an intravenous chemical 

which causes your muscles, bones, and tissues to dump the toxins all at once.

Or I could do it more naturally, by long distance walking.

I chose long distance walking 

because research showed that chemical chelation 

led to damaged liver and kidneys 

more often than it helped.

* * * * *

What is MCS and how does it affect a person?

Well, pretend you're walking along a wooded hiking trail.

It's a beautiful day and you're looking at the trees and enjoying the sunshine.

You come around a sharp bend and suddenly, 

right in the middle of the trail,

is 

a HUGE RATTLESNAKE!

YOU ALMOST STEP ON IT!!!

This is what happens next:

1. Sequences of nerve cell firing occur and chemicals like adrenaline, noradrenaline, and cortisol are released into the bloodstream.

2. These patterns of nerve cell firing and chemical release cause your body to undergo a series of very dramatic changes:  

3. Respiratory rate increases

4. Your blood is shunted away from the digestive tract and directed into muscles and limbs

5. Your pupils dilate

6. Your awareness intensifies.  Sight sharpens. Smells are much more discernible. Light becomes almost unbearable, as do loud noises.

7. Your impulses quicken.

8.  Your immune system mobilizes with increased activation.

9.  You become prepared - physically and psychologically - to either fight or escape.

10.  You begin to nervously scan and search the environment, looking for "the enemy."  

11. You  tend to perceive everything in your environment as a possible threat to our survival.  This fight or flight system bypasses our rational mind and moves us into "attack" mode. 

12.  Your fear is exaggerated.  Your thinking is distorted as you see everything through the filter of possible danger.

AND THEN YOU REALIZE 

THE 'SNAKE' 

WAS ONLY A STICK 

LAYING ACROSS THE TRAIL.

IT DOES NOT MATTER.

THE CHEMICALS AND HORMONES HAVE FLOODED YOUR BODY.

YOU ARE IN THE MIDDLE OF A FIGHT/FLIGHT REACTION.

There is a cumulative buildup of stress hormones in your body. 

If not properly metabolized, 

this stress leads to disorders of your autonomic nervous system 

(causing headache, irritable bowel, high blood pressure) 

and immune system

 (creating susceptibility to infection, chronic fatigue, depression, 

and autoimmune diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis, lupus, and allergies.)

* * * * 

What Comes Next...

For my body, the next four days are miserable. 

It's like a bomb went off next to me. 

My muscles ache, my head aches,

 I'm super sensitive to sound, smell, and light. 

Depending on the severity and cause of the exposure, 

I may be in bed for several days with these flu-like symptoms.

Long term affects include a life of total reclusiveness,

 out of fear of a reaction. 

You are afraid to go to the market. 

You cannot go to the movie theater. 

No more dinner dates. 

No family parties. 

Church is no longer possible, 

nor are dances.  

Why? 

Because the 'snakes' which cause the reaction 

(which we all agree is an amygdala response) 

are common everyday substances such as perfumes, 

colognes, scented detergents and fabric softeners, 

FEBREZE, scented lotions, scented candles, 

scented make-up, 

and the horror of horror, 

scented house sprays and plug-in fresheners.

And frankly,

it's impossible to avoid those

in public buildings.

When my specialist suggest long-distance walking 

to chelate the chemicals that are so bothersome to me, 

I looked far and wide for an appropriate trail. 

There was nothing in the United States 

that was safe enough for a woman walking alone. 

There was nothing in the United States

 that was well-enough supported for a sick woman walking alone.  

So, I continued to search, 

and eventually found the Camino Santiago.

After my first Camino, 

I felt better than I had felt in years.

This was great, 

but I couldn't afford to go back each year.

So I began trying to figure out how I could do it.

I was offered the opportunity to walk with a group of pilgrims, 

helping them along their way.

In exchange, 

the cost of my trip was covered.

This worked great, 

and I've continued to do it since.

I make it clear, 

this is not a tour.

I simply facilitate.

For the most part, 

you're on your own.

You are free to walk alone,

or with our group.

You have a clean bed booked in a private shared double room 

each night when you finish walking

so there's no need to rush for a bed.

You can walk some of the best sections of the route.

And I get to do my prescriptive walking.

So how about it?

Want to come along?

You'll feel so much better if you walk those toxins

out of your system!

This year's trips are full.

But you could join us in 2015

for a mixed group 

or a Crone's Camino.

More information on my website 

at www.anniecarvalho.weebly.com

Until then . . . 

Buen Camino!

Annie