113 - Camino News Update 3/20/24 - Botafumiero, Finisterre, Santiago, Norway's St. Olav, Levante and more!

Youtube link for this episode:

https://youtu.be/LzK9nCuICbQ?si=n9RQ0XxsJgXUYitV

Norway Links:

https://www.visitnorway.com/listings/pilegrimssenter-granavollen/7316/

https://pilegrimsleden.no/

https://visittrondheim.no/en/activities-attractions/sightseeing/nidaros-cathedral/

Music Credit - Thanks to a fellow pilgrim, Sarah Justine Packwood, for the generous offering of the usage of her original song:

Transcript

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Speaker 1 0:06

Hey everyone , welcome to the Camino Cafe podcast and the Camino News Update . This is Lee and I just wanted to say hello and thank you for listening to the podcast and to the Camino News updates . I'm headed this week to walk part of the Camino Portuguese and I'll bring you updates from that walk next week . But first I wanted to let you know that on this episode of the Camino News Update , it ends with a beautiful short movie by Sven Kavan of his recent walk to Finestere . So I wanted to invite you , after you hear today's episode , to hop on over to watch it on our YouTube channel as well , which is the Camino Cafe podcast YouTube channel . On the audio podcast version of today's show , you will hear a song being played during Sven's movie called Meet Me at the Table , which is an original song provided by fellow pilgrim and listener , sarah Justine Packwood . Thank you so much , sarah , for your generosity . Now let's get to today's show . Oh , and I'd be thrilled if you'd give the show a five star rating and a thumbs up and all the things that you can do whether you're listening to the podcast or on YouTube . Thanks , everyone .

Speaker 1 1:10

Now let's get to it , pilgrims , it's the Camino News Update , wednesday , march 20th 2024 . And let me tell you , pilgrim numbers are up . We're seeing pilgrims everywhere we go and there's lots of tourists in town because we're one week out from Holy Week . Well , we have the official numbers coming to you from Johnny Walker in just a few moments . But , most importantly , we have a special report from Johnny as to why the Boat of Amaro has been missing and how much longer are we going to have to wait to see it again .

Speaker 1 1:45

And then we're going to check in with Lindsay Taitione . You know he finished the Mozarabie last week and then he headed to a lesser known route and while he has a few opinions about it that I think are important for all pilgrims to hear . And then we are going to get to see a path in Norway . You can be one of the modern day pilgrims , like a pioneer pilgrim really , on this ancient and beautiful path . And then we get to walk to the end of the world with Sven Kavan . Oh , my goodness , this footage is amazing . You're going to love it . So stick with us . Here we go . Let's check in with Johnny .

Speaker 2 2:18

Hello everyone , this is John speaking to you from Santiago . In the last week I've had emails from a number of pilgrims asking about two things . One is how are the numbers during this year ? Will there be beds for us if we walk the Camino ? And secondly , what's happening about the Boat of Amaro ?

Speaker 2 2:38

Well , in terms of the pilgrim numbers , clearly we've been tracking increases based on last year . At the moment there's an 18% increase compared to the number of comfort cellars which were issued last year . Now there's 11,000 pilgrims have arrived so far in the last few days . Numbers are going up and going up because , of course , next week is Holy Week , which is one of the busiest weeks in the Church's calendar and in the Pilgrim calendar . So we'll see whether the trend continues . The advice is very straightforward If you're concerned about the availability of accommodation , book your first few nights . If you're then going to stay in Alberta and you want to walk until you find the bed , then you'll very quickly suss out the momentum of what's going on , and the advice is to walk past the hotspots , walk past the popular places like Pamplona , go early and visit the city and then walk on until you find an aubergine . But we'll keep you posted on these numbers as the year develops .

Speaker 2 3:48

Now to the bot Fouveiro what happened and when is it coming back ? Well , just the other day , I was in the company of a person who can only be described as the horse's mouth from the cathedral and we learned . I learned that we know that the renovations went on in the cathedral right up until the Holy Year started in 2022 . They ran out of time and they didn't have time to take down the mechanism and renew it and then put it back up again . So the Holy Year started and I'm using the bot Fouveiro and everything was fine until one day .

Speaker 2 4:28

One day in November , when the Archbishop himself was presiding at the Mass , he put the incense into the bot Fouveiro . It flew as usual , the song was going on in the background and as the bot Fouveiro slowed down , blink , a screw from the mechanism dropped onto the altar . Now everything was fine and it stopped . But the administration of the cathedral decided that this was the time to take the mechanism down and if you look up at the moment , it's not there to take the mechanism down and have it renewed . It's not there . All fingers are crossed .

Speaker 2 5:04

There's a great expectation and hope that the bot Fouveiro will be back in action for Easter Sunday the greatest celebration in the calendar of the Catholic Church , whether it will be there or not , because , remember , it need to be set up as scaffolding on the high altar and so forth . We'll need to wait and see . All we can see is the expectation is that it will be back very soon .

Speaker 1 5:30

And next up we have Lindsay Tayshene . Lindsay , let's hear about this walk this past week .

Speaker 5 5:36

Hi there , Lindsay . Here again I'm taking a rest day in Madrid . I've just spent a week having a snapshot experience on the Camino Lavante . It's not one of the better known Camino routes . It starts in Valencia to eventually join the Vierda La Plata route in Zamora .

Speaker 5 5:59

I walked the section from Almanza to Albertheti a distance of just over 100 kilometres . The way was generally easy , walking wide country roads . The landscape I walked through was dusty , with the predominant features being rocky fields , ragged hillsides and intermittent patches of pine forest . There's very little up-to-date information available for this route . Notably , the Grons website has no accommodation information . The way itself has very poor signage , with few yellow arrows still visible . Whenever I came to a crossroads , I had to rely on mapping apps like Buen Camino and Mappycz , which often couldn't agree on the correct route . In short , I wouldn't recommend this route for novice pilgrims . The long distances between towns , the tedium of the landscape and the uncertainty around infrastructure would be ideal for adventurous pilgrims in need of a challenge and a story to tell . Spain is up for Seminar Santa . I'm off on a new adventure to maybe enjoy the festivities in a more rural and peaceful environment . Until next time , Buen Camino .

Speaker 1 7:28

Now let's check in with Ingo Borg and find out about this ancient path in Norway .

Speaker 4 7:31

It all of ways goes from Oslo to Trondheim . That's the most common way of walking . Actually we have several trails , but that's the most common way . It's about 400 miles . It's going through beautiful landscape . The history is actually that it goes from a different part of Norway to the city of Trondheim and Trondheim and the cathedral of Trondheim , the Nidøriskund Cathedral , a very place , the shrine of St Olaf . He was a Viking king and he kind of gathered Norway as a Christian country back in 1030 . So it's a very , very old historical pilgrimage destination .

Speaker 4 8:10

So it goes through valleys on top of mountains and passing through some gravel paths , rarely as full but more difficult than the Camino . It stretches that you would walk would probably not be as long as you would on the Camino , so normally it's about 20 kilometers . I've walked it without doing any training before , so I think most people will be able to do that without any training . Choose if you want to sleep in a hotel or an albergue , or sometimes it's only small huts , so it's really simple accommodation . You should be prepared for simple accommodation and also for food , so sometimes you will have to bring food along from one place to another .

Speaker 4 8:52

This is a trail that is under development , so it's a good chance for being like a pioneer on the Norwegian or Scandinavian pilgrimage trail . It's well marked . I work in the Pilgrim Centre in Trondheim in the reception of pilgrims and that's one of the things that the pilgrim says that it's easy to find their way . And if you also want to be online , you also have a digital map . I would recommend to start in June or maybe late May , and both June , july , august , september , even October can be nice . Normally we say that you will use 32 days from Oslo to Trondheim and then you will have one day a week to relax . So if you don't have any relaxing days , you can use like 28 to 29 days .

Speaker 1 9:42

Now we get to walk to the end of the world of spin cabin . Without two feet we'd never be .

Speaker 3 9:59

We punished our suffering , even if we did not experience it . If you're asking me for help , my immediately replied with a very beneficial word and some wine . Our guests are all waiting . Your friends and mine will sit down together and serve up good fare , for the land Surely blessed us with plenty to share . Meet me at table , take the weight of your feet , relax here among us and please take your seat and I'll pour you a glass and we'll toast this fine day when you came here for a visit whilst walking away . Meet us at table . We'll eat till we're full and till sore is till midnight . Sure it won't be dull . We have more in common than it bites us , you see . So be at peace , pilgrim . You're welcome and free , and I'll pour you a glass and we'll toast this fine day when you came here for a visit whilst walking away . And I'll pour you a glass and we'll toast this fine day when you came here for a visit whilst walking away . O Traya es tu sea .

Speaker 1 13:40

Well , that's it for this week's show pilgrims . We'll be back next week with a new show show . Until then , we hope to see you in Santiago , ciao .