Camino

Hi!
For people who have done it already, I’m preparing to take the Camino Norte by foot but have limited time to accomplish it: is it ok to "cheat"? Will skipping a stop or two on the way to save time disqualify us from having access to the pilgrim’s hostels and finally not grant us "recognition" for the pilgrimage itself on arrival at Santiago de Compostela?

T.I.A.

There is no such thing as ‘cheating’ on the Camino de Santiago. This is a pilgrimage and each pilgrim walks it in his/her own way. If you need to skip a stage or two, then that’s OK. You will still be accepted in the albergues, just make sure to get your pilgrim passport stamped regularly.

The only requirement to receive the Compostela certificate, once you make it to Santiago, is that you walk the final 100 kms. For this you must get at least one, preferably two, stamps per day (available from bars and churches as well as albergues), and not skip any part of the final 100 kms.

I’ve walked the Camino Frances twice, and skipped stages due to time constraints and injury. It’s your pilgrimage, so do it your way.

EDIT: Here is what the Pilgrim Office in Santiago says about the distance you need to complete:

"In recent times, the “Compostela” would be limited to those pilgrims who walk or go on horseback for at least the last 100 km or cycle for the last 200 km up to the Apostle’s Tomb in St. James."

I wanna walk the Camino de Santiago de Compostela, beginning in Saint-Jean-Pier-de-Port, and I wanna know how much will I spend (in Euros), including hostels, food and other things (not including the travel to Saint-Jean and back from santiago)?

Heather K is right with a figure of around 25euros per day. The Camino Frances (that’s the route of the Camino de Santiago from St Jean Pied de Port) is well set up with pilgrim albergues which are either municipal or private. The municipal albergues are cheapest with an average cost per night of 5 or 6 euros. Private albergues, which often have better facilities, cost around 10euros per night.

Some albergues have fully equipped kitchens so, if you cook, it’s possible to prepare a nightly meal which will save you money. Often a group of pilgrims will put money together to prepare a group meal. Or, you can buy a Pilgrim Menu or Menu del Dia lunch at any bar or cafe for around 10euros. This is usually a three course meal, sometimes basic, other times really value for money.

You will also need money for coffee, drinks, snacks, while you’re walking, and maybe a drink or two at night.

Don’t forger to take out travel insurance before you leave home, just to cover any medical expenses you might have while on the Camino.

It would be worthwhile joining a Camino Internet forum where you can ask questions of pilgrims who’ve walked recently. Try http://www.caminodesantiago.me And have a look at the Confraternity of St James website for information on the route, albergues, what to pack, training etc http://www.csj.org.uk. The CSJ also publish a good, lightweight, guide to the Camino Frances. This is updated each year with feedback from the previous year’s pilgrims. The next issue will be available at the end of January 2012.

Do some training before you leave, break in your walking shoes, and buy a lightweight backpack. The key to walking the Camino is to travel light. So make sure your gear weighs no more than 6 or 7 kg. Remember that, in addition to your clothes and personal stuff, you’ll also need to carry water, and each litre weighs 1 kilo, plus a bit of food in case you don’t find a shop when you’re hungry.

Buen Camino

I’m considering doing the Camino de Santiago pilgrimage but want to consider alternative trips. What are alternative pilgrimages similar to the Camino de Santiago?

I only know about one and that is Medugorije in Bosnia. That was the place that the Virgin Mary is said to have appeared to three children. I mostly know about that because there were fellow passengers going there on a flight I took to Croatia.

There’s a Wikipedia page which has a list of sites: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christian_pilgrimage

I need to go from the Stuttgart Airport to the Arcotel Camino Hotel in Stuttgart. What train do I take and what station do I get off the train? How much does it cost? Can I walk from the station to the hotel?

You can take the light rail trains S2 towards Backnang or S3 towards Schorndorf. They depart 4 times per hour at minute 08, 18, 38 and 48 and take 27 minutes to the central underground train station named "Stuttgart Hbf (tief)". The fare is €3.40 (3-zone ticket). From the train station to your Hotel (Heilbronner Straße 21) it is either a 10 minutes walk or a three minutes taxi ride at about €5-€6. At taxi from the airport to the hotel will be about €25-€30 depending on traffic jams.
http://www.vvs.de/en/ ..

Should you be able to put it in gear and change to D to 1 2 3 and reverse easily, because i can when the car isn’t running because im restoring it.

Yes, you should be able to change the gear selector without the engine running. This does not mean that it is actually changing gears. All that happens is the parking pawl engages and disengages when the gear selector is moved in and out of the park position.

When you move the transmission gear selector there is no direct connection to the gears as with in a manual transmission. All you are doing is changing the position of a valve that controls the fluid flow through a valve body.

To actually change gears the transmission requires hydraulic pressure from a pump inside the transmission. When the engine is not running there is no pressure in the transmission to change gears.

The gear selector should feel the same when moved through all of the gears if the engine is running or not.