Pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela

[Martin0642]

Congratulations Ivar - great news, we look forward to staying there on the next camino. One service you could do which wouldnt be too tricky (in theory!!) is have forum members who want to send stuff on/store stuff for a day or two send it to you?

If you have a storage space thats adequate of course. You could always restrict parcel sizes but it could overcome the problem of the usual office being closed on religious holidays etc. Just a thought - maybe charge a couple of euros for the privilege?

[ivar]

One service you could do which wouldnt be too tricky (in theory!!) is have forum members who want to send stuff on/store stuff for a day or two send it to you? Just a thought - maybe charge a couple of euros for the privilege?

Thanks Martin, I have thought about what you say and I think I might have space for it. But if I open it up for "everyone" I might get a space problem. I will for sure offer this service to customers, I might start there and then see if I have enough space to help others out a bit later on.

As you say, the advantage would be that I am open 7 days a week.

The Xunta has promised to do the last inspection the first week of September, after that I can get started to organize inside. And not too long after that I will open.

Greetings from Santiago,
Ivar

[Martin0642]

Hi Ivar,

Yeah I did think it could get out of control quite easily! Running it for everyone would be a business in itself...which come to think of it could be something to consider for the future maybe? But running it for guests,,maybe forum members too..could be a great service and a nice side line for the business side.

Shell and i were talking this morning and we thought what Santiago could do with is a pilgrim meeting place.Maybe a large bar or just a big coffee bar. As we entered Santiago we found it quite confusing to find our way to the cathedral. We met many pilgrims that were lost and when we had time to sit back the next day and just observe we noticed pilgrims drifting round Santiago, seemingly out of step with the busy city around them. I think it's easy to feel quite lost there. Especially after days walking through calm countryside. I know the Pilgrim office is a meeting point of sorts but it's not really the kind of place you would stay for any length of time. We also noticed that many of the bars when we first got there didnt really like us coming in with packs...partly I suppose because they were quite cramped so I guess it made sense. But a space to relax and catch up with fellow pilgrims when you first get there would be a wonderful idea.

Just a thought....

I wish you well with your Pension and I look forward to staying there one day!

Martin

[Joseph Chan]

Well said Martin0642 on the need for a debriefing room in Santiago for the pilgrims who have arrived in Santiago. We found that the actual entry into the Cathedral Plaza was indeed an anticlimax, I think the repeated saying that the journey is more important than the arrival is taken too far. The small bars around the Cathedral, which we found was more like a tourist trap, were quite aloof and expensive. Pilgrims were wandering around the narrow streets, walking on worn cobblestones. Or climbing up the worn steps passing crumbling statues and avoiding the rusty metal rails on the way up to the Cathedral half opened narrow doors. Inside the Cathedral things are not any better, it is dinghy due to the poor lighting. The lights on the altar are switched off as soon as the gloomy priestswalks back to the sacristy after the mass, making the interior even more depressing.

With a thousand pilgrim clamouring for their Credential on a busy day the pilgrim office is not a place to meet in a civilised manner.

There is a need for a gathering place or places for pilgrims to meet in Santiago. We stayed at Hotel Area Central which had a huge Supermercado below selling 3 two-litre bottled water for a Euro, we usually paid a Euro for a one litre bottle on place associated with the Camino. Santiago is a modern booming commercial city and no longer dependent on pilgrims. Ivar, with his understanding of pilgrims, is the ideal person to look into something for pilgrims to wind down, meet in a friendly atmosphere, and not be ripped off.

Ivar has taken the first step in getting a hostal running, and we are sure his venture will have the full support of his many fans.

Perhaps it is time to start a new thread?

Grandpa Joe

[Martin0642]

Maybe it is time for a new thread.....i'll go and start one then! In the miscellaneous section...

Step this way good pilgrims...

[DJ BJ]

How does it look for your place to be open the first week in November?

[ivar]

How does it look for your place to be open the first week in November?

I am probably open, but since I am not 100% sure I do not want to take any reservations... this week (this week in "Spanish time"=maybe next week) they will do the last inspection of the pension, then we need to get furniture and set everything up, then open...

Once the inspection is over, I can set an approximate opening date since then it all depends on me and it is easier to estimate when we will be done.

Un saludo,
Ivar

[JaneB]

I've just returned to my computer after a summer spent wandering to read this great news! (and to see the new forum, which is great)

for most of the last 72 hours I've been thinking 'this time next year I'll be on my way' (my anticipated date of departure from the UK is 5th Sept 2008, start date 6th / 7th ) now I can add 'And I'll be meeting Ivar at the end of it'. That's an incredibly reassuring thought, after all you've already done I'm sure that this will be another huge success and I look forward to making a booking for sometime around the end of October 2008, even working on Spanish time you should be operational by then

[paola]

Hello Ivar,

Congratulations on your new hostal. My cousin and I will be arriving in Santiago on or about 05 November. Can we stay in your hostal? Thanks.

[ivar]

My cousin and I will be arriving in Santiago on or about 05 November. Can we stay in your hostal?

Well, they have told me that today they will do the last inspection of the Pension, in theory that would mean that I will have the permissions needed to open by late this week/next week. Then I need to get the place ready with furniture and equipment.... so November 5th may be pushing it... but my guess would be that I will be opening around that date +/- a few weeks (Remember we are working on Spanish time, so no guarantees).

Not a very clear answer, I know, but that is the situation.

[DJ BJ]

We should be in Santiago around that time (no take, but maybe give a week). What is the address so we can wander by and see if you are open?

[ivar]

What is the address so we can wander by and see if you are open?

The address is: Rua do Xelmirez 30

If you exit the pilgrims office, turn right, walk 10 steps and take another right, walk up the street abut 200 meters. I am 10 meters from the top of the hill.

Yes, please stop by to see if we are open!

Un saludo,
Ivar

[Jochen Schmidtke]

Hello Ivar.
I just read the great news of your new Albergue.
I run a little Saint James Homepage. I am very eager to get some more details of your new refuge.
What is the telefon number? When will you open your refuge?
I will publish your refuge in my Homepage:
http://homepages.uni-paderborn.de/pilge ... l#Santiago
Buen Camino
Jochen

[ivar]

It is not really an Albergue, but a 2 star pension. Albergues are often run by the local government and charge next to nothing. My pension will be run like a business, with focus on offering pilgrim services. But it will be a for-profit-business.

Read the beginning of this thread for all the details, no news on the opening date yet. I will post it once I know...

Un saludo,
Ivar

[MermaidLilli]

Dear Ivar,
I was just at your pension and sorry to have missed you. It looked closed tight. I will go by it once more before leaving Santiago, hopefully to just say hi. It looks very nice, BTW.
Congrats on your (hopefully soon) opening day.
Lillian

[ivar]

Hi Lillian,

Well, as you saw the for rent signs are still hanging there. I don't want to sign a lease until they have all the inspections/paperwork in order. I thought I was all done now (they passed one inspection last week)... but...

.. yesterday I learned that there is one more inspection (by Turismo). I knew of this one earlier, but I was told by the realtor that it was "a simple procedure" and that it "always" was approved and that I could open without this inspection completed. After talking to my accountant yesterday, and after digging in the rules for this last inspection I learned that it might not be such a "slam-dunk" as I thought. So I will wait to sign the lease until this one is completed.... the bad news is that it might take 3 months.

I am kind of bummed out... and have started to look for other alternatives. The problem is that I really like this pension!

I have not given up on the idea, but need a bit more patience... ... and remember that I live in Spain... Mañana, mañana...

Until then, this virtual Pension (the forum) will have to do.

Un saludo,
Ivar

[John Hussey]

What is the actual address?

I shall be there12 December or so.

Found it:

The address is: Rua do Xelmirez 30

I sure hope you are open then!

[ksam]

Ok Ivar, perusing this thread...is open or is you not??? Would love to stop by with the crew at the end of May ....

Hopefully ...

Karin

[ivar]

Ok Ivar, perusing this thread...is open or is you not??? Would love to stop by with the crew at the end of May ....

Hopefully ...

Karin

aahh.. no, this did not happen... Read all about this here:
announcements-your-feedback/topic3248.html


Ivar

[ksam]

Good things come to those who wait! It will happen eventually, and probably be better than you could have ever imagined! I really do find it true when God closes a door he opens another...and in ways we wouldn't believe!!

15 days and a wake up!

Karin

[Annette]

...Gosh, I really have been missing out on a lot during the time I have been away from pilgrimsforums... (I cannot let that happen again).

Ivar. Beds or not... I'd like to check in approx. 23 or 24 of September... and then perhaps again on the 27th. when returning from the coast at Muxia or Finisterre.

Congratulations. I am certain that with your pilgrims knowlegde and spirit this will become a wonderful place....

Annette (In Barcelona)
http://www.raunsbjerg.dk

[ivar]

...Gosh, I really have been missing out on a lot during the time I have been away from pilgrimsforums... (I cannot let that happen again).

Ivar. Beds or not... I'd like to check in approx. 23 or 24 of September... and then perhaps again on the 27th. when returning from the coast at Muxia or Finisterre.

Congratulations. I am certain that with your pilgrims knowlegde and spirit this will become a wonderful place....

Annette (In Barcelona)
http://www.raunsbjerg.dk

Hi again Anette,

So in the end this did not happen, and I actually did not rent the place. I was so close, but things did not work out. More on that here.

So, I'm sorry to say that I can not take your booking, since I do not have a pension

I still have not given up the ideas of doing "something" in old town Santiago for pilgrims. I have a lot of ideas, but the rent in Santiago is so high that I would have to charge pilgrims so much that no one would come... that is the bottom line.

But I am still looking..

Buen camino,
Ivar