After living for 27 years in San Francisco – I know a little bit about tourist traps. It’s a beautiful city and hoards of people come to gawk at the bridge and sometimes they get the right one. When we have visitors, there is the obligatory tourist drive around town.
The Camino Francés is a wonderful way to visit Spain. If you are not religious, don’t have anxiety in your life to escape, don’t have grief to carry with you to Cruz de Ferro, you look at things…or I look at things from the standpoint of what’s genuine and what’s a tourist trap.
And this is my perspective. I’ve lived a super high stress level life, so much so I had a stroke to remind me to stop and smell the roses. I’ve already solved my angst before going on the Camino. To me, it was a physical challenge. Testing how strong I’ve become after my stroke.
Pamplona- yes, it’s a tourist trap. However, the cathedral and the onsite excavation is pure joy. It’s a charming little old city, but you walk through a little bit of ghetto to get into it. The most difficult part was dinner only starting at 9pm. Of course we could buy instant noodles and microwave them at an albergue, but, we’re Touristgrinos! So we went pintxos tasting, like all good Touristgrinos do.
Ditto Logrono. Although the street with pintxos bars had more options. With the hotel points I had built up, we stayed at an AC Hotel, and luxuriated in a shower where you can bend and touch your toes.
We didn’t stay in Astorga- just seeing the 4 star hotel sign on a former monastery, and the bars lined up in the plaza across the street…we said “skip this tourist trap”. Yes there was a cathedral, and the gaudi house…it was siesta hour anyway so, we didn’t want to waste time and money in a place where beautiful people in high heels were strutting about. I took pictures of the cathedral…so I was there.
Fisterra- an almost tourist trap until we found Bar Miramar. The town could have passed off for any fancy schmancy waterfront place, like Carmel, California. High prices at restaurants with glass and glitter line the waterfront. It’s salvation…Bar Miramar, unpretentious, simple food, wooden chairs and tables, locals come in to buy lottery tickets. The best part, they open for dinner at 7pm. Every place else opens at 8pm because that’s when the tourists are done with viewing sunset at the lighthouse.
HakkaHiker 