Things to take according to the Sevilla et.al. Friends

[Rosina Lila]

Hello you all,
The Mozarabe Via de la Plata Guide recommends that pilgrims take the
following:
--small laundry bag
--backpack
--sleeping mat ("esterilla", the roll-up kind)
--two pairs of cotton pants
--two or three t-shirts
--two or three changes of underwear
--four pairs of socks
--detergent
--sun cap or sun hat
--light (plastic?) rain poncho
--boots
--pair of sandals or tennis shoes
--small bag for personal hygiene items
--bath soap or gel
--sponge or bath towel
--shampoo
--toothbrush
--toothpaste
--dental floss
--toilet paper
--kleenex ("panhuelos de celulosa"!)
--Iodine
--"halibut" type cream (balm? pomade?)
--scissors
--sterilized gauze pads
--bandages
--plaster strips (esparadrapo)
--bandaids
--needle and thread (to pierce and drain blisters; you put the thread

             through the blister(s) with the needle and leave it there to
drain
             out the excessive liquid..... unseemly, but very effective, I'm
told)
--tweezers
--sunblock lotion
--chopstick (for lips)
--painkillers (aspirin or such)
--anti inflammatory painkiller creams or such
--Your usual medication
--insect repellent
--medical insurance card
--small bag for food
--dried fruit
--canned food
--cheese
--crackers
--bread
--sugar packets
--salt pills (?)
--vitamin pills
--canteen
--credit card
--sunglasses
--cellular phone
--walking stick
--multiuse penknife
--flashlight
--alarm clock
--about six meters of cord
--clothes pins
--pilgrim's credential
--cash money
--small notebook
--ball point pen

I expect that, Spaniards being Spaniards, delicacy prevented the list from
spelling out certain items of feminine hygiene, which, by the way, are not as
easy to find as one would think.  To be even handed, I suppose, masculine
shaving items are also left out. At the end of the list there are fill-in blank
spaces.
Two little boxes precede each item with the explanation that the first box is
for the pilgrim to decide what s/he is going to take, and the second to
verify that the selected item has in fact been packed.
Curiously, the guide suggests that the water canteen should be the old
fashioned type with a very narrow opening "to better regulate the water intake for
energy and health purposes".
The writers of the guide are of the opinion that a walking stick is very
valuable le not only as a "third leg" but to spread the strain of carrying one's
body and backpack when the legs begin to get tired. Apparently this "spreading
out" goes a long way to avoid blisters, leg spasms and the like later on. They
also opine that many pilgrims minimize the dangers of leg, arms or face
sunburn, which may go on to ruin an otherwise good pilgrimage.
They also, and wonderfully, recommend that to countervail the loss of body
liquids a pilgrim should eat a lot of fresh fruit (more efficient than water),
and wherever and whenever possible the pilgrim should consume gazpacho (freely
available in Andalucia and Extremadura) because gazpacho is the very best
antidehidrative ever, known and used as such by the Romans themselves.
(I told you it is a wonderful guide).
In Andalucia one goes to any bar and orders a cup of gazpacho and drinks it
as though it were tomato juice.  Very rarely, if ever, is gazpacho served in
plates. When I was in Pamplona last summer I was very happy to find gazpacho
being sold in the grocery stores in carton containers, as though it were milk,
and it was delicious.
The authors also recommend the use of small cloth bags (easy to find in
stores in Spain) and to avoid plastic ones because cloth bags do not make any noise
and "the rest of the other pilgrims thereby may be respected".
Warm regards,
Rosina



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