[Gocamino] San Juan de la Pena

Sat May 5 09:42:04 PDT 2007

Hi Philippe,

In Jaca you can go to a tourist information office and they will arrange for transportation to San Juan de la Penha. The (regulated) taxi fare to and from the Monastery is, I think, 15 Euros which incoludes a stop at the church at the foot of the Mountain, a visit to the "new3" Monastery (350 years  old) atop of the mountain and a one hour wait for the visit to the o0ld monastery which is the glorious one carved out of the rock at the side of the mountain about twlve hundred years ago.
The ride from Jaca takes about half an hour or so.
On top of the mountain by the "new" monastery there is an "environmental" exhibit in an old building and nestled in the forest trees there is a bar.  Thoso who drive their own cars can only park atop the mountain  for limited periods.  While up there in the forest  there are what may be called "picnic grounds"  they are seriously and carefully regulated.
There is no parking, or standing, by the "old" monastery except to let people in or out of cars.
When I was there last year I learned that facilities were being built atop the mountain by the "new" monastery where visitors could spend the night.  They might be finished by now.
If one could spend a day or two in the new facilities one could walk down to, or up from, the "old" Monastery.
The view from up there is breathtaking where from the thick of the mountain forest the valley below can be seen, in all its grandeur and beauty, framed by the ice blue of the snow-capped Pyrenees in the distance. 
The "old" Monastery, of course, in and by itself is worth being alive to visit.
As you will see, the capitels of the cloister columns have carvings with Biblical scenes, and the figures have supersized eyes..... justifiably so to encapture such beauty.
I have never visited anywhere a place that has touched and impressed me more (nor the pyramids in Egypt, the Wall of China or the Falls of Iguazu in South America) than San Juan de la Penha.
Happy those that will visit it for the first time!
I'd suggest that you make an arrangement through the Jaca tourism office to be taken to the Monastery in the morning and be picked up in the evening.
Regards,
Rosina

-----Original Message-----
From: pips124 at hotmail.com
To: blaroli at aol.com
Sent: Sat, 5 May 2007 9:20 AM
Subject: Fw: San Juan de la Pena

Hi Rosina 

I sent you the message below a month or so ago - and I was wondering if you have received it. Your comments/ advise would of course be most appreciated 

Thanks 

Warmest regards 

Philippe 
----- Original Message ----- From: <pips124 at hotmail.com> 
To: <blaroli at aol.com> 
Sent: Monday, April 09, 2007 8:24 AM 
Subject: San Juan de la Pena 

> Hi Rosina 
> 
> I posted a question about the San Juan de la Pena monastery on the site > but seem to have got some conflicting aswers. Since I seem to recall it > was you who originally wrote a piece about that place and drew my interest > to it, I was wondering whether you could help me. 
> 
> I am leaving from Oloron St Marie on May 31st and after Jaca, am planning > to make the detour to visit the San Jan monastery. 
> 
> 1) what kind of a detour is it from the main Camino ? How many kilometers > one way ? 
> 
> 2) how many kilometers after Jaca is the turn off ? 
> 
> 3) would there be accomodation at the monastery ? and food ? Or can I > do the return trip in one day and continue on the Camino that day? 
> 
> Many thanks in advance , Rosina 
> 
> Philippe a 54 year old French pilgrim living in England 
> 
> 
> 
>>From: blaroli at aol.com 
>>To: saintjames at yahoogroups.com 
>>CC: GoCamino at oakapple.net 
>>Subject: Re: [Gocamino] [saintjames] A Camino scammer 
>>Date: Tue, 16 Jan 2007 04:40:25 -0500 
>> 
>>Hello you all, 
>>I am forwarding a translation of Stacey's message, and Alejandro's fotos, >>to the Pilgrim's office. Perhaps they can alert the albergues. 
>>What language(s) does he speak? Is he, for sure, from a particular >>country? That infrormation may help. 
>>Pity that such an attractive-looking fellow would resort to lÃ¶w-life >>practices. 
>>Interestingly, here in crime-free Vienna, the only criminal behavior >>reported -most of it petty, such as shop-lifting, not paying in >>restaurants or riding the (wonderful) trams or subways without paying- is >>perpetrated by foreigners, and quite a few of them are tourists. I myself >>have seen, in quite a few occasions, tourists slip things from the museum >>shops into their bags without paying for them, and serving themselves to >>food in the cafeterias while the cashier was distracted or momentarily >>absent; when caught, they have pretended not to understand the language, >>although I had heard them speak in a variety of accented English which >>most everyone in the shops in Vienna speaks. 
>>In New York City, by the way, one cannot board a bus or a subway without >>paying first. "Jumping the turnstile" subjects the perpetrator to >>immediate arrest.... in handcuffs and everything. Here in Austria, as in >>Italy, public transportation runs pretty much on the honor system; there >>are sporadic inspections on board, and riders caught without a validated >>ticket have to pay, right there and then, about twenty times the price of >>the ticket, or more. 
>>Regards, 
>>Rosina 
>> 
>> 
>>-----UrsprÃ¼ngliche Mitteilung----- 
>>Von: GASpangler at hotmail.com 
>>An: saintjames at yahoogroups.com 
>>Verschickt: Mo., 15.Jan.2007, 21:51 
>>Thema: [saintjames] A Camino scammer 
>> 
>> 
>>A Camino scammer story as recounted in an Email from Peregrina 
>>Stacey: 
>> 
>>I just thought I would run this one by you to see how you want to 
>>handle it. 
>> 
>>I walked the Camino starting in Pamplona and ending in Fisterra. 
>>Along the way I met some fantastic people, but a group I ended up 
>>walking with from Astorga on and I were really screwed over by a con 
>>artist along the way. 
>> 
>>His name is Alejandro, and he walked with us for a couple weeks. He 
>>told us he had walked from Belgium and that he had been walking for a 
>>little over a year; this is about all he told us that we think is 
>>true. The rest of the story was that he had been in a car accident 
>>and in it lost his wife and two kids. In the end when we arrived in 
>>Santiago all together he ended up stealing 150 Euro from me, my iPod, 
>>and another hundred Euros from another in our group, then 
>>disappearing. When other Pilgrims heard our story they said they had 
>>met him as well and that he had a similar story and got 20 Euro from 
>>them. 
>> 
>>We should have been more careful, and I think we learned a valuable 
>>lesson. The next day we caught up with him in the pilgrim office and 
>>I did get my iPod back. The money wasn't an issue and I honestly 
>>didn't care about it. Anyways, I am only afraid that he may continue 
>>walking other routes and duping other pilgrims. Since he walked with 
>>us for so long I have plenty of pictures of him and if you would like 
>>I could forward some to you. I do think it may be a good idea to post 
>>something about this on the web site because I would hate for his 
>>scams to continue. We did do our best to spread the word on our end, 
>>and to send Emails out etc. 
>> 
>>Four Photos of Alejandro: 
>> 
>>http://www.elcaminosantiago.com/Scam/Camino_Scam_Alejandro_01.jpg 
>> 
>>http://www.elcaminosantiago.com/Scam/Camino_Scam_Alejandro_02.jpg 
>> 
>>http://www.elcaminosantiago.com/Scam/Camino_Scam_Alejandro_03.jpg 
>> 
>>http://www.elcaminosantiago.com/Scam/Camino_Scam_Alejandro_04.jpg 
>> 
>>Thus, kind readers, we see there is little changed since Chaucer 
>>penned The Canterbury Tales. Thieves and con men are still plying 
>>their trade. The 'wolf in sheep's clothing' as exemplified by 
>>Alejandro is as effective as ever. 
>> 
>>Be spontaneous, live in the moment, have fun, but be watchful. 
>> 
>>Buen Camino, 
>> 
>>Grant 
>> 
>>Grant Spangler 
>>GASpangler at hotmail.com 
>>groups.msn.com/ElCaminoSantiago 
>>community.webshots.com/user/ElCaminoSantiago 
>> 
>> 
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