[Gocamino] FW: Rita's request

Tue Aug 5 14:52:21 PDT 2008

From: Callie Householder [mailto:callie.householder at mac.com]
Sent: Tuesday, August 05, 2008 2:45 PM
To: Judith Nollar
Subject: Re: [Gocamino] Rita's request

We went two years ago, att said that our treo would work fine that we just needed to get a sim card when we got there. Unfortunately no one in spain seemed to know what a sim card was. The treo was a very expensive alarm clock. You can check with the att people but I can't say they are really that knowledgeable about oversees calling. But that is just my experience. Otherwise I love att. But again that was two years ago. I recently went to new zealand and although I didn't use my  iphone to make calls it worked fine with email and texts but the bill was high.
Not sure this helps but..good luck.

Callie
On 5/8/08 3:50 PM, "Judith Nollar" <jnollar at library.caltech.edu> wrote:
Hi Rita,
You can double check at the info desk at the airport, they have good and current information. It seemed to us that most of the trains going north start at Atocha and stop again at Chamartin to pick up. However, we took a taxi to the bus station and then an excellent bus to Pamplona, comfortable, fast and cheaper. From Pamplona bus station, it was cheaper for 6 of us to hire a van taxi straight to SJPP, but for two probably not. In summer especially there may well be others at the Pamplona station you could join up with. Serendipity happens on the Camino.

I very strongly recommend a reservation in SJPP; it's a small and crowded place this time of year, and a good night before the hike over the mountains helps a lot.  We liked very much both times we were there the small  Hotel Ramuntcho.
http://ldf.reservit.com/reservit/fiche_htl.php?userid=540933a7b40657938757a8035e1c5c2f2a28&areaid=4619&hotelid=1769&bPercent=0&cis=1217965396

We didn't have good luck with a U.S. phone in Europe.

Buen Camino!
Judy

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Sent: Tuesday, August 05, 2008 12:00 PM
To: gocamino at oakapple.net
Subject: Gocamino Digest, Vol 46, Issue 2

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Message: 1
Date: Tue, 5 Aug 2008 13:24:43 -0400
From: "Wes & Rita" <wesrita at comcast.net>
Subject: [Gocamino] Madrid Airport to Train Station
To: <gocamino at oakapple.net>
Message-ID: <000d01c8f720$26e49d70$7768c047 at Harold>
Content-Type: text/plain;       charset="Windows-1252"

Hello to everyone on gocamino:  It is nearly one year since Wes and I cancelled our Camino due to my back injury (three weeks before we were to depart) and we said "Next year!" and now we are here, ready to depart September 8.  Thank you to everyone for keeping our energies high with all your contributions to the site.  I look forward to it every day.

I am having trouble figuring out how to get from the Madrid airport (where we will arrive on Iberia from Boston) to the train station for Pamploma.  First I couldn't figure out from the Renfe site whether we'd be leaving from the old station (Chamartin) from which most northern bound trains leave, or the new station (Atocha) which seems to get most of the attention in the web sites.  If we are leaving from Chamartin, it didn't seem like there was a metro route there from the airport at this time.  Can anyone advise us if Chamartin is the station we want and how to get to that station from the airport?

We are planning on going to Pamploma from the airport by train as that seems considerably faster than by bus.  Then we will take a bus to Roncesvalles and then get a taxi to SJPP (hopefully shared with other pilgrims).  Can we arrive early in the morning in Madrid and get to SJPP by evening that day and still find a place to stay or must we make a reservation in advance?  Albergue l'Esprit de Chemin seems to be booked for the night of 9 September and I'm wondering if there are any other inexpensive options if we can't count on the municipal albergue having room.  Any recommendations?

Lastly, we have an AT&T cell phone and according to AT&T there is decent reception all across northern Spain.  We would only use it to call ahead for reservations in private albergues if we find that public ones are too full to count on in September.  It looks like that would be less expensive than renting a mobile phone in Spain.  Has anyone ever used their US phones (AT&T in particular) on the Camino and do you have any recommendations?

Thanks in advance -- Rita

------------------------------

Message: 2
Date: Tue, 5 Aug 2008 12:04:47 -0600
From: Richard Ferguson <richard at fergusonsculpture.com>
Subject: Re: [Gocamino] Madrid Airport to Train Station - also phone
To: gocamino at oakapple.net
Cc: wesrita at comcast.net
Message-ID: <p06230902c4be437f6736@[192.168.0.4]>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" ; format="flowed"

As far as Madrid, I took a bus from the airport to the center of town
and then a taxi from there.

For $30 on ebay, you can buy a used "quad band unlocked GSM phone"
with a 110/220V charger.  This is a true global phone, works in 150
countries, just buy a sim card when you get to Spain.  The sim card
gives you a Spain phone number.  You don't really want to get
international calls from your friends inviting you to lunch when you
are in Spain, so a different phone number makes sense.  If the phone
is just a security blanket that you plan to leave turned off, that
you hope not to use, then your US phone may be the way to go.  But if
you travel outside the country much, a global phone is a good way to
go for local calls.  On my last Mexico trip, I mostly used the global
phone to call the taxi driver who I was using regularly.

Note that your AT&T phone may not be quad band, so might have limited
coverage in Europe, as Europe uses different frequencies than the
USA.  (A tri-band phone will work internationally, but not as well as
if it has all the frequencies).

Richard

>Hello to everyone on gocamino:  It is nearly one year since Wes and
>I cancelled our Camino due to my back injury (three weeks before we
>were to depart) and we said "Next year!" and now we are here, ready
>to depart September 8.  Thank you to everyone for keeping our
>energies high with all your contributions to the site.  I look
>forward to it every day.
>
>I am having trouble figuring out how to get from the Madrid airport
>(where we will arrive on Iberia from Boston) to the train station
>for Pamploma.  First I couldn't figure out from the Renfe site
>whether we'd be leaving from the old station (Chamartin) from which
>most northern bound trains leave, or the new station (Atocha) which
>seems to get most of the attention in the web sites.  If we are
>leaving from Chamartin, it didn't seem like there was a metro route
>there from the airport at this time.  Can anyone advise us if
>Chamartin is the station we want and how to get to that station from
>the airport?
>
>We are planning on going to Pamploma from the airport by train as
>that seems considerably faster than by bus.  Then we will take a bus
>to Roncesvalles and then get a taxi to SJPP (hopefully shared with
>other pilgrims).  Can we arrive early in the morning in Madrid and
>get to SJPP by evening that day and still find a place to stay or
>must we make a reservation in advance?  Albergue l'Esprit de Chemin
>seems to be booked for the night of 9 September and I'm wondering if
>there are any other inexpensive options if we can't count on the
>municipal albergue having room.  Any recommendations?
>
>Lastly, we have an AT&T cell phone and according to AT&T there is
>decent reception all across northern Spain.  We would only use it to
>call ahead for reservations in private albergues if we find that
>public ones are too full to count on in September.  It looks like
>that would be less expensive than renting a mobile phone in Spain.
>Has anyone ever used their US phones (AT&T in particular) on the
>Camino and do you have any recommendations?
>
>Thanks in advance -- Rita
>
>
>
>_______________________________________________
>Gocamino mailing list
>Gocamino at oakapple.net
>http://mailman.oakapple.net/mailman/listinfo/gocamino

--
http://www.fergusonsculpture.com
Sculptures in copper and other metals

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