When you walk a Camino, some hospitaleros — albergue hosts — stand out and are long remembered. Sometimes they are volunteers at albergues owned by a religious organization or municipality. Often the ones who stand out are owners of private albergues who are driven by a mission to ease the way for pilgrims.
I met a hospitalero yesterday and stayed at an albergue that I will long remember.
Albergue A Pociña de Muñiz in Vilar de Cas has been described as perhaps the plushest albergue. I stayed there last night and I felt pampered. That is not a term you often hear on the Camino.
I don’t know much about the owner, Pepe Muñiz. His knowledge of English matches my knowledge of Spanish — which means we could communicate basics but not really engage in conversation.
But it was clear he has a sincere desire to provide a soul-nourishing respite for his guests. He has invested heavily in restoring an old stone building that opened in 2018 with amenities meant to comfort and in art and design tweaks that delight the senses.
I was the only guest at the albergue Saturday night, this being a slow period on the Camino Primitivo. So I had the massive, vaulted-ceiling main room to myself. I used a table in the modern, well-appointed kitchen to write the two most recent blog posts.
A little before our agreed-upon dinner time, Pepe started bringing in three separate courses of a vegetarian meal (as I requested) prepared in an authentic Galician style. There were two varieties of wine. The personal attention was repeated Sunday morning at breakfast.
Sr. Muñiz exudes humility, concern and care.
The albergue sits in the middle of the long stage between O Cádavo and Lugo, so I’m sure a lot of peregrinos pass it by as they head to the big city. But if you have any thoughts of doing the Camino Primitivo someday, you’ll find Albergue A Pociña de Muñiz an oasis that will take the rough edges off the Camino.
Here are some photos of the albergue, followed by some photos of the mostly foggy walk to Lugo. I’m afraid I didn’t take enough photos of the albergue and the ones I did don’t do it justice.
Walking to Lugo
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