Oy guide book said this was the best and the locals on the way said as much too. Of course, with those type of expectations, it usually falls short. However, I had a great time here. The place is located just outside of Guemes. Catholic Father Ernesto lives here, an older fellow who turned his family home into an albergue for peregrinos. The guy created this absolutely gorgeous albergue on top of a mountain out in the country. It is donativo too. Before dinner, he makes a push for folks to donate. He also told the group of 64 of us about his life. As a priest, he was able to convince his bishop for him to take 2 years to travel the world in a boat back in 1980. His goal was to get his degree in 'the school of life.' His principles were hard labor work like the locals, connection with others, and to report back what he had learned about life. I said in front of the group that he doesn't seem like any Catholic priest that I had heard of! I asked where his black shirt and pants were as he was dressed casually. Some Spaniard assured me that in Spain priests come in all flavors. After he got done talking, I asked him how his boss the bishop let him do it. Ernesto said he asked him and luckily was given the go ahead as he argued that this was personal spiritual work he needed to do as part of an expression of his own liberty. If the bishop said 'no', then Ernesto said he would find another bishop (boss) who would tell him 'yes'.
The artwork below is of Ernesto's parents. He has this library on top of the albergue which is filled with tapes of all of his travels, plus a lifesize poster of Gandhi on his wall.
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