2012-09-10 Monday

2012-09-10 Monday

Zubiri / Pamplona

Camino Day 3. We left the hostel at 0700 after a quick breakfast of coffee with milk and toast. It was still a bit dark, some of the pilgrims were using headlamps to find the trail markers and to illuminate the path.

We met, for the first time, a monk doing the Camino, wearing the traditional clothes, carrying a shepherd's staff and doing the rosary. He is French and in his mid-thirties. 

So far we have met people from Spain, France, Holland, Germany, England, Italy, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand, Peru, Ecuador, USA, Korea, Canada and Brazil. 

At around 1000, we stopped in a little village called Irotz, at a place with picnic tables and an outdoor wood burning oven; they were serving delicious looking hot sandwiches, pizzas and tortillas. I had a fresh sausage sandwich on a freshly baked baguette, and a glass of a glass of gazpacho, followed by coffee; they were delicious. Paulo had a sandwich of tortilla on baguette and Terry and Nancy ate slices of veggie pizza, they said everything was pretty good. 

Outdoor Cafe

We all applied a bit more of Second Skin to the sore spots on the feet, trying to prevent blisters. Nancy has a couple of them but so far I have none, and want to keep it that way, but I have a few hot spots that I need to keep an eye on, one is on top of my left middle toe, I think it's caused by the silk sock liner I am wearing, I may ditch them. Overall, we all feel pretty sore. 

We hope to go to  Cizur Menor, about 5 Km beyond Pamplona, but that will depend on how we feel once we reach Pamplona. Most pilgrims stop in Pamplona, but since we all have been there we do not mind skipping it.

Linda and Cathy arrived as we were getting ready to leave the cafe;  we chatted with them for a few minutes and then we were on our way. Cathy's pack was not at the agreed upon delivery place in Zubiri, she ended up having to find a bar and beg the owner to call the backpack transportation service to find out where her pack was, it was delivered to the city's main albergue.

The path went through the front yard of a small, old church; we stopped to rest in chairs set out under a shady tree. An old lady came out of the church and said that a mass was being conducted in French and that we were welcome to go in. We said we did not understand French, but we would like to take a peek inside, she said go ahead, but be quiet and respectful. Terry, Nancy and I went in, the mass was being conducted for a single pilgrim! The church was small, spartan but beautiful. 

As we walked by the village of Trinidad de Arre we passed by a church, and we went in; another old, small and beautiful church. 

We finally arrived in Pamplona at 1300. We crossed the Magdalene's Bridge and sat on a park bench to talk and decide to stay or to go to Cizur Menor, 5 Km away. My feet, legs and knees were hurting badly,  specially the left knee, and Nancy had a swelling behind her knee.  Terry, Nancy and I voted to stay, Paulo wanted to continue on. 

We checked in at the municipal albergue Casa Paterborn, with 24 beds, it was closer than the large albergue in downtown (140 beds) and we did not want to risk walking there only to find it full and having to walk all the way back to this one. There were only 6 spots left when we arrived, and they were soon filled as well. 

We were assigned a room that sleeps 8 and there were 2 young Irish couples there already. The place is clean, with bunk beds with bed sheets and pillows with pillowcases but no cover sheet - but we have to use our sleeping bags anyway. The shower rooms are unisex, our floor has a shower room has four individual stalls along a wall, three showers and one toilet, and 4 sinks on the opposite wall, this to serve 12 pilgrims.

Nancy in the Albergue Casa Paterborn

The "hospitaleros", the volunteers that run the place, offered laundry services for 6 euros a load for washing and drying, so we quickly showered, delivered our dirty clothes for laundry, and laid down to rest for a while. The plan is to leave later in the afternoon to go out to run some errands and eat an early dinner. I want to buy a Spanish SIM card for my travel cell phone, and Nancy wants to buy a pair of walking poles. 

We walked slowly to the center of town, Nancy has a swelling on the back of her left knee, and she suspects it's the beginning of a meniscus tear; she had tore the right one playing soccer and knows how it feels. She says that is not hurting too badly, but her leg is stiff. We found a store that sells trekking gear and Nancy bought a pair of walking poles to see if they would help her, specially on the descends which are tougher on the knees.

At Plaza del Castillo Nancy and Terry stayed at a bar drinking beer and icing her leg while Paulo and I went searching for an Orange cell phone company store. 

Terry, Nancy, Erico and Paulo enjoying wine in late afternoon, Plaza del Castillo, Pamplona

Errands completed, we got back to Terry and Nancy, had a beer, and went searching for a restaurant recommended by Wolfgang, the albergue's "hospitalero," but his directions were vague, and we did not find it. We gave up and found a touristy restaurant serving dinner at 1900, most only start serving at 2000, and had dinner there, nothing to brag about.

We were back at the Albergue shortly after 2100, Nancy's knee is not looking good at all, and I recommended that she takes the bus to the next destination, Puente la Reina, I volunteered to go with her, since she does not speak any Spanish and it will be hard for her to catch a bus in a large city like Pamplona. She said will see how her knee is in the morning and will make a decision.