September 18th, 2013

Sorry for the gap yesterday, in the last albergue we stayed at the computers no fonctiona and the same for the albergues we´re staying at now.  But <I found this little store with a computer so we´re in business! But if I go for a while without posting it´s just that I can´t find a working computer.  Anyway, to catch up:  The day before yesterday we made the 17 steep-uphill-and-steep-downhill walk to the town of Zubiri. So, up until then it had been for us kind of a luxury accomdations pilgrim experience, but at Zubiri it just got real.  We stayed in the municipal albergue for 6 euros each.  The albergue is in a former school house where they´ve converted the classrooms to bunk bed rooms.  I think our room must have been the time-out room, it was soooo tiny and there were 3 bunks shoe-horned into it.  Our suitemates were two very cheerful ladies from South Africa, sisters about our age; a friendly middle-aged Italian man who was doing the Camino on bike, and George, a quite portly old Hungarian ( I say old, I took him to be in his late 70´s but it turned out he was only 61!) who immdiately latched onto Tom as his bestie.  Before we left he gave Tom a ribbon of the hungarian flag to attach to his backpack, which Tom did.  Now besides his shell he has on his backpack the Hungarian ribbon and the finger rosary the Nashes gave him before he left.  The bathroom facilities were quite plentiful (probably because it was a school) but they were across the courtyard from the albergue ( probably because it was a school!)  All the facilities were in a brick building.  You walk into the building and there were 5 toilet stalls on the left wall and against the right wall was a big communal sink.  On either side of the sink were the shower rooms, on for men and one for women.  In the women´s room ( and I expect in the men´s, too, though I didn´t take a peek, but I could have since there were no locks on the doors)  there were 5 shower heads - but  no stalls! (And no locks on the doors, right?) But I decided either take the darn  shower or smell like 5-day -old fish, so I sucked in my breath and jumped into the festivites.  I just pretended I was at the Y.  Next day we started walking towards Pamplona.  Tom had read a blog about an albergue on the outskirts of Pamplona about which a blogger had written unfavorable comments, he discouraged anyone from staying there because, although it was a super clean, big and modern place with great facilities, no one ever stayed there, he was the only person there and it was too lonely.  Too lonely?  As in all the bathrooms for us?  We made a beeline for the place!  The place was as the blogger described it, 10 euros for wonder facilities plus breakfast but it was better than completely empty:  there were 2 other pilgrims there, a middle-aged Canadian with foot problems ( I told him to tighten his boots!) and a German man, Josef, about our age who gave us some great advice & encouragement about doing the Camino (this is his 3rd time doing it).  And of course all the commodes and showers for me, me, me! We like this empty place so much ( and the hospitaliero is so kind and helpful) that we are going to spend another night here.  Today we´ll take the bus into Pamplona and return later.  Life is good on the Camino and I hope it is for all of you, our friends and loved ons.  Have  good days all ´til I can write again.  Love, Patti 8)