September 19th, 2013

Tom is so good!  A couple of albergues ago I left behind (duh!) my adapter for my camera. So while I was writing yesterday´s blog he found his way to the local hardware store look for a new adapter.  He found one and made a cultural discovery :  hardware stores here are just like the ones in the states!  You go into the store, a young kid waits on you, you tell him what you need, he sort of looks around then grabs something in a package from the wall.  You pay for it, take it home, open it up, realize it´s the wrong thing, and cuss.  Later  in Pamplona we found an electrical store run by an old man, with several other old men hanging around.  We showed him what we needed, he studied it a moment, went to a drawer full of all  kinds of plugs and - voila! - just what we need!  We were so happy we cheered.  The other old men applauded and said "Bravo! Bravo!" and the shop owner took a bow! It´s a small world after all, right?  So, yesterday  we took a bus to Pamplona, did the touristy thing, and saw the sights (thankfully, without our backpacks!).  Last night our single fellow pilgrim with whom we shared our 50-bed albergue was Ferdinand, a retired Spanish air force officer who walked 40 km yesterday!  And then I was astounded by how peppy he was last night after he was after walking all that way! - me, who is pretty much zombified every night after walking less than 20 km!  Today the backpacks went back on and we plan on walking 20 km to Uterga.  I´ll probably be doubly zombified tonight.  Anyway, Uterga is  kind of sooner than the usual stopping point from Pamplona (which we also stopped a little sooner than) but we´ve decided to try and stay a bit behind "the herd". (Our affectionate nomenclature for our crowds of  fellow pilgrims - no problems, though, there are always a few fellow straggler-behind-pilgrims to keep us company on the Camino). Just a note on how much we love this town, Villava,  of the empty albergue. Once again Tom has made a bestie, Miguel, the young Venezuelan who owns the shop where this computer is.  Miguel speaks English and is so helpful to the pilgrims and Tom gave him some marketing advice.  To answer your question, Romaine:  my impression regarding the piilgrim meals is that in the restaurants where the albergues are in cahoots with the restaurant the meals seem to be offered only to the pilgrims but I think other places anybody could order one.  But don´t quote me on that, it´s just my impression.  A happy day to you all!  Patti 8)