Passing Pamplona, staying at Cizur Menor
Fabio and Miguel were getting ready in the kitchen. I was the third to wake up, but the first one to leave. Only Miguel and me had night lights. It slowed down Miguel who was behind Fabio until the sunrise. They made fun of me in the afternoon, about how fast I was.
I remember to hear two rivers that I could not see. The vegetation on the path was very low that would reach my head. I cannot imagine those who do the Camino in their bikes going through it.
People in Spain is very poor business people. Over 180 walkers leave their shelters before 8am, but there is not a place to buy coffee or a pastry on the way. France was very good with it. We were lucky to find a man from Idaho, USA with coffee, bananas, boiled eggs, pastry , and other goodies. He was not selling them, but he was asking for a donation for the down syndrome foundation. I took a banana and a boiled egg. As I was eating them we talk about Puerto Rican Boxers through history. He knew all of them better than me. It was so refreshing. Now, I don’t know how in the world he carried all these items to the area where he was. It was like sent by God. There was not a close road any where, and there he was…
I entered Pamplona by the eastern suburbs. Pamplona is a very developed city. All the buildings are average 10 stories high. The first floors are all businesses. You want to bring people to live in downtown Louisville, we need to learn from Pamplona.
El Camino take you through the old city wall. It is just like St. Felipe del Morro in Puerto Rico. I would say the same architect. It was just a copy. I would have to investigate which one is older.
The people in Pamplona dress very well to go to work. It was like a fashion show going through the streets. In all sense!
I only struggled with their indifference. I said good morning in Spanish to every person I encountered. Only a hand account answered back. Therefore, I started having fun with it. If they did not answered, and they were orders, I would said: Gracias jovenes! Thank you young people! If they were younger, I just would repeat two more times good morning, good morning.
I visited St. Fermin Church. We have a great debate at the restaurant where we have lunch. Is St. Fermin, St. Lawrence? It was a chaos! In reality he is St. Lawrence, but they call him St. Fermin in this area of Spain. It is like St. James, in Spanish Santiago or San Diego or Tiago or Jacobi or Jacubus. It is a total mess. Just a private devotion of saints called different with the same political cloths.
I leave the city by the University of Navarra, and started the ascension to Cizur Menor a little village with two beautiful churches of the XII Century. Because there are two, you can imaging the fights for the power. I had to deal with it in the afternoon. Where to go for mass? Any way, I celebrated the mass for 20 pelegrinos at the Order of Malta XII Century Church.
I arrived to Cizur Manor by 10am. The shelter was not opened, but Maribel, the owner opened it for me. A very sweet women. She talked to me for 2 hours. She has a great jovial personality that you would stay talking with her the whole day. She stopped talking, because she must open the shelter.
To eat lunch in Spain you must wait till 1pm. Omg! And for dinner till 7pm. Omg! I ate so much at lunch that I did not eat dinner tonight. After mass, I ate bread and cheese with Fabio, and Pedro offered me a beer.
The 99% of the walkers are from Spain. And they are fun, fun!
It started raining tonight. We had a hail storm, and it was very cold water. Tomorrow I have to cross El Alto del Perdon (The Hill of Forgiveness). The name says it all!