Arrived in Pamplona

Thursday, May 4, 2017--Zaragoza to Pamplona

The bus was right on time, and the ride was very smooth.  We passed wind farms, solar farms, orchards, vineyards, and green (wheat?) fields.

I wanted to buy my bus ticket for my next destination when I arrived here because there are limited options between the two cities.  Unfortunately, the window was closed and about 6 other people were standing there wanting to buy tickets.  I was expected at my apartment, so I had to leave and will just go back at another time tonight or tomorrow.

My apartment here is nice with a great view toward the Cathedral.  Bells go off every hour and every half-hour, but I am hoping they stop at some point during the night!!  I had only been here for a few minutes when I saw a pilgrim pass; I am on the route that is followed by religious pilgrims walking The Way of St. James (or Camino de Santiago) from France to Santiago de Compostela.  (For anyone interested, there is a good English-language film on Netflix about it called The Way.)  As the day passed, more and more pilgrims came by with some of them looking very tired from their walk today.

I immediately put my clothes in the washing machine here at the apartment.  I am waiting for them to finish washing so that I can put them on the clothesline on my balcony to dry.  Tonight, I will have to wear shorts to go out, so I hope it stays warm, since I only brought two pairs of long pants and both are in the laundry.  I have extras of everything else--socks, underwear, shirts, etc.

Thursday nights, they have a special event here.  Most of the bars celebrate "Juevintxo."  That means that they offer a drink (wine, beer, or a local cane drink) along with a "pintxo," the Basque word for tapas, for 2 Euros.  It sounds great, but as a loner, it isn't so good.  It starts around 19:00, and I went out at 19:30.  Well, most bars were already packed with friends celebrating together.  Tables were taken, places at the bars were taken, etc.  I wandered 3-4 streets known for this, and eventually realized that a person alone would not fit in well and would have a problem being served.  Groups meet at given points and go bar-to-bar together.  So, I came home and created my own Juevintxo.  I had bought groceries earlier, so I had a crusty seeded bread, camembert cheese, dried ham, wine, and olives.    I made 4 small pintxo using slices of bread--two with cheese and two with dried ham.  I took bites of these along with small bites of garlic-stuffed olives.  Then I took a sip of my Arnalte Rioja (Crianza 2013) from the area just south of here.  It was great, and I didn't have to worry about being alone or taking up space where a group wanted to be.

It's nice to be back in an apartment after three consecutive stays in hotels.  I like having my own food when I want it, not having noise from people in hallways or adjoining rooms, having SPACE (2 bedrooms, a living/dining room, a kitchen, and a bathroom here), two balconies overlooking the Cathedral, not having to share the WiFi, etc.  Wes seems to prefer hotels, so we will be in lots of hotels after he arrives, but I like living like a local and having my own large space compared to a small room with only a bed, desk, and bath.  (It's also fun to see the looks of tourists as I come and go from the front door of my building, too.  I'm a local with my laundry drying on the lines on one of my balconies at only $72 a night!)

Two local notes:

When I bought groceries today, I asked a young woman at the store if she spoke English.  She did, so I asked if the tomato salsas I was investigating were the same as those they eat at breakfast with bread.  Her response is that they usually make theirs homemade from tomatoes.  I bought one that had tomatoes, onions, garlic, etc., to enjoy tomorrow even if it isn't homemade from tomatoes.

When I returned to the bus station to buy my ticket for Logrono for Sunday, there was a young man at the booth.  I had already written everything out as I usually do when buying tickets:  Pamplona--Longrono, Domingo, 7/5/2017, 13:30-15:35, El Mayor--mas antiguo.  He did speak English, and he smiled at my last line which means, "Senior citizen, very old."  I had my passport out and my Spanish Tarjeta Dorata card (a card issued by the Spanish railroad to senior citizens for a fee of 6 Euros to prove they are eligible for disounts) out to support that last claim.  His smiling response was, "Senore, we don't offer discounts."  I quickly said, "Alsa (another bus company which I have used for a number of tickets in advance of my trip) does, and they are quite good."  But then he quoted a price of 9.10 Euros for the ticket which I knew was close to what Alsa would have charged me.  Anyway, it was an enjoyable interaction with him.