No Room at the Inn...Again. 4-29-17

As it turned out we had another short day today! We left earlier this morning because the albergue had RULES. We stopped to look at some peacocks behind a fence and I leaned against the fence and got black stuff all over my coat:(  The walk got urban and busy. We stopped at a car dealership to use the bathroom in Villava. It's  hard to keep drinking when there are no bathrooms or woods and when it is cold!  Hola Pamplona! We crossed another pretty bridge and entered the old walled city via a drawbridge. We had planned to do a little shopping -new shoes for Mona because her toes were being crushed. We ran into some pilgrims I had talked to a couple of days ago and they directed Mona to a store that catered to pilgrim needs. Before we left the store I was sporting a knee brace. We visited another ancient church called San Saturnin. We noticed the floor which had big wooden panels in the floorboards that were numbered. They are tombs for parishioners who were buried there until 1813 ( just like in the book The Miniaturist). 

We tried to call for a reservation in a town about 5 miles ahead but we couldn't get through to the albergue .  The tourist office couldn't either so we decided we would just stay in Pamplona. The tourist office gentleman spoke great English and we asked him to help us find beds after we had just been turned away from another place. Every single albergue was full!! (Right now the tourist office is packed.) We are so lucky that we arrived here early. We are staying in a pension (think rooming house). From our balcony (it's just a tiny one!!) we have a great street view. While exploring today we saw a small parade, lots of tour groups and a busy city. We had a late lunch with delicious sangria (3.50 Euros)and listened to the two young couples beside us try to figure us out. I heard them say " Camino"  but one didn't think so because we didn't have our mochilas (backpacks). As we were leaving they asked where we were from. When I told them one guy cheered and said he guessed correctly. They were very kind and wished us well.

A couple of other things-

    Emily has learned how to pour wine from an Italian friend named Germano, and she learned how to wrap a teabag string around a cup handle from Maria Stella in France .

      Yes we do wash our clothes and I will try to send a picture to prove it.

I will send this post as soon as we have wifi. I will try to include pictures if I have time. We are going to Saturday night mass in the Cathedral of Santa Maria. Love from the Camino.