Pamplona!

​I got into Madrid, exhausted. My Pacer Poles made it and I was able to pick them up with no problems. While waiting for my flight to Pamplona I met two pilgrims who were trying to get someone to share a taxi to SJPP. Before we boarded the plane, a couple of pilgrims showed up, identifiable by their backpacks, and a connection was made. The price of a taxi from Pamplona to SJPP is about €160 but if you can share, it's not so bad. There is a bus that leaves every day for €28 but it leaves at noon so a lot of people miss that connection.

My taxi from the airport to old town was €16. When I arrived at my hotel, it was in the hundreds here and I had booked this hotel specifically because it said that it had air-conditioning. However, when I got into my room, there was no air-conditioning. I was told by reception it was broken. After explaining to them that that was the whole reason I booked here they moved me from my air-conditioned queen room into a modest but air-conditioned triple. So I'm quite comfortable.

I was a bit shell shocked at the prices of Menu del Dia on this street at €30, so I went walking around and found a nice little Doner Kabab place where I ordered half a rotisserie chicken, some fries, salad, and an Aquarius and the total was only 8 Euros. The chicken was small, but delicious and plenty for one person.

I laid down and took a nap for about four hours after having a quick shower and washing out some clothes. It felt so good to sleep in a bed. When I woke up,I went out looking for breakfast for tomorrow morning. I found an Eroski market and bought some yogurt and another couple of Aquarius drinks. Aquarius is like Gatorade - it has minerals in it, which I really needed because my feet and toes were really cramping when I got here. I was probably extremely dehydrated. American Airlines doesn't have the best service anymore and during that whole trip, they only offered us one bottle of water even though I had upgraded. But that's a whole other blog post.

I went to Caminoteca, the local pilgrim shop, and bought some flip-flops and then I found a China store where I got a China bag to use for my backpack transport. I want to carry my backpack and a few few items like my Altus poncho. So I will put everything else in this China bag for the transport company. I plan on carrying my backpack from Roncesvalles, but I'm not going to attempt it the first two days. I am not in the greatest shape and I don't want to overdo it. The cost of the China bag was €1.50.

The cost of the four yogurts plus one Aquarius was €3.08

My food total for today is €18.97, which is well within my food budget of €30 per day

More tomorrow

Love, AnnieRead more