It's Been Interesting
Things around here have been fairly routine. We have gotten the pace down so that we have some time to shower, relax, go out for a walk, or go to the market before we open the doors for the pilgrims. We actually open them all morning. As pilgrims pass by, they ring the bell and ask if they can leave their backpacks inside. We always say yes. This is a three story albergue and most of our cleaning is on the first and second floors, whereas the entry is on the third. That probably sounds backward, but it's not because the albergue is built on a hill. Anyway, when the bell rings we usually have to go up one or two floors to open the door. So I'm still in good shape, even though I'm not walking.
Yesterday, Bea, José Louis's girlfriend, came for the weekend. She is very nice and we have fun. She said my Spanish has improved just since she saw me a few days ago. It's a good thing she came because about 1 am. José Louis needed to go to the hospital. Apparently, he has kidney stones. So Bea took him to the hospital and then later went to the Farmacía to get pain medication. So he has been in bed, drinking lots of water, all day. Bea helped with the cleaning and then we went out shopping. The church next door, San Cipriano, was open, so we stepped inside. They were preparing for a wedding later in the day. It is a lovely little Romanesque church.
Then we went to the Mercado de Abastos and Día, a supermercado, to get stuff to make vegetable pasta for Sunday dinner. On the way back we stopped at the Church of Santiago. They had depictions of him as a Peregrino, and another as Santiago Matamoros. I like the Peregrino best. Again, it was a delightful, cozy Romanesque church. I lit two candles. One was for all the Peregrinos out on the Camino. The other was for the Dodgers. I figured it couldn't hurt. lol. Outside we noticed all these older men sitting in the Plaza Santiago, in a line, on a bench. It was classic. I took a picture. I think it will be one of my favorites from this trip.
After that, we went and had café before returning to the albergue. We had lots of laughs. I kept sending José Luis to his room to rest. It's been a strange day. One Peregrino came in and after I signed him in, he left because he couldn't have a bottom bunk. I asked him if he was injured and needed one. He wasn't. He also wasn't old. He left because he couldn't have a bottom bunk. Another guy came and had a really weird credential. It had stamps and spaces and no particular order of locales. But, oh well, I signed him in and got up to show him to his bed and he said he was leaving. He only wanted a sello.
Just weird little things like that kept happening. Now Mr. Burple and I are now resting.
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