Day 3: Zubiri - Huarte

Helena was right - it is hard to write the same post in 2 languages... I'll try though.

So many things happened today again, that it's hard to write down everything and you will have so much to read!
So 5:30 am, i jumped out of the bed then picked myself up from the floor because my knees did not magically heal overnight. Left the house at 6am and went walking under the stars again, which is the best thing of all the things :) I met a meowing cat who was so cute that i nearly held her but i really don't need rabies right now, so apologized 10 times and left it meowing alone on the hill.

I went towards the "next" village, Larrasoaña, but it's so not the next one that i even lost the arrows and the scallop (?) sign walking towards a village in full confidence that that should be it. Well it wasn't and i was on the main road without the signs. A man told me that i just have to walk on the main road and will get to L, so i started walking but it wasn't there for quite a while. I almost turned around cursing, that i have to go back 1 km to find the sign because maybe i didn't understand something the guy said and i missed a turn to L or something. Tried stopping a car to ask where is that bloody Larrasoaña but he didn't stop. I was standing in front of a (closed) restaurant when a guy arrived with the bread and papers for the day and told me to continue where i walked, 1/2 km and i'm in Larrasoaña. I was so happy! Another angel on the way who arrived when i really needed help :)

Arrived, went to a cafe and started crying before breakfast because it was so bad to walk with sore knees and not being on the Camino that i had to cry out that bad feeling. The landlady hugged me and after breakfast treated my (left, the control) knee with rosemary oil and olive oil and told me she has healing power in the hands but i shouldn't keep walking today.

I kept walking and realized that my left knee does not hurt as much as the right with the Flector strip and the knee support so witchcraft v. medicine 1-0 so far.

I met some really nice people on the way, an Austrian pilgrim, who wished me luck and recommended i should take more rests on the way (which i thought i did but then again: 20 kms with sore knees is hardly "taking it easy" and i did it again today) and a few knackerish Spanish teenagers who offered me drink and food and when i kindly refused, one of them came to me and gave me freshly bbq'd ribs :) It was bleedin gorgeous :)

I decided to take an alternative Camino, rather than going steep uphill to Arre and down to Pamplona on the other side, I'd walk around the hill and arrive in Huarte. I asked locals on the way where the albergue is and they told me that surely i know this is not the Camino and they haven't heard of an albergue here. Well, i have and i even saw yellow arrows on the pavement pointing towards here, so i was confident that i shall sleep in this town tonight.

Somebody eventually pointed me to the right direction and here i am, municipal albergue, 6 euro, free internet (and with Linux on the PC's!!!), huge kitchen with all sorts of stuff, even milk (UHT but a pilgrim is not picky) and biscuits! I shopped in Aldi and i shall have cooked dinner tonight! Pasta with fish and mussels (or octopus things depending which one i chose) and a flan for dessert as a pre-birthday treat. The shops are closed on Sunday so tomorrow there will be no treats unless i go mad and eat in a restaurant.

I also went to the medical centre and this is what happened: they need the E111 card which i do have; they said i don't need the knee support; ice would be good; gave me an injection in the bum (only painkillers, i would have been grateful for something funnier); Flector is alright; strictly no walking for a day. I tried bargaining that Pamplona is only 5 kms but they said no. We'll see that though :P It wouldn't be me if i didn't mention that all this conversation happened in Spanish :)
The girl in the albergue said that i can stay an extra day here if i want to, so i'll see in the morning how i feel. Nice as this town is, staying in one place just does not feel right, no matter what. Could be worse though, i could take a taxi :P

I'll go cook that meal and go to sleep shortly, I'm aging after all...