This morning I met Emile and Emmy while walking to the square and followed them to the Pilgrim's mass. It was all in Spanish, but with all those years of attending Catholic masses - it was pretty easy to follow. After the mass, Emile and Emmy left the church but I stuck around to take photos of the interior. There were many people waiting around for something, but I didn't know what. After a few minutes, a priest came out and started handing out palm branches. He gave me one and I said "Gracias." But I didn't want to carry it around in my backpack, so I broke off a small piece to keep. All of a sudden, everyone in the church began walking outside so I joined them. Next thing I knew, I was part of the processional that was accompanying the statue of Jesus to the Cathedral!! Everyone was waving their palms and singing, so I waved my piece of palm and walked along with them. As we approached the cathedral, the tower bells began to ring and everyone was so excited. It was a pretty cool experience!
After the procession, we entered the cathedral and I was able to get a good look at it today. It had been open yesterday, but they were charging an admission. So I was happy to get into it today. It was quite splendid.
As I left the cathedral, I saw Helen walking towards me! We hugged and she was happy that I had made it to Pamplona. She introduced me to Erin and Emily, a mother and daughter from California. We went to a sidewalk cafe and ordered tapas and beer. So far, everything I've eaten while in Spain has been delicious. They don't use a lot of spices and all the vegetables are fresh so the natural flavors really come out. Helen left for an albergue outside of Pamplona, so Erin, Emily, and I planned to meet for dinner in the Plaza del Castillo.
I went back to the hotel to catch up on my blog and to Skype with Frank. Then took a short nap.
I found Emily in the plaza and Erin was waiting at a bench. We walked around and finally decided to sit and have wine at an outside bar after we were informed that we couldn't order dinner before 7:00pm. I thoroughly enjoyed their company, Emily is originally from Liverpool but now lives in CA. Erin left her two adolescent sons at home with her husband and is enjoying the break. We ended up dining at a very nice restaurant and it wasn't until the next morning that we realised that it was Heminway's restaurant. The food was delicious and plentiful! We had a three course meal of salad, baked trout, and desert. The salad included white asparagus, which is a specialty of this region. They grow it under tarps to keep it from turning green. It was very tender and tasty. I ordered sangria and it was better than any that I get in the states.... except for my own recipe!! Two other pilgrims joined us for coffee and desert. Afterward, we planned to meet at the albergue in the morning to walk to Puente la Reina together.
My knee is still a little sore, but I've been testing it out all day and I think it will hold up. I'm sending my pack ahead by transfer service just in case.
Another wonderful experience on the Camino.
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