Day 6. Villava to Pamplona

Today was a very easy short walk to Pamplona. We arrived in town shortly before 10:30 in the morning and I am always surprised to see the town dead, no people in the streets and no stores open.  We asked for directions to the hotel we booked for the night, and a kind Spanish lady on her way to the market walked us to our hotel street.  She said the stores open at 10:30 and that there was a medieval fiesta this weekend.  later learned from the tourist office that the town celebrates Privilege of the Union Day the weekend closest to Sep. 8.  The union of 3 medieval boroughs in 1423 formed Pamplona.  

The town celebrates with a medieval market, cultural pageantry in the streets and a soccer match between Pamplona and Vittoria a neighboring town.  Masses of young people wearing blue jersey for Vittoria and red jersey for Pamplona are gathered in the streets.  These young people are all drinking!

We are staying in Pamplona tonight instead of walking on as Dick wanted to see the Museum de Navarre which houses 1st century Roman artifacts.  We also saw the beautiful gothic Pamplona cathedral.  Both worth the visit and a new church for me which means since I am visiting the church for the first time, I can make 3 wishes.  

My right knee for the first time is bothering me and I am  walking with some difficulty so my first wish is for my knee to heal overnight so I can walk without hurting tomorrow.  In the meantime I have iced it and wearing a knee brace.

My interesting camino pilgrims today are a brother and sister pilgrim from France.  The brother has Parkinson's disease and not able to communicate. The sister is taking him on the camino so he can walk and see the world instead of just waiting for his disease to take over.  They walk only short distances.  We asked how long they were walking and she said until the pocketbook runs out.  I admire them both for undertaking this journey.    She had done the camino before.