Only 5 days left as Hospitalera!

This is the view of Zamora that is on all the posters

We have been kept busy by our pilgrims and it seems hard to believe that it is our second Thursday and next Tuesday I start part 3 of my adventure. Time passes quickly when you are busy. I must admit though, for me 2 weeks of cleaning all the rooms in the Albergue without a day off is enough. Good thing we only have 4 more mornings of cleaning duty.

Puente de Piedra

I haven't had time to blog in the last few days both because we have spent extra time each day on cleaning rooms with the Vapouretta and because we have had to spend extra time helping some of the pilgrims. A couple of days ago we had 2 pilgrims arrive who were suffering from stomach sickness and they had to stay here an extra day. We gave them a small room to themselves and thank goodness because the one lady was sick to her stomach and was really quite ill. So we needed to locate the medical clinic and that was a bit tricky since it had to be a public not private one (free for Europeans) and there was some confusion about which one that might be and whether it was open. When she went to the clinic she was given medicine and told to stay in bed. Fortunately they were both well enough to continue their walk after a day of bed rest. There was also a second pilgrim with medical difficulties. I had thought his rash might be from bed bugs but he too visited the medical clinic he was advised not, that it was some sort of allergy. They gave him a shot and some cream and the rash was gone the next day. Just to be safe we put him into the one small room we had planned to deep clean the next day. Fortunately, we did not have a full house and so could keep them isolated in these two rooms without other pilgrims.

Another iconic view of Zamora taken from the other side of Rio Duero

We also had a German pilgrim, a younger boy, maybe early 20s who seems to have been walking the Camino for a few months - he had stamps from the Frances route (St Jean PP to Santiago) on his credential and immediately went to Seville and started walking VDLP and had those stamps next. He was a sad case as he seemed to be suffering from depression from his manner and he mentioned he was taking medication. Maybe he was homeless, but he spoke German on his phone to someone in the evening so maybe he was not. We had complaints in the morning for the other pilgrims in his room- he kept getting up and going to the balcony in the room (I guess he had insomnia) and smoking(!!!!). He kept people awake from 3:30 in the morning! They said also he didn't shower and so smelled up the room. Everyone in that room was grumbling over breakfast. He was gone in the morning, so wasn't anything which could be done at that point.

Puerta del Obispo

We have also had two honeymooning couples - one Spanish and one Korean. Both Jocelyne and myself think it is odd that a young couple would choose a Pilgrim's honeymoon. We both agreed that it would be best to walk the camino before getting married as walking together as a couple for 30 or 40 days would be a good test for compatibility.

We have also had a few Canadians. It seems that at the moment the Quebec is winning as to the province representing Canada. Two came yesterday and two came today, which makes 5 in the time since we arrived.

Also today we had a pair of men from Francia who are on a special adventure. The one man was an educator and was accompanying another younger man as part of a journey planned by a French charitable organization. They are on a 3 month pilgrimage, apparently there are a few of these "2 men teams" walking the various camino routes as means to help young men from poor families have a life changing experience and build positive values. They are walking to Santiago via the VDLP route and were winding their way back home via the Frances route to Leon and then going north and from there the Norte (coastal) route to France. Apparently they would be meeting up with other 2 men teams at various points and Zamora was one of the meeting points. Perhaps tomorrow we will see another team arrive.

View from the Rio Duero

In this last week we were able to slip out one day before the Albergue opened and see the Cathedral and the Castle ruins. I also have taken the scenic walk along the Duero River to capture the famous view of Zamora. I don't really feel I have seen too many of the tourist sights but even so feel a bit like a resident as we go to the grocery store, bank and garbage chutes every day.

The Cathedral

Cathedral view from the park by the Castle

 

The Castile (Castle)

Parque died Castilla

Modern sculpture with Castle as backdrop

The storks are everywhere

View from the Castle Wall

 

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