Monday, July 30, 2007
Murphy's Law Wins Again!
As much as we tried, all did not go as we had so carefully planned, starting with our flight out of Minneapolis. We were delayed leaving by 2 hours which put our connection to Madrid in jeopardy. We would be cutting it close and even if we did make it, we were not sure our bikes would. When we finally took off, we arrived with a half hour to spare. Several people on our flight were not so lucky and they missed their connecting flights. Once we boarded, we could see our bikes outside getting ready to board as well. However, our joy over making our connection with bikes was tempered by the fact that we were on a flight with dozens of joyful and loud Spanish teenagers returning home after visiting the United States. Any thoughts of sleeping on the plane were gone.
We arrived bleary-eyed in Madrid. After clearing customs, we waited for our bike boxes. And we waited. After a very nervous wait as everyone claimed their bags, our boxes finally arrived. However, there was nary a luggage cart to be had in the terminal and we had to drag our boxes and carry-on bags, not an easy task. Especially since we had to navigate through hordes of loving and large families awaiting the above joyful and loud teenagers. The doors leaving the international terminal were jammed packed and nobody seemed in any particular hurry to finish hugging and greeting said teenagers.
We then had to collect our rental car, so still unable to find a luggage cart (I think they were all in the hands of loving family members collecting the luggage of their joyful teenagers), we continued dragging our bike boxes across the street to the rental car lot. Once we got their, we were told we had to check in back inside the crowded terminal. I waited with the boxes and bags and Paul went in to get the car keys.
Once he returned, we quickly loaded our stuff and headed north to Pamplona, where we would grab a cab and head onto to our starting point and hotel in Burguette. However, once again we waited in Pamplona as said cab never arrived. We kept calling and explaining that we needed a large van to hold our bike boxes and bags, but all we kept seeing were the nice and small taxis. After an hour wait, our cab finally arrived. Our driver was extremely friendly and very chatty. We had a great time talking with him on our way to Burguette, about a 45 minute drive from Pamplona.
Our delays caused us to miss the beginning of the Pilgrim´s Mass, but we did receive our blessing, which we felt would get us off to a great start. We were wrong.
Because we were tired after our long and noisy flight and delays getting to our starting destination, Paul and I had a wonderful dinner and called it a night. We planned to get up early and put our bikes together in the morning and then start our trip. We awoke at 7:00 as planned to collect our bikes, only to discover hotel personnel don´t arrive until 8:00 and they had the key to the garage where our bike boxes were stored. We decided to roll with the punches and go have breakfast first and then get our boxes when they opened. We had coffee at a tiny bakery and met a young man from Tudela who was also biking the camino. We chatted with him for a while and then wished him well on his journey and hoped we might see him on the road.
The office finally opened and we got our bike boxes out and started assembling bikes. Everything was fine until we tried putting on Paul´s chain. Somehow, there was a kink in the chain and try as we could, we could not get it undone. It should have been a simple problem, according to Paul, but it was not coming out. After a frustrating hour of playing with chain, I asked the hotel clerk if there was someone in town who worked on bikes. She pointed me in the direction of local car garage. When arrived after pushing the bike there, the garage was not open. An elderly gentleman told me he was also waiting for the mechanic for his car and he was told it should have opened at 9:00.
While I waited, I played around with the chain, hoping something magical might happen and the knot would come undone, but it didn´t. I then flagged down to biking pilgrim´s and asked if they would take a look. They tried for about 15 minutes but said they couldn´t see a way and had never seen anything like it. I thanked them and wished them well on their journey. After another 15 minute wait, a young man walking by stopped and asked if we were waiting for the mechanic. When we said yes, he informed us that the mechanic was on vacation! I headed back to the hotel to tell Paul the bad news. We asked at the hotel if there were other mechanics in towns nearby and she gave us some names but she didn´t have the phone numbers so we could call to see if they were open. While pondering how to solve our mechanical difficulties, a car pulled in across the street with two bikes on top. I hurried over to ask to see if they might be able to help us. The young man came over and tried but again had no success. They were headed up to the start of the camino in Roncesvalles to drop off their bikes to their friends. The couple offered us a ride to a mechanic if we still needed it by the time they passed by again. They were driving to Vittoria to drop off the car and they offered to take us to Pamplona to find a bike shop where we could repair the bike.
On the ride to Pamplona, this lovely young couple told us they were from Milan and they were doing the camino with another couple. Along the way they would be joined by some friends who would pick up their car. There generosity is one thing we have learned is the norm on the camino and not the exception. We offered to buy them a beer if we saw them back in Roncesvalles when we returned.
We then went in search of a bike shop and found one not too far from where they dropped us off. When the gentleman at the repair shop looked at the bike, he couldn´t figure it out and told us to leave the bike and return after his lunch break in an hour and half. We took advantage of that time to find a post office where we could unload some weight. We shipped some items that we wouldn´t need until we arrived in Santiago, about 20 pounds of stuff that we didn´t need to haul over the mountains. We decided to go back to the beginning at Roncesvalles instead of starting our trip in Pamplona. Paul was on a mission to photograph a monument outside the town which commemorated the death of Roland, as in the Song of Roland. He missed it on our last trip and this time wanted to make sure he was able to photograph it.
We picked up the bike and it was fixed. Hurray! Then, we went off to do some sightseeing in the old part of Pamlona before heading off to the bus station to catch the 6:00 bus back to Roncesvalles. There are alot of pilgrims doing the camino both by foot and by bike. Two buses were needed to get everyone to Roncesvalles. At the bus terminal, we met up again with our young Italian couple who would not let us thank them with a beer or two. They were very gracious about the extraordinary help they gave us. Paul was able to get his pictures of Roland´s monument. After a pilgrim´s meal tonight, Paul and I plan to turn in early and start our trip once more! Next stop, hopefully is Puente La Reina.
We arrived bleary-eyed in Madrid. After clearing customs, we waited for our bike boxes. And we waited. After a very nervous wait as everyone claimed their bags, our boxes finally arrived. However, there was nary a luggage cart to be had in the terminal and we had to drag our boxes and carry-on bags, not an easy task. Especially since we had to navigate through hordes of loving and large families awaiting the above joyful and loud teenagers. The doors leaving the international terminal were jammed packed and nobody seemed in any particular hurry to finish hugging and greeting said teenagers.
We then had to collect our rental car, so still unable to find a luggage cart (I think they were all in the hands of loving family members collecting the luggage of their joyful teenagers), we continued dragging our bike boxes across the street to the rental car lot. Once we got their, we were told we had to check in back inside the crowded terminal. I waited with the boxes and bags and Paul went in to get the car keys.
Once he returned, we quickly loaded our stuff and headed north to Pamplona, where we would grab a cab and head onto to our starting point and hotel in Burguette. However, once again we waited in Pamplona as said cab never arrived. We kept calling and explaining that we needed a large van to hold our bike boxes and bags, but all we kept seeing were the nice and small taxis. After an hour wait, our cab finally arrived. Our driver was extremely friendly and very chatty. We had a great time talking with him on our way to Burguette, about a 45 minute drive from Pamplona.
Our delays caused us to miss the beginning of the Pilgrim´s Mass, but we did receive our blessing, which we felt would get us off to a great start. We were wrong.
Because we were tired after our long and noisy flight and delays getting to our starting destination, Paul and I had a wonderful dinner and called it a night. We planned to get up early and put our bikes together in the morning and then start our trip. We awoke at 7:00 as planned to collect our bikes, only to discover hotel personnel don´t arrive until 8:00 and they had the key to the garage where our bike boxes were stored. We decided to roll with the punches and go have breakfast first and then get our boxes when they opened. We had coffee at a tiny bakery and met a young man from Tudela who was also biking the camino. We chatted with him for a while and then wished him well on his journey and hoped we might see him on the road.
The office finally opened and we got our bike boxes out and started assembling bikes. Everything was fine until we tried putting on Paul´s chain. Somehow, there was a kink in the chain and try as we could, we could not get it undone. It should have been a simple problem, according to Paul, but it was not coming out. After a frustrating hour of playing with chain, I asked the hotel clerk if there was someone in town who worked on bikes. She pointed me in the direction of local car garage. When arrived after pushing the bike there, the garage was not open. An elderly gentleman told me he was also waiting for the mechanic for his car and he was told it should have opened at 9:00.
While I waited, I played around with the chain, hoping something magical might happen and the knot would come undone, but it didn´t. I then flagged down to biking pilgrim´s and asked if they would take a look. They tried for about 15 minutes but said they couldn´t see a way and had never seen anything like it. I thanked them and wished them well on their journey. After another 15 minute wait, a young man walking by stopped and asked if we were waiting for the mechanic. When we said yes, he informed us that the mechanic was on vacation! I headed back to the hotel to tell Paul the bad news. We asked at the hotel if there were other mechanics in towns nearby and she gave us some names but she didn´t have the phone numbers so we could call to see if they were open. While pondering how to solve our mechanical difficulties, a car pulled in across the street with two bikes on top. I hurried over to ask to see if they might be able to help us. The young man came over and tried but again had no success. They were headed up to the start of the camino in Roncesvalles to drop off their bikes to their friends. The couple offered us a ride to a mechanic if we still needed it by the time they passed by again. They were driving to Vittoria to drop off the car and they offered to take us to Pamplona to find a bike shop where we could repair the bike.
On the ride to Pamplona, this lovely young couple told us they were from Milan and they were doing the camino with another couple. Along the way they would be joined by some friends who would pick up their car. There generosity is one thing we have learned is the norm on the camino and not the exception. We offered to buy them a beer if we saw them back in Roncesvalles when we returned.
We then went in search of a bike shop and found one not too far from where they dropped us off. When the gentleman at the repair shop looked at the bike, he couldn´t figure it out and told us to leave the bike and return after his lunch break in an hour and half. We took advantage of that time to find a post office where we could unload some weight. We shipped some items that we wouldn´t need until we arrived in Santiago, about 20 pounds of stuff that we didn´t need to haul over the mountains. We decided to go back to the beginning at Roncesvalles instead of starting our trip in Pamplona. Paul was on a mission to photograph a monument outside the town which commemorated the death of Roland, as in the Song of Roland. He missed it on our last trip and this time wanted to make sure he was able to photograph it.
We picked up the bike and it was fixed. Hurray! Then, we went off to do some sightseeing in the old part of Pamlona before heading off to the bus station to catch the 6:00 bus back to Roncesvalles. There are alot of pilgrims doing the camino both by foot and by bike. Two buses were needed to get everyone to Roncesvalles. At the bus terminal, we met up again with our young Italian couple who would not let us thank them with a beer or two. They were very gracious about the extraordinary help they gave us. Paul was able to get his pictures of Roland´s monument. After a pilgrim´s meal tonight, Paul and I plan to turn in early and start our trip once more! Next stop, hopefully is Puente La Reina.
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