McGresty

Traveling around either as a travel blogger or for any other reason, there is one aspect of our journies which sometimes gets overlooked and that is the various folk we run into while out there. There are those who have become friends in the Basque Country as well as others whom I run into or look up when back in a place. This post will grow as time goes on.....

Obadh

Some years ago I was in Jerusalem and stopped to speak with a stall holder on David Street, a long market in the old city.

I returned a few years later to hike in the Negev Desert and, during time in Jerusalem, looked up Obadh again. In September 2023 I went to Israel but everything turned into chaos—I had no peace and left. Now I understand why, the Hamas terrorists delcared war (still going on as I write this) and it appears I was not supposed to be there during that time. Obadh had moved to a stall on another street with less charges and we sat with a cup of mint tea and had a good chat. I have been unable to reach him since the war began, so do not know if he is still alive.

Dree

One thing I do regularly is take a morning walk. It was in Tangier that I did such and quite often would run across a guy in a wheelchair. His name is Dree and he spoke some English, but not much.

I would stop and spend time with him. Dree looks after a parking area during the day. He's probably in his late 60's and the ends of both legs are missing. When he was younger a train ran over the ends of his legs, both ends are cut off in equal measurements. Other people also stop to chat with him. He's quite friendly.

Catalan and Raul

It was late winter in 2014 that I returned to Pamplona and stayed at the old Hostel Xarma. About a minute away was this bar/restaurant named Lar Gallego (imagine Cheers but mostly outdoors in warmer weather). It was cold and I sat in the narrow bar area with a glass of wine when this guy walks in and everyone greeted him. A few minutes later he wandered over and introduced himself, his name was Catalan. He was a jewellry artist and president of the artists association of Pamplona. His studio was a few doors away from Lar Gallego, we became friends. He and his wife moved down to Catalonia some years later, where I would go visit them for a few days during my times in the Basque Country,

In 2015 Catalan introduced me to Raul, who owns a small shop on Calle Olite. Raul is the president of Pamplona's amateur football (soccer) association. Every time I was in Pamplona we would meet up regularly. It was summer of 2022, after trying to reach Catalan by email, text and phone for 6 months (with no success) that Raul told me of Catalan's death.

Pedro and Ainhoa

In 2014, the Hostel Xarma opened and became the best hostel in Pamplona until the Pandemic, when it had to close down. Pedro, Ainhoa and Gorka ran it, they are Basque. Gorka now lives somewhere up toward Irun and Pedro is married with a son. Ainhoa is a social worker.

We get together for a beer and chat whenever I'm up that way. On the first morning of the San Fermin communities have a breakfast together. Where Pedro lives that happens and I've joined them a couple of times. Still in touch with Ainhoa by email.

More posts from: Ongoings
Kind of a digital nomad Those little things Graffiti where it happens Some people met on the road