Saturday Adventure in San Sebastián

I Wanted to mention a few things that happened on Saturday when I went to San Sebastian.

I returned by bus because I had lost a pair of socks and my friend Lisa lost her Kindle.

The albergue said they had her Kindle, but they never found the socks.

So I returned to San Sebastián because I had already gone back on the trail to get a room Friday night, and I was closest. Plus I had to go to the sporting goods store in order to get hiking socks.

There are a lot of municipal bathrooms in the towns here. I was walking past a park that had one, and I thought to use it. They are electronic. I pressed the green button, which meant it was available, and the door popped open, and I went inside.

The green button changed to red as the door closed. That way you know the door is locked.

I used the bathroom, but when I went to leave it, the red button did not release the door. Perhaps I was doing something wrong, not positive. Every time I pressed the red electronic button, a buzzer sounded and the toilet flushed. But I could not make that door open.

I pressed and pressed, and I tried to push the door. It didn’t open. 

Remembering what people did on the TapTap, the truck taxis in Haiti, to get the driver’s attention, I took out a coin, and started banging on the door with it.

I did not want to call the police.

I actually texted the Albergue, and said, I was on my way there, but I was stuck in a bathroom in the park nearby. I thought it might be good to have somebody know where I was! But I didn’t want to call the cops. 

After about five minutes of this, the door suddenly opened. A man on the outside had heard me tapping, and he pulled while I pushed. I thanked him and he asked, could I give him some money for lunch? I said I’m kind of poor myself, but I gave him two euros for helping me escape from that bathroom

After getting the socks and the kindle I had a huge adventure trying to get back on a bus to return to the Camino. It was probably only 30 miles but it was a Saturday and I couldn’t find a bus. I wound up taking a train. I finally arrived in Deba around 3pm, exhausted. I didn’t feel guilty doing a short hike on Saturday. I had over 10,000 steps just going to the different train stations and bus stops.