Day 7 – Villava to Cizur Mayor

• Distance today:                   8.4 mi
• Distance Camino 2017:    48.3mi

We left Villava at 7:45 a.m. and rejoined the Camino in about 5 minutes and walked through the city streets until stopping at a small bar to have cafe con leche.  A few minutes later we continued on into Pamplona, toward the old city.

Pamplona had been a fortress for centuries, providing a base and protection for Navarre against both foreign and domestic foes. The old city inside the fortress is interesting, easy to get around and inviting and one of Jim’s most favorite places on the planet.

This being our third 3rd and perhaps last visit, we were a bit nostalgic as we walked through the familiar streets in our old “neighborhood” between the Hotel Catedral, also called the “Hotel Puerto del Camino” and the Plaza Castile.

We stopped in the Castile Plaza and Linda kept watch over our packs on a comfortable bench, while Jim took several “surplus” items from our packs to the post office only a block away from the Plaza.  We sent these items to our reserved hotel in Leon along with items sent as we passed through Pamplona a week ago on our way to SJPDP. This will reduce our pack weights an additional collective 4-5 lbs, which be much appreciated during our month of walking from Pamplona to Leon (270 miles).

Jim returned shortly, we donned our packs and began the walk through the old city, then out past the Citadel, modern residential areas, Navarre University and out into the countryside, continuing our Camino.

After a gradual climb, we struggled somewhat as the hot morning sun beat down, even though the temperature was only in the mid 70’s, quickly rising from the low 50’s when we left Villava only 3 hours earlier.

We checked in to Casa Ancona just before noon.  After a brief rest we did our routine chores then had “dinner” at 4:00 and chilled in our room until bedtime reading, resting and working on the blog.