Day: May 11, 2025

Pamplona

By 10 p.m. Friday night, we had sufficiently wound down from our travels and decided to give sleep a chance.

Surprisingly, we both slept well, Linda making it to 8:30 a.m Saturday morning and Jim to 10:00! For us, it was very unusual, being able to adjust to jet lag and the 6 hr time difference so quickly.

We walked to a favorite restaurant, Café Iruña, also a favorite of Ernest Hemingway, and had our Camino breakfast of café con leche & tostados around noon. Afterward, we did some minor shopping, then returned to our room to organize/repack our backpacks for transport and our day packs for walking.

Jim spread our all his “stuff” for the two months on the Camino and began deciding what to put in his backpack for transport on Monday and the following few days and what to carry with him as we walked, based on the weather forecast and what he couldn’t live without if the transported backpack was delayed or lost getting to our next destination. Linda did a similar exercise for her stuff.

Around 3 o’clock, we were ready for lunch/dinner, but none of the restaurant cocinas (kitchens) were still open. So, we found a small market nearby and gathered some fixins to bring back to the Hostal Arriazu break area to allow chefs Linda and Jim to work their culinary magic.

Fresh baguette, sliced ham, gouda cheese and sliced avocado laughing cow condiment made delicious mini-sandwiches. Complimented by leftover Navarre wine from last nights dinner and banana for dessert.

After lunch/dinner we played a game of hand-and-foot with dark chocolate dessert number #2, then retired to our room to rest and finalize preparations for a test walk on Sunday morning. The walk will be from old city Pamplona for a few miles west and return to validate our organization decisions before leaving Pamplona behind for Camino 2025 on Monday morning.

Packs are ready for our test walk on Sunday as we rested, read and blogged before bedtime. Our room is simple, plenty of space for organizing our stuff, an ensuite bathroom and a small balcony overlooking an ancient street in the center of old Pamplona/Iruna.

The Sunday morning sun greeted us as we stepped outside of our Hostal, around 10 o’clock, for a test walk. It was wonderful, walking in the dry, 50 degree weather, a welcome break from the intermittent showers of the past two days with more rain in the forecast for today.

Our walk took us out of the old city, along several parks, through high rise residential areas, skirting the University of Navarre campus to the environs of the village of Cizur Menor.

The entrance into Parque de La Taconera
Camino markers on the sidewalk to keep us on tract,
Trekking along the edge of Parque de La Vuelta del Castillo
Picturesque, wide sidewalks through high rise residential areas.
Crossing an old bridge as we passed the University of Navarre campus
Reversing course just before reaching Cizur Menor .
Passing the edge of Navarre University as we headed back toward Pamplona.

After 2 miles, we reversed course, stopped for breakfast and then continued back to our Hostal.

The walk took just over 90 minutes, covering 4.3 miles.

Stopping for breakfast on our return to the old city.
Entering the old city and passing by the St F. Assisi library in St Frances de Assisi plaza and school.
Arriving at Arriazu Hostal to finish out test walk.
Map of our “test trek”.

The test revealed that our bodies and equipment were up to the task ahead. We were a bit tired after the walk, but we are probably still affected by the time difference and jet lag. Also, because of travel and travel prep, we have gone 5 days without any distance training. We should get stronger with each passing day on the Camino.

Since it didn’t rain, checking out our rain gear will need to occur in real time on the Camino.

We rested for a short while after our walk, then found a place for lunch/dinner near our hostal among the. countless eating options for meals and/or pintxos just a few steps in any direction.

We each enjoyed a glass of red Navarre wine and shared an ensalada mixta.
… and shared pork cheeks (Carrilleras de Cerdo), fries and roasted peppers
The exterior of our lunch/dinner restaurant, Pacomé Gastrob, Calle Comedias 12… just a few steps from our hostal and just off of Plaza del Castillo.

The remainder of the afternoon and evening was spent finalizing packs and getting a good night’s rest for the beginning of Camino 2025 tomorrow morning.