Author: 2cdssrs

• Distance today: 5.9mi
• Distance Camino 2017: 71.5 mi

The walk this morning, starting at 6:45, was very pleasant… cool, partly cloudy, slight breeze… and it’s mid-August in Spain!!!

 

After 3 miles we stopped for cafe con leche and sweet rolls in Villatuerta (pop. 1122). A group of pilgrims from Italy also stopped for coffee. We chatted with a guy from the group, probably in his early 50’s and discovered that this was his 12th Camino! He said it gave him energy for life and it was a way to spiritually give thanks for his happy life. His wife was walking with him but it wasn’t clear if she had walked with him on all 12. He had also visited the USA in 2010 to run the New York marathon.

 

Continuing on, we walked across another Roman bridge in the town, passed the Iglesia de la Asunción then left the paved streets and rejoined the dirt path of the Camino. A few hundred yards out of town, we passed Ermita de San Miguel, took some photos and moved on.

 

About a mile from Estella, we passed a small farm and a cute pony came over to the fence to greet us so we returned the favor with a photo for all you horse 🐴 lovers.

A short while later we began sharing the Camino with some other pilgrims and some local dog walkers, not unlike our morning walks back in South Carolina.

As we walked into old Estella we stopped at the Iglesia de Santiago Sepulcro for photos, then crossed the bridge known in the Middle Ages as “Berçes Bridge” into the burgh of San Miguel.

 

A Spanish lady asked Jim if he was lost (he was wandering aimlessly, waiting for Linda to catch up) and he assured her in his best Spanish that he was merely waiting for “mi esposa”. She asked where we were from and when Jim said USA, she immediately began speaking good English, explaining that this week was the big annual festival celebration in Estella.

This festiveness was confirmed as we walked further and noticed that most of the people we saw of all ages were in costume consisting of white top, white pants, red bandana and an occasional red sash tied around the waist and hanging down one leg.

We stopped for a quick photo of Iglesia de San Miguel, a fortress-like 12th century church with a spectacular north portal.

On we walked to Pencion Cristina, located on Iglesia San Juan Bautista Square, which just happened to be the center of the festival activities!

Our room wasn’t ready until 11:00 so we killed an hour, pilgrim style by stopping at the nearby sweets shop and bought some sweets and got chocolate to break the chill in the air.

The rest of the day was spent with chores, mixing with the Estellians as they enjoyed the festivities, eating and still finding time for a short nap.

 

We also observed the Estella “running of the bulls” from our room balcony.

Nothing short of an incredible day on the Camino.

• Distance today: 8.2 mi
• Distance Camino 2017: 65.6 mi

We prepared our own breakfast in the albergue before leaving at 6:45 a.m.

We crossed the Rio Arga via the Puente la Reina, without fear of expensive ferrymen or treacherous boat rides (thanks, Queen).

The level, dirt path leaving town eased alongside the river for about 2 miles before taking a sharp turn up the side of a small mountain.

The footing was secure so we just took our time and a km (0.62 miles) later we were at the top.  Two 20 something pilgrims passed us on the way up the mountain. Jim recognized the lady’s hat as identical to his favorite, “Drover” hat he purchased in Sydney, Australia in 2014.  The young couple stopped to adjust their packs and as we caught them, Jim said “where are you from?”. The young man said, “Italia” and the young lady, “Australia”.  Jim then said, “Are you from Sydney?” and when she said yes, he said I have the same hat as you, I bought it in Sydney!  She laughed and agreed when seeing Jim’s hat attached to his pack.  Another great Camino memory!

Shortly after cresting the mountain, we entered the village of Mañeru, well placed for a brief rest stop.

Just a few minutes past Mañeru, we got our first view of Cirauqui, a medieval village, pop. 505, whose Basque name means “nest of vipers”. What impressed us the most was the constant, enlarging view of the village, located on the crest of a large hill and the colorful vineyards and olive trees as we wound through in the approaching valley.

The Camino passed straight through the village which meant we went steeply up and then steeply down on the narrow paved village streets/steps.

We exited Cirauqui on the remains of a surprisingly well defined Roman road which led to an also surviving Roman bridge. Shortly past the bridge we crossed the A-12 expressway and it was ironic to view a 2000 year old Roman road still existing beside a less than 50 year old highway that would probably not survive the next 50.

We walked parallel to A-12 on and off the Roman road for the next mile or two, passing another well preserved small Roman bridge, passing under A-12 and beginning our climb up to the 12th century village of Lorca, our destination for today.

Our double room with ensuite bathroom (40€) was ready about 30 minutes after we checked-in at La Bodega del Camino. By 5:30 some of our clothes are still damp due to the party cloudy, low 60 degree weather today: great for walking, not so good for drying clothes.

We stayed off our feet most of the afternoon, reading and blogging.

We had a pilgrim dinner tonight in the albergue dining area. We ate with a young man from Italia, a construction worker, a young lady who taught school in Los Angeles, and another young man from Cambridge, England, who worked as a supervisor in a Titlelist golf ball warehouse. They were all in their 20’s.

Today was one of our longer walks so far, but not too difficult, the weather being a big factor. We might actually be adapting and/or already getting stronger.

• Distance today: 6.5 mi
• Distance Camino 2017: 57.4 mi

We decided to go easy on our knees and feet today allowing extra recovery time following our trek up and down the Alto de Perdon yesterday. The terrain today was relatively flat with equal amounts of dirt path and pavement. The temperature stayed in low 60’s with cloudy sky’s.

We walked through Muruzabal and Obanos on the way to our destination, Puente la Reina.

Muruzabal (pop.250) is mostly a residential village surrounding an old church, Iglesia de San Esteban, which was locked when we passed.

Obanos (pop. 900) is an historic Camino town known for a murderous 14th century pilgrim legend. Duke William (Guillermo) of Aquitane and his sister Felicia undertook the Camino de Santiago. On the return journey, Felicia was overwhelmed with piety and went to become a hermit in Amocain rather than returning to her life of luxury. Her brother tracked her down and tried to convince her to return to her court duties. When she refused, he became enraged and stabbed her to death. He was then overcome by remorse and walked to Santiago again and returned to Óbanos to mourn his sister for the rest of his life. He built a hermitage on Arnotegui (a southern hilltop) to serve pilgrims and the poor. Guillermo’s silver-covered skull is kept in Iglesia San Juan Bautista.”

We stopped in Òbanos to share an orange and check on a blister. We sat on a wall in the town square facing the imposing Iglesia San Juan Bautista (Church of Saint John the Baptist), but didn’t go inside because the doors were locked. Leaving the square we walked through the town gates and past a large pelota court (pelota is a Basque version of Jai alai which is like our “hand ball” on steroids!)

We continued on to Puente la Reina. On the outskirts of town, we stopped for cafe con leche and tostadas and took a longer than usual time for breakfast, as our albergue won’t open until noon.

The first indication we were nearing the old town was the 12th century Iglesia del Crucifijo which was adjacent to a seminary. A few steps later we crossed a modern street, then began our walk through the old town.

We spotted a large gothic church belfry ahead to our right and when we got to it, entered the Iglesia de Santiago. It was beautiful but not overwhelming, actually comforting. It had a massive Romanesque doorway and inside, a Baroque retablo depicting scenes in the life of Santiago (St James), also a famous gothic statue of the “beltza Santiago” ( Basque for “black Santiago”) dressed as a pilgrim. A pilgrim’s prayer was posted in several different languages to assist prayerful pilgrims.

We then left the church and continued straight ahead until we reached the “Queen’s Bridge” and took some photos. Then, Linda guarded the bridge and our packs as Jim set off to locate our albergue.

Puente la Reina (the Queen’s Bridge) got it’s name when, in the 11th century, Sancho el Fuerte’s wife (or perhaps his successor’s wife) financed a beautiful 6-arched Romanesque bridge over the Río Arga, so pilgrims and other travelers on the Roman route could avoid expensive ferrymen and treacherous boat rides. The town of Puente la Reina grew up around the queen’s bridge, providing services and commerce for the pilgrims.

A few minutes later Jim returned, having found our albergue, and we gathered our stuff and walked to a bar a few steps from Albergue Puente and camped out until noon, checked in, got our credentials stamped and proceeded to our habitacion doble (34€).

This is one of the nicest and best organized albergue’s we have stayed in and at a very good price.

After completing our routine activities we had a snack lunch and a snack dinner (sandwiches) and read & blogged in between.

• Distance today:                     3.6 mi
• Distance Camino 2017:     51.9 mi

Shortly after leaving our hotel we arrived at Zariquiguie as the wind picked up considerably. The temperature was 55 degrees making it quite chilly as dark clouds partially blocked the sun. We took some quick photos of the church featured in the film “The Way” mentioned earlier.

The Camino today took us up the steep incline to the Alto del Perdon and then back down.

The walk up was slow, giving us multiple excuses to stop and look back at the beautiful fields and small villages between us and Pamplona and look forward at the ridge above us, lined with windmills.

The winds of 30-40 mph, fortunately at our backs, continued to increase as we climbed upward. When we reached the top the near gale force winds forced us to struggle to maintain our footing. Our Backpacks acted as sails, making matters even worse.

We took some quick photos of the metal silhouettes of medieval pilgrims, an icon of the Camino Frances, then got some welcome relief from the gale as we began our descent.

The descent was also a struggle, even as the wind subsided a bit, due to the steepness and the fist size, loose pebbles filling the path which was more like a wash. This was a real knee killer… an accident waiting to happen. We finally made it down the slope as the path became more manageable and we walked the final distance to Uterga, our destination for the day.

Our albergue for the night was easy to find, right on the Camino path through the small village (pop. 205).

 

Directly across the street was a nice bar where we had breakfast, lunch and dinner, and drinks during the day if not doing our routine chores in our room. Wifi was stronger in the bar so we did our internet activity and blogging there.

• 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.

• Distance today: 7.6 mi
• Distance Camino 2017: 39.9mi

It was still dark when we left Akerreta at 6:05 a.m., with Linda and her headlamp leading the way. A half-hour later it was light enough to see as we began walking along the Rio Arre (Arre river).

For the rest of the morning we walked on both sides of the Arre, crossing over a number of different bridges: some new, some old, some very old.

The walking surfaces and undulations were typical of recent days but the duration of the difficult sections was manageable.

Not until 8:00 did the sun appear as it rose above the mountains. We’ve only got a couple or three more hours before it gets miserably hot for walking in the open. And there are no bars until we reach the suburbs of Pamplona.

We crossed over the Romanesque Trinidad del Arre bridge and began looking for the Hotel Pamplona-Villava. The Booking.com app directions took us over a mile away from the bridge which we knew could not be correct. After several misdirections of our own, trying to figure out the app (it seemed to be giving us driving rather than walking directions) and three well-meaning but clueless Pamplonians, we finally arrived at our hotel at 10:45 a.m. and thankfully, our room (62€) was ready for us and were allowed to check in very early (normal check-in is 2 pm).

After a brief rest and completing our routine “chores” we selected additional items we feel we won’t need until we get to Leon a month from now, based on our experience this first week. We’ll drop them off at the Pamplona post office, Correos, as we walk through tomorrow morning. Now is the time to lighten our packs as much as we can for the next few weeks.

Linda got her first significant blister today. So guided by Linda’s close scrutiny, Jim administered the treatment procedure we learned in 2014 to hopefully minimize any pain and accelerate the healing process.

We’re in for the evening at 5:30 after a late lunch/early dinner at the hotel restaurant. The hours for the restaurant were 1:30-4:00 for lunch and 8:00-11:00 for dinner!