Day 4: Zubiri to Pamplona
I again wake up at 6:00 and begin to pack. As the other two pilgrims in our room are either asleep or pretending to be asleep, I quietly take all of my belongings into the hallway to pack. Leo and I enter into the pitch dark dining room and turn on the lights-- to find breakfast on the table! And nobody in sight. We decide that it must have been set out the night before.
There is a tiny bit of light as we head back over the Puenta de la Rabia to continue west. We walk until we reach Larrasoana but to get coffee we would have to significantly detour from the Camino, so we continue walking. I remember reaching a fairly large village and being completely dumbfounded that nothing was open there either. Another group of six arrived in the square, and disappointed, we all trudged onward.
I have mentioned the sunrise a couple of times now, but according to my notes, it was near Arketta that we saw our shadows for the first time during our trip. It was a beautiful morning walk alongside a bubbling stream, until we came to a lovely café, populated with a ton of pilgrims. It was nice to have a light breakfast, and to begin relationships with many that we would see again and again. At this point people began to know us by name, especially three Brits from the Channel Islands. Helen, Robert and Barbara.
In my backpack I carried a variety of Travel Bugs from geocaching.com that wanted to be dropped overseas. I didn’t want to carry them a long way, so in my research I discovered a cache big enough to drop them, on the way into Pamplona. Leo and I searched for about a half hour, but were unable to find the cache. Meanwhile other pilgrims kept asking, Are you ok? Do you need help? It was hard to explain we were playing a game along the camino.
We finally gave up and continued to walk Only another mile or so later, we came to an area that looked like a public park and rest stop for cars. I told Leo this was a likely place for a cache, so I took my phone off airplane mode to see if one was nearby. Sure enough there was one far above us on the hill, but the steep ascent was necessary anyway, as the camino went right by the cache.
A short search revealed the hidden cache, and the travel bugs were dropped off. We then continued to the city. It was odd coming into suburbs after being in such small villages for the last few days. But we didn’t really enter into the modern downtown on the approach. Just through some neighborhoods, through the archway and into the old city.
This portion of Pamplona is where the bulls run, and it was exciting to walk the streets we have seen on TV and in newspapers since we were children. We checked into a huge Albergue (114 beds). The woman at the desk spoke Basque, but she knew we needed two beds. This was the second time we managed sleeping arrangements without fluent Spanish. We were surprised and delighted to find Kevin (?) and Alice sharing our quad tonight.
Showered and refreshed, we took a tour of the cathedral, went to find the famous bull run statue and then went to the café that celebrates Earnest Hemingway. We opted out of a pilgrim’s meal in the Plaza Mayor, instead eating tapas at a wonderful restaurant with the deal of two euro for a glass of wine and a huge tapa. So five tapas and five glasses of wine were more than enough for each of us. Tipsy, we had an early night at the Albergue.
I again wake up at 6:00 and begin to pack. As the other two pilgrims in our room are either asleep or pretending to be asleep, I quietly take all of my belongings into the hallway to pack. Leo and I enter into the pitch dark dining room and turn on the lights-- to find breakfast on the table! And nobody in sight. We decide that it must have been set out the night before.
There is a tiny bit of light as we head back over the Puenta de la Rabia to continue west. We walk until we reach Larrasoana but to get coffee we would have to significantly detour from the Camino, so we continue walking. I remember reaching a fairly large village and being completely dumbfounded that nothing was open there either. Another group of six arrived in the square, and disappointed, we all trudged onward.
I have mentioned the sunrise a couple of times now, but according to my notes, it was near Arketta that we saw our shadows for the first time during our trip. It was a beautiful morning walk alongside a bubbling stream, until we came to a lovely café, populated with a ton of pilgrims. It was nice to have a light breakfast, and to begin relationships with many that we would see again and again. At this point people began to know us by name, especially three Brits from the Channel Islands. Helen, Robert and Barbara.
In my backpack I carried a variety of Travel Bugs from geocaching.com that wanted to be dropped overseas. I didn’t want to carry them a long way, so in my research I discovered a cache big enough to drop them, on the way into Pamplona. Leo and I searched for about a half hour, but were unable to find the cache. Meanwhile other pilgrims kept asking, Are you ok? Do you need help? It was hard to explain we were playing a game along the camino.
We finally gave up and continued to walk Only another mile or so later, we came to an area that looked like a public park and rest stop for cars. I told Leo this was a likely place for a cache, so I took my phone off airplane mode to see if one was nearby. Sure enough there was one far above us on the hill, but the steep ascent was necessary anyway, as the camino went right by the cache.
A short search revealed the hidden cache, and the travel bugs were dropped off. We then continued to the city. It was odd coming into suburbs after being in such small villages for the last few days. But we didn’t really enter into the modern downtown on the approach. Just through some neighborhoods, through the archway and into the old city.
This portion of Pamplona is where the bulls run, and it was exciting to walk the streets we have seen on TV and in newspapers since we were children. We checked into a huge Albergue (114 beds). The woman at the desk spoke Basque, but she knew we needed two beds. This was the second time we managed sleeping arrangements without fluent Spanish. We were surprised and delighted to find Kevin (?) and Alice sharing our quad tonight.
Showered and refreshed, we took a tour of the cathedral, went to find the famous bull run statue and then went to the café that celebrates Earnest Hemingway. We opted out of a pilgrim’s meal in the Plaza Mayor, instead eating tapas at a wonderful restaurant with the deal of two euro for a glass of wine and a huge tapa. So five tapas and five glasses of wine were more than enough for each of us. Tipsy, we had an early night at the Albergue.
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