Distance: 21.3km, Steps: 31,755, Total time: 6hrs

We took an early start to the day, leaving our Albergue just after 7am. It was still dark as we left the town so the beauty around me could not be fully appreciated. It was also FREEZING cold & soon my fingers turned into ice cubes through my gloves & my toes were starting to go numb.

There was a lot of Pilgrims leaving early with us as they all marched by easily overtaking our slow amble. Some had a tiny backpack that would only weigh like 2 or 3 kgs. These type of people  carry most of their stuff in a suitcase & get it transported to their next accomodation. Some people carry their whole home with them on their backs in big 65 or 75litre backpacks. The backpacks are bulging already with added sleeping bag, clothes, rolled up thick mat & extras all hanging off the outside of the pack. They look uncomfortable & have to rest a lot. The majority of people like Mr D & I carry a 38 to 50litre backpack which is standard on the Camino. I prefer to carry my stuff so I can stop early or go further & not be restricted by where my luggage has been sent to.

We must be speeding up even through it doesn’t feel like it, as we did 6kms in the first 1.5hrs to a tiny little village called Azofra. There we stopped at a cafe for breakfast.

The scenery had changed somewhat to more open pastures with scattered vineyards & trees here & there. There really wasn’t a huge amount to look at & the wide gravel road made easy walking. The only interesting thing was a car driving along with a dog on a lead attached running alongside the car. At least the lead was long, the other day a cyclist had passed us with their poor dog on a super short lead attached to the back of the bike.  The dog had to keep up with the speed of the bike otherwise it would choke on its collar.

Heading into another more modern looking town called Ciruena, there was a man selling fresh fruit, jewerally & drink for a donation fee only. I grabbed a cup of refreshing watermelon & headed through town onto our last leg of the section with more bare open pastures & nothing else significant.

This is where Mr D charged ahead, disappearing into the distance with all the other marching Pilgrims. You can see the town, it looks close, but really is deceptive & is usually still another hour or so away. I started getting jolts of pain in my Achilles’ tendon again. This was the Camino telling me to slow down. I stopped & put on my ankle brace then very slowly & using my pole to help take some weight off my foot, walked into town by myself while a lady behind me bellowed out a song with great gusto to no one in particular. I imagined Mr D waiting for me in town saying “I knew you would be alright”. I caught up to him on the outskirts as he was chatting away laying on the ground resting, to a young lady. Sure nice to know he was concerned I had been absent for over half an hour!

Martin & Anna the honeymoon couple from Melbourne caught up to us & we all headed into town for lunch in the sun as we were all still trying to warm up. Another young lady called Laura joined us, she was traveling with her friend we had met in Logrono whom had been robbed. In more detail, the thief had stolen people’s phones while they were on charge, so had others their money bags stolen containing their passports & money. One such young lady in our dormitory was very upset after her phone had been stolen & some kind young man was going to help her get a new one.

Our plan had been to book in to the parador – a very nice expensive hotel in the town square. It once was the hospital & been converted. But it was Saturday & everything was booked out including the smaller hostels & pensions. We didn’t have any other choice but to book into one of the two Albergues. The closest one a big place containing over 200 beds. So all four of us ended up in a bunk room with 12 others. And it costs only 7€ each with separate men and women showers so can’t complain about that!

Santo Domingo is an interesting town & I had a look inside the amazing cathedral & took a tour around all its history. So there is a rather famous legend that happened here long, long ago that I will share:

There was a young German Pilgrim man walking to Santiago with his parents, where they stopped to rest at an inn in Santo Domingo de la Calzada. The Inn’s owner’s daughter fell in love with him but her feelings were not reciprocated, so angry at the rejection, she planted a silver goblet in his backpack. The young man was then accused of theft & condemned by hanging. His parents sadden by his death, continued their pilgrimage to arrive at Santiago de Compostela. They turned around to return their journey to visit the grave of their young son. When they arrived in Santo Domingo, they found their son still hanging in the gallows but, miraculously alive. The son said to them “Santo Domingo brought me back to life! Ask the Mayor to take me down”. The parents quickly arrived at the Mayor’s house & told him the miracle. The Mayor, about to have dinner, responded “That boy is as alive as these two roast chickens we are about to eat”. With that, the chickens came to life, sprouted feathers & beaks and began to crow! The Mayor astounded, went down to the gallows & released the young man, letting him go free. To this day there is a saying about the town which goes: “Santo Domingo of the Way, where the roosters crow after being roasted”.

Believe it or not!

Distance: 19.1km, Steps: 27,279, Time: 5.5hrs

We snuck in a little sleep in this morning to 6.30am! We ate our breakfast downstairs then packed up. The lady that came in late last night was attending to 10 blisters on her two feet! How uncomfortable & painful it must be to walk. Feeling lucky my Achilles’ tendon felt good & I can walk without pain, we hit the Camino by 8.10am – a late start for us.

The joy of not always following the guide book stages & staying in towns in between the stages means we see a lot less Pilgrims. We more or less have the Camino to ourselves. Mr D had some niggling back pain & started experiencing pain in the ball of his foot.

It was a lovely day, cloudy & cool with a slight chill to the breeze. The wide gravel track followed the highway for a bit, then we decided to detour 1.4 kms in to a tiny village called Ventosa to get away from the noise on the highway & because it was a short day & we could. It is said to have good artwork – this consisted of the cafe wall in town having 3D sculptures popping out of it in the form of hands, feet, noses & faces. Well worth the 1.4km extra! We had a drink stop there & I had the best cuppa so far here in Spain. It was just perfect! All the cup of teas I have been getting have been so anaemic in colour even after soaking the tea bag for so long, & a weak taste.

Mr D was checking out these dogs out for their morning walk – 4 German Shepherds, 3 were white. If I’m not too careful, he’ll bring home a white GS puppy one day! I must say on observation, all the dogs ( and I see a lot here ) & cats are all lean, there has not been one that is overweight yet.

We continued on & came across another poor busker playing his guitar & haramonica on the Camino hoping for Pilgrims generosity in loose change.

The track today was easy to walk & mostly flat as we passed through open vineyards & through the industrial outskirts of Najera, a big town. Over the bridge into the “old town” part where we picked the winner of Albergues so far. Mr D didn’t even want to stay as the workmen were jack hammering away on the road just outside the front. I convinced him to stay as I took an instant liking to the place & the noise stopped soon after we arrived anyway. The decor is absolutely stupendous old era & charm – I love it! We decided on a private room for extra with a bunk bed & our own private balcony!

Mr D brought a bottle of vino after we had a lovely lunch by the river so we could relax, drink vino in our enclosed private balcony & watch all the tired Pilgrims come walking in over the bridge.

If there is another curse to be had it’s the energy saving light switches on timers. Some go out after a minute or 3, sometimes after 30 seconds which sometimes catches us out, leaving us sitting on the toilet in the dark or fumbling around on the staircase in sudden pitch blackness. Some showers also have a timer like the showers at today’s Albergue, the water comes out for a minute then stops so you have to keep pressing the button back in to keep showering. This really gets on Mr D’s goat!

The old part of town is enriched with so much history above it with Castle ruins & caves. I could truly spend a day exploring. This would have to be one of my favourite places – wait, they all are!

In the early evening we lazily sauntered across the road to find dinner as the only problem with this Albergue was no meals available. The bar / restaurants usually have a cheap peregrino meal for Pilgrims which is either 2 or 3 course with lots of different food options once you decipher the Spanish words to know what it reads ( I like to google the words & check the images of the food ). It costs between 10 & 18€ & includes a bottle of red wine & bottle of water. We had a 2 course meal & couldn’t finish the main course. Mr D offered his remaining bottle of wine to the big group next to us & they were very happy to accept it. We had red wine coming out of our ears after drinking a bottle during the afternoon then getting another bottle for dinner! The temperature has dropped considerably & we were both feeling quite cold outside so back to our private little room ( hee hee ) & tucked up in our warm beds for an early night.

Distance: 22.1km, Steps: 35,234 Time: 8hrs

I was utterly exhausted last night, from the pain in my Achilles to over eating at dinner. The lights were still on in our bunk room when I popped a couple of ibuprofen tablets & went to bed at 8.30pm. I must have went out like a light & slept through to early morning waking up thinking I was back home already & feeling confused, then realising I was in an Albergue in Spain! Mr D filled me in on the nights shenanigans. There was people yelling loudly in the next room. A doctor came in to check on a young man whom was quite unwell in our room. There was a loud snorer in the room & the older German man that had spent the afternoon chatting constantly to a young German lady, decided to shine his light around the room to spot the culprit & shone the light straight into Mr D’s face. He was not amused!

We got up at 6am, being the only ones awake & packing up. Even when we left at 7am everyone was still in bed. Unlike yesterday morning when everyone was up before sparrows fart, we were the last up at 6.08am! My Achilles was definitely much better, still felt sore but not painful as yesterday. I started off slowly to see how I would go getting to Logrono first, a big city 11kms away. Upon getting my boots from the washing room, noticed a man sleeping on the floor in the middle of the room in his sleeping bag with his dog! Maybe he had sneaked in, maybe no beds were available & he was offered that room.

We set off in the dark with only one other Pilgrim in front where normally there would be a constant flow of Pilgrims at that hour. We ate chorizo on the way for breakfast starters & arrived in Logrono by 10am. I noticed going in and out of the city that all the Camino shell markers had been stolen from the posts!

My ankle was holding up well so we decided we would press on, but first have breakfast & shop by the Farmacia ( my favourite place these days ) & supermarket. Well dressed women went by leaving a strong perfume scent in their wake making me feel my “smell” must be pretty average! Two young Pilgrim ladies in their early twenties were walking the same way as us. They informed us that someone had come into their Albergue early that morning & stolen their passports, money & phone. In fact 10 people had their documents stolen. The police have been there all morning so far dealing with the case that was only a block away from us.  The ladies were now having to organise passports & such to replace them. That is the worst thing to happen to anyone. One of them said ” I can’t believe they would rob Pilgrims! ” She also was walking with trouble as she commented one of her knees had gone & she was walking with one knee.

Moving on from the unpleasant news, Mr D settled on breakfast at a rather upmarket chic cafe. I had taken off my boot to inspect my foot & the waiter got quite upset with me doing this inside, he quickly motioned me to put my boot back on. Well, not making friends here we left Logrono behind but even that took awhile & the sun had become quite warm. Mr D was exhausted just getting through Logrono & we still had another 12kms to go! He would stop, take off his boots to let his feet air, then we would continue.

Lunch was at Cafe Cabana del Tio by the lake. It was a beautiful spot alright. We enjoyed a light lunch with a cold glass of coke with a lemon slice – so refreshing! We could of easily stayed all afternoon there it was too nice to leave.

However we moved on, walking uphill on hard road under a hot sun. A young man easily passed us pulling along his trolley containing all his gear. He has been on the road for 4.5 months so far. He carries a tent & all on his trolley & zips up those hills like it’s nothing!

Close to our destination we came across hundreds  of crosses made out of strips of bark from the sawmill on top of Alto de la Grajera all strung along the fence. We arrived in Navarrete, a nice small town & took awhile to find an Albergue. We settled on one & it’s very nice inside & quiet. There was us & the Germans from yesterday. The older man we found out is 80 years old & doesn’t look it! He couldn’t speak much English so the young German lady translated what he would say. We enjoyed a dinner at the Albergue with just us 4 as no one else had come. Mr D would ask how many hours of sleep the German man needs & we would get a whole rundown on his daily home routine with his wife instead! The conversations were hilarious to say the least, & I could see the man liked to talk – a lot! Hence his constant chatter in German yesterday afternoon. Meanwhile the young German lady buys tins of cat food to feed the stray kittens & cats wandering around as she feels sorry for them. The Albergue owner said “You really think the dogs & cats are starving here?!”

Well it was a pretty good day. My Achilles has held up pretty good. Mr D is pleased we hit a milestone today getting to Logrono. And there was only 4 of us in the Albergue, but we just had a late couple arrived at 9.30pm. They have walked 32kms today as they took the wrong turn & got lost. They both look completely knackered – the woman can hardly walk!

Distance: 21.2km Steps: 26,909 Time: 5.5 hrs

Today was to be a shorter day, the guide book telling us 18.4 km & Mr D’s gadget saying we covered 21km – so who knows? It felt like a shorter walk. Started off early at 7.30am after breakfast. There are a lot that start early, others that start later 8 or even 9am. The nice thing with early morning starts, is that it’s pleasant before the day heats up & you see the beautiful sunrise. As we set out of town, there was one such beautiful sunrise coming up behind us.

Todays walk was slightly similar to yesterday, except the road wasn’t flat & monotonous but rather up & down & around the bend. We passed through the next village called Sansol, then right next to it, down, around & up into the next village called Torres del Rio. This one village really was pretty & inviting. I had wished we had stayed here. This village is the one that has the Albergue in the movie The Way with the strange man. That strange man has moved on but that Albergue is still there. We passed more open vineyards & pastures, pass a man selling cold drinks that has made a garden of rock piles. Further on another pop up cafe with music blaring out of a portable CD player on top of the car roof. The music being modern English songs we hear on the radio. It strikes me the Spanish listen to a lot of our music. In Cafes & restaurants. I wonder those that don’t speak English then do not understand the lyrics of the songs that are so familiar to me. We could of done with this all yesterday – the food & drink! The music! The chairs in shade!

There is many ruins about, structures that use to be homes, missing half its walls & roofs. These are so interesting for me to look at, I like to imagine whom use to live in them & how long ago they have been there.

We arrived in Viana by 12.30pm & booked into an Albergue. Mr D was so happy today to not be feeling utterly exhausted as he has been every other day. I’m still being challenged physically today with what feels like Achilles tendinitis. It was not an easy walk for me as I had to go slowly, the back of my heel was painfully sore inside my boot.

We grabbed lunch & I used the ice cubes in my drink to wrap around my Achilles, now just have to rest it up & hope to walk tomorrow.

We met a couple from Melbourne that are walking the Camino as their honeymoon. Earlier on the track I saw a lady Pilgrim walking the other way with her dog that was also carrying his own panniers over his back probably carrying his own dog food in them!

Most Pilgrims like to arrive mid to late afternoon so they can find a bed, shower, hand wash their clothes & hang them up while they go have a beer. Then if clothes are not dry, they peg them to the back of their backpack while they walk the next day. Like today, one man had his pair of underwear jocks strung across the back of his backpack for everyone to see. Yesterday we noticed the ones that come late after 6pm, too much a long day when you eat dinner usually about 7pm. I think we have a good routine, even through Mr D would prefer getting in at a time similar to today.

We finished the evening having a quiet meal in the pub after I went into a place that provided free ice packs so I could use it on my Achilles area. We shall see what tomorrow brings…..

Distance: 20.9km, Steps: 31,184, Time taken: 6.5 hours

We both had a real good sleep, for me I didn’t cough much & my throat was feeling heaps better. I was pleased the new medicine had done its trick. My skin on my right leg where the socks sit was covered in angry red hot rashes with a mild case on my left leg. This first part of The Camino is really the physical part & it’s testing me alright!

We were one of the first up as everyone else slept in to 6.30am. Mr D was packing in the eating area & gave the volunteer lady whom we had the pleasure of meeting yesterday, a fright. She had emerged from her room stark naked thinking Mr D was the other Vollie lady – (the nicer one) – saw it wasn’t & quickly had to cover herself up with a robe! We enjoyed toast & I had cornflakes as it was the first time I had seen cereal available since Madrid. Then I had to pry Mr D away from that same volunteer lady that was giving him yet another lecture about how we should socialise with everyone, meet new friends, it’s the Camino way….. I think she failed to see how tired we were yesterday. We also learnt that the dinner meal they put on last night for the other Pilgrims there was for us too – only they forgot to invite us!

The early morning was cool as we made our way out of Estella, I hadn’t realised how big the town was until this morning. My muscular pain had gone away overnight & I was feeling much stronger. We found “the fountain of youth” as Mr D calls it. The famous & maybe only fountain that gives you free red wine at the Bodegas Irache. So we took our customary photos of pouring free red wine into our water bottles, but only a little amount so as to leave enough for the Pilgrims behind us.

It warmed up pretty quickly & soon the temperature was too warm. We had a short stop in a little village for morning tea before the onslaught of walking over 12kms along a dirt gravel road in openness with hardly any shade. It was a taste tester of the Meseta with open vineyards & farming lands, no change in scenery, just a long hard slog in the sun as we follow the road that went on and on and on…….

There on that isolated dirt track was a couple, sitting under a tree, playing beautiful music for us hoping for our loose change. Then there was meant to be a pop up cafe. There was a bar/cafe sign on the halfway point pointing to an empty shelter – they took the day off! I felt cheated as a cold can of coke would of gone down nicely right then. Onwards we plodded, Mr D hiding under his umbrella, me hoping to see the next town over a hill & being disappointed to see more flat long road going to nowhere. Many other Pilgrims suffered as well & would stop & rest then continue. Mr D wanted to just keep walking until he got to town. He didn’t make it. I caught up to him laying in grass in some small shade, spent. I encouraged him back up with the alluring vision of a cold beer awaiting him in the next town.

We arrived in Los Arcos early around 1.30pm. We found ourselves a nice Albergue & share a room with 2 other couples. For lunch I downed a pizza all by myself, Mr D had two cold beers & chicken wings with chips. Not sure what it is here, but the chicken wings are tiny compared to the size we get at home. Then there was the bread rolls of course……

It is cheap to drink in Spain – one glass each of red & white wine cost 3€ total which is about $4.50 Aussie dollar. At home this will cost between $14 & $16 easily! We had a 3 course Pilgrims dinner at our Albergue, the first since Roncesvalles. The people at our table had already formed their little group and we didn’t fit in as well. Being tired again, it’ll be another early night for us.

Distance: 23.8km, Steps: 32,309 Time include breaks: 7.5 hours.

Today started with a reluctant roll out of bed & slow pack up. We both had hardly any sleep due to my constant coughing throughout the night.

We made our way out of town stopping at the only open cafe for breakfast. It was an overcast day, humid, not cold. I noticed we had become part of a bigger Pilgrim group on the Camino, as most of our starting group were a day ahead now.

The morning was an easy walk through pastures & vineyards. SHOULD of been easy but the lack of sleep made the walk up hills so hard, we were almost crawling up the hills whimpering like pathetic weak Pilgrims that we were.

We passed through 4 little villages, each one dead quiet with not a soul to be seen. I think the Spanish country folk sleep through the day, then come out to party in the early evening. One lovely hilltop village called Cirauqui was a joy to visit, its lovely quaint narrow street ways that went up & around, a seemless maze of them. Through the archway of a building there was an ink pad & stamp for us to stamp our own passports with. I asked Mr D to take a photo of me but he was tired & grumpy. He stamped his passport, barking out a NO! And took off ahead. Hmmmmm, fine then!

One guy had set up a table in the middle of nowhere, filled with fruit, crackers & drinks for a donation fee only to help him build this amazing rest area for Pilgrims in the bush by the track with benches, hanging shells & a bookcase with books. Mr D’s only comment was “yeah but it doesn’t have a toilet!” I’m sure Mr D missed the point……

I stopped for a sweet doughnut in some random underground bar cafe by the side of the road. Even that didn’t give me energy. I staggered up the hill huffing & puffing into the next village & there was Mr D – comatosed on the ground opposite a little cafe. Upon noticing me, he staggered to his feet & declared; “we have lunch here!” Mr D had coke and lentil soup while I had coke and freshly made chicken paella. It was absolutely delicious & hard to get going after that.

The remainder 9kms was near highways & more pastures. We were two walking zombies as we made our way into Estella. We ended up at a donation run Albergue. It is called a Donativo Albergue so Pilgrims pay what they feel like paying for a bed. The money goes to some kind of charity. Mr D’s heart was palpitating hard with this rather stressful new experience. The volunteer lady that was running the show was saying “sit down, there’s no rush, take your time” then proceeded to tell us off for not filling in our details on the Pilgrims passport, then for not having dates on our stamps, then for not getting our passports stamped on our rest day, on and on she went getting up Mr D’s goat with the lectures. I just wanted to leave & find another place. So we settled anyway in the ladies bunk room not the men’s bunk room as couples can sleep in the same room. There was another man in the ladies bunk room. And that volunteer lady expressed that she wanted me to stay in the men’s room! Well there is still 5 empty beds in the ladies room & I’m not moving!

We calmed ourselves with a beer & trip to the Farmacia for another cold / flu medicine to add to my growing collection. Well we had the beer while we waited for the Farmacia to open by the lovely small stone bridge. I hope this medicine works a charm & I fall dead asleep tonight. But with one eye open as Mr D has already threatened to put me in a wooden box & put a couple of nails in due to my complaining too much.

It is so frustrating that you can’t get dinner till later in the evening unless you can get a Pilgrims meal in an Albergue. We tried the restaurant close to our Albergue but were told to come back later. I just want to fall asleep now & it’s 6pm only! My hamstring muscles have stiffened up completely  & I walk with a stiff legged gait. Great. Can’t wait till tomorrow …..

Distance: 25.1kms Steps: 34,540 Time: 8 hrs including food stops.

Woke up 6am and there was a choir of some sort down below in the street. A group of people playing trumpets & singing. We packed up and headed out the main door one last time. That door is so TALL I have never seen anything like it & still can’t get over the size & thickness of it – you need two hands to pull it open it is so heavy!

Right, moving on from the DOOR, we made our way out of the city following the Camino shells on the ground as the sun slowly started to come up. We dropped by a cafe for a quick breakfast where I tried ordering to a Spanish lady behind the counter. Needless to say my Spanish still needs improving, instead of 2 espresso coffees for Mr D, we got 1 double espresso coffee. Close enough….

We were heading up to the Alto del Perdon at 750m height. Mr D was moving fast today & took off like a rocket up the hill. I meanwhile stopped for a tempting hot chocolate drink & crossiant. The crossiants here are so fresh & delicious, you just eat them on their own without butter & jam. This one was no exception. It was the best crossiant I had tasted in Spain!

The day was very overcast & cold. The slightest drizzle of rain would come & stop. Then come again. Nothing that our umbrellas couldn’t handle. At the top we took our customary selfies & photos of each other by the wrought iron statutes  of medieval Pilgrims.

Once again Mr D shot off down the hill leaving me behind. The descent was steep, slippery & lined with rocks & stones, so I carefully made my descent & when I finally found Mr D, he said “I knew you would be alright”. True it is, company would of been nice!

We stopped at a lovely village called Uterga where there was a lovely alfresco area in front of a cafe with a smorgasbord menu of food. Mr D had a shrimp & salad & Ms Piggy here had a WHOPPING Hamburger with chips – yum! And of course – plain bread rolls. Spain is smitten by their bread rolls & I can only visualise a Spanish person going to the kitchen for a midnight snack, & feasting on dry plain bread rolls, no butter, no jam….

Onwards we pressed towards our destination, Mr D taking the lead once again. Perhaps I was slower as still not 100% or perhaps Mr D had roller skate wheels on the bottom of his boots. I caught up just as we arrived in Puente la Reina & I let Mr D choose our bed for the night. We stay in another hotel room with our own double bed & bathroom for a bit extra than the Albergues down the road.

The place is so sweet, I just love the maze of narrow laneways & cute little balconies 3 storeys up all the way along. Mr D brought a bottle of red to drink in our room. He thoughtfully cut his water bottle & made a cup for me while he drank from the one glass in the room. Nice…..

I had to treat one small blister today – should of worn my sock liners! Mr D struggled again at the end of hot feet & decided 25kms is too much for him, he was feeling fed up & weary, his leg muscles sore & aching.

We had Camino magic once again for dinner. As who should be waiting in the bar when we went downstairs, but our lovely German friends Jo & Sigrid. Not only they happen to chose the same accommodation but are in the next room to us! Sigrid mentioned some pain along her foot so they were staying back tomorrow so she could sort it out. We didn’t know how long the problem would delay them, & when we would see them again. We ate too much fine food, now we are tired & full – time for sleep!

We took a zero day today which was a good decision. The morning was wet with constant drizzling rain. We watched other Pilgrims leave on foot & on bikes while we enjoyed a leisurely breakfast.

Chores were done & some sight seeing taken in. Shops over here are so different. Mostly everything was shut besides a few cafes all morning, there was hardly people about until midday when shops started opening. Even then a lot of shops were closed all day compared to how busy yesterday was when we arrived.

We had our last meal in Pamplona & the place was finally coming alive with people & live percussion bands marching through. Derek spotted our German Pilgrim friends Jo & Sigrid, that had arrived today, & they joined us for dinner. It was like meeting up with old friends & we were excited to see each other again. We had a lovely meal with a few too many vino’s under the belt – I had to direct a “very happy” Mr D back home & not land us in a cell for the night as police gave him a “serious look” as we walked past.

So, all organised to hit the track tomorrow & walk back out in the beautiful countryside.  I still have a cough but have picked up oral cough medicine – information all in Spanish so I have no idea what it is I’m taking, but trusting the Spanish lady that picked it out for me!

Distance: 23.2km, Steps: 33,904 Time: Too long!

Our longest day yet started off poorly. Both of us had very little sleep. I had been coughing through the night, Mr D was so worried I wouldn’t be able to continue on due to terrible sickness, he couldn’t shut his brain off & got little sleep as well.

We figured better to walk to Pamplona, the first of 3 big cities we go through. At least the Farmacia should have more variety if I need more medicine for my cold or if I did get worse, easy to get medical help or transport out.

So we packed & had a quick breakfast at the cafe on the way out. We generally get up 6am & like to hit the road by 7.30am. The queue was long & one bloke jumped the queue before us which got Mr D annoyed that he told the bloke “politely” off & got the darkest look from the man. We had a chocolate croissant with cafe Le leche & glass of OJ.

Another chilly cold start to the day as I rugged myself up extra today to keep warm. We passed through several lovely villages & the scenery kept changing. The first village out of Zubiri is called Larrasoana over the bridge off the Camino. There we bumped into Larry & Liz whom had stopped for morning coffee & were heading on. We actually needed a toilet but the only cafe there was a vending machine! Mr D asked a man at one of the Albergues whom very nicely let us in to use the restroom. The tracks were relatively easy with some road sharing with cyclists, cars & trucks. On the Camino, expect a lot of road walking which Mr D is not a fan of. Crossing & even thinking which side of the road to walk down is always tricky for us as traffic travels on the right not left & habit has us checking the wrong way when crossing. ( And there has been some scary moments! ) By midday it had warmed up too much & Mr D was clearly suffering. We stopped for a refreshing hot drink & small bite to eat at a lovely cafe by the river. Larry & Liz were already there as we joined them at the table. Lottie was there too picking off fresh grapes from a huge grapevine growing around the side. She offered me some as we munched on the delicious green grapes.

We started stalking Larry & Liz for the rest of the walk as it would seem as we would catch up to them, they would move ahead, we catch up again, they move ahead…. until the last stage into Pamplona when we were all so stuffed & exhausted. Larry gave up, threw his pack down, took his top off & collapsed on the grass by the river. Liz just sat on the bench & threw her hands up in the air. Poor Larry – today was his birthday! That would be the last we saw of Larry & Liz as we kept our tired feet going, left foot, right foot, left foot, right foot…..

Mr D complained his feet were “about to explode” & my feet felt so hot & sore as well. Not only had we to push on through pain & exhaustion into the delightful “city within a city ” which was the old Pamplona, but then we had to find a room! And many places were full already booked out over the weekend. We had teamed up with the lovely Lottie & Hanne that we had caught up to just outside the inner city of Pamplona. Just prior to meeting them, we had passed THAT tiny lady & her husband. He had his backpack & all she carried was a set of rosary beads clutched tightly in her right hand. She must send her luggage through a transport company. We exchanged brief pleasantries & never saw them again. Phew! Well, Lottie & Mr D went around to find a place while Hanne & I sat at a bar drinking beer & chatting! Lottie is very good at finding accommodation, thank goodness for Camino magic, who knows where we would of ended up! It was a lovely Pension with so much old charm & character to it. The entrance door was HUGE & THICK & amazing just on its own!

Happy to finally remove boots from burning feet & freshen up, it could of been so easy to lie down for just a second & wake up the next day! But we all teamed up & enjoyed a great meal out, our eyes being bigger than our stomachs, we couldn’t quite finish the smorgasbord of food on the table.

We ended up departing here as Mr D & I need a rest day tomorrow to recharge our batteries. It is always sad to farewell new friends, but it is the Camino & anything can happen after all! It would be so nice to see Lottie again one day! Mr D needs to get a good 12 hours sleep, I need to rest as my cough & sore throat still linger. It is a good opportunity to explore this amazing city inside a grand fortress.

Distance of 22.9km. Steps taken 33,554. Time total on track 7 hours.

Mr D decided after staying in a big Albergue last night full of about 100 or so pilgrims, that he was not a fan & preferred the small intimate ones.

Breakfast started off with one toast of bread with butter & jam, 1 orange juice & a pretty average coffee. Well I suppose we are Pilgrims after all & should not be able to afford to dine like kings & queens. At least the Pilgrims dinners are a real treat & make up for it.

Another perfect clear blue sky day that started off chilly but by mid afternoon had become toasty warm. An easy walk passing through 4 small villages but more challenging than yesterday as Mr D suffered tight calf muscles & tired legs & I woke up with a sore throat, cough & headache. Not good signs!

We got chatting with the Dutch father & daughter Lottie & Hanne along the way, and the laughter continued about the strange tiny lady at dinner. We first met Lottie at Orisson when she asked Mr D if it was ok to charge her phone on top of his backpack. She is walking with her dad to Logrono only. I really get along with Lottie & Mr D really likes her fathers company, saying ‘He is a funny man! I wished they were walking to Santiago!’ Lottie & I took the lead as we walked & talked. Lottie shared half a delicious fresh peach with me. Hanne & Mr D lagged behind chatting away too. When we reached Zubiri, the first Albergue was full. Without checking the others, the two lovely Korean lasses we had met on day 1 were getting accomodation at a Pension ( similar to a B n B without breakfast ). Somehow all 6 of us ended up there & paid extra for our own private bedrooms, a real treat to be had. Of course the woman in charge spoke no English & no one knew how to communicate with her. It was all up to Mr D to take charge & converse with the lady using an iPhone app that translates what is being said. At one point he had the lady speak into the phone. But she spoke so fast & said too much that the app couldn’t translate what she had just said! Then Mr D took first shower yelling out in a panic to me “Quick get the woman! There’s no hot water!” Turns out the Korean lasses were hand washing their clothes in the kitchen sink at the same time using all the hot water! Poor Mr D had a very cold shower while the rest of us had lovely hot showers!

We stopped at the cafe bar close by for some refreshing beers. I saw the Aussie lady from dinner sitting there at a table. She waved at me saying she managed to walk all the way here despite the pain she was in last night & didn’t have to stop at the first village along the way. Sometimes a good nights sleep makes all the difference to the body’s recovery. The waiter guy wasn’t very enthusiastic at all. We sat with Lottie & Hanne. She asked the waiter did he have this kind of drink. The reply a short blunt No! His attitude continued as he slammed a drink loudly onto our table. Despite this, we enjoyed ourselves having a laugh at the waiter. Then I set off for the Farmacia, bumping into that tiny strange woman & her husband! She quickly fired off questions at me & it felt like the Spanish Inquisition, “When did you arrive? Where are you staying? Where are you going right now?!” She said “The lady at the Farmacia speaks English & is very helpful” Her husband said nothing again. Well, the Farmacia lady did speak English but was not very helpful, all she had was herbal throat lozenges for my scratchy sore throat. When I returned to Mr D, we headed over to the local sports shop so he could buy new socks as his pair had worn through on the heel. Well! There was a very beautiful young lady with a husky, sultry soft voice working there. Mr D was transfixed by her & agreed to buy a pair of ankle length socks that he normally wouldn’t as she said so sweetly “I’ve been working here for 4 years & I know what I’m talking about!” Afterwards Mr D says “I think I’ve been conned!” Pilgrim Larry concluded laughing “they are small children’s socks! You’re been had!”

We finished our night joining the delightful Larry & Liz for dinner & then some impromptu guitar playing at an Albergue down the road. Mr D, Larry & another Pilgrim called Ben took turns to play songs & entertain us all. What a great way to end a long hard day!