Well it appears that playing with fire you do eventually get burned. I think I pushed it a little too far with the bread and ended up with a mild version of what I would get in NZ a bit of a sore gut. Let’s just say it was good this happened when I was in my own apartment in Pamplona with my own toilet if you know what I mean and I think you do! Before going out I managed to get all of my washing done and dry as well which was great creative use of a heated towel rail worked exceptionally well. Ciaran the Irish Widower was in a hotel that was only about 25 meters from my apartment. So we arranged to go t a Pilgrims Mass in the church pictured and then try and meet up with some of the others who where getting a bite in the Square (Plaza del Castillo). The mass was a pretty standard affair but I tried using live translate in my AirPods so I could understand what was actually happening as it is all in Spanish and some Latin. Let’s just say that it said some pretty funny things that I don’t think were an accurate translation for what was actually being said. But the Priest was really old and sounded like he was going to drop dead. Everything is said into a ,microphone and he was breathing so heavily that I thought he was going to draw his last breath before my eyes. We went forward for our pilgrims blessing at the end of the mass there was probably about 25 pilgrims there in total. Then we headed to the restaurant that the others were at getting a feed. See the picture, I didn’t need to order anything because Lia the Maori woman from Nelson insisted that she could it finish her seafood paella and neither could her German friend. Always happy to eat leftovers it was really yummy, I just purchased a beer to go with the food.
As per usual I was pretty smashed so I was in bed by 9:00am and it was so nice to have room all to myself. I went straight to sleep and woke a few times during the night. Still getting used to the time difference. Then I woke just after 4:00am and so I decided to get ready to head out of Pamplona. I had a hot shower and took my time getting ready I headed out the door just after 6:00am to be greeted by the rain. I Navigated my way in the dark to find the pilgrims pathway again which is marked with signs with the shell or yellow arrows. In Pamplona they were stainless steel discs that were set into the pavement. It was pretty hard to navigate in the dark and the rain. I saw a German pilgrim in her 20’s I had seen her the last couple of the days and I thought I will just follow her. Turns out she was struggling to see where to go as well. But between us we managed to make it work. And made the long walk out of the city.
Now I thought we were in for a reasonably easy walk today. Well I was wrong if you can see the wind turbines in the distance that was where we were heading and to make matters worse I couldn’t find anywhere for breakfast for 2.5 hours so all I had was water. Then I stopped at the first place that sold coffee it was more of a shop than a cafe. But there was a bench inside I took off my jacket and pack and my shirt was drenched in sweat from the climb thus far. I had a pain au chocolat a can of this electrolyte drink called Aquarius a snickers bar and a banana. And it was back on the track. Because it was wet today the track climbing was a mixture of stones and this horrible clay that was both slippery and sticky. It tucked to the soles of your shoes making them 3 times as heavy. You had to keep trying to find places to scrape the build up off.
Finally made it to the top where the wind turbines were and also the steel sculptures. Just over the other side there was also the stone monument that had been made for a mass grave of people they discovered from the 1930’s who as resistant to the dictator leadership at the time. There were lots of flowers on the journey today and the scenery varied it was quite a step incline down the other side and i have found the walking poles invaluable in saving my knees as i navigate these descents. So many fields of wheat or barley everywhere. And such dramatic vistas everywhere you look. The sun even came out and I got a feeling for what ti would be like to walk in the sun all day. That won’t be fun but I know that it is coming soon. The walk to Puente la Reina seemed to go on forever today all of these little towns along the way another church another sculpture just beautiful. But when your feet are hurting and you can feel a blister developing you just want to get there. And I finally did. When i finally took off my shoes I discovered that I did in fact have my first blister on my left heel on the side. I have chosen to stay at Albergue Jakue right as you come into town as some of the others where already booked there. It seems pretty good I was the first here in a room with set of bunks and a single bed I have the single bed YES! then it has a bathroom for the room. The shower was a bit tight but apart from that it looks good.
I am going to go and have some food now and have a bit of a look around. So until tomorrow.
Nga mihi
Mike
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