Onwards to Cirauque

I got up around 6:45 am because it was impossible to sleep longer with all the packing noises from the other pilgrims, even thought I had not slept well at all - first night without sleep aid, and it seemed the beds were especially noisy at this albergue, so I could hear whenever anyone in the dorm turned!
After packing up in the dark, I set out in the early morning with just a hint of light - the sun does not rise until about 8:15 am at this time of year in Spain. Once I was out, I must admit it was a beautiful morning, and I cheerfully set out on the detour to see the Octagonal church in Eunate. - I enjoyed to walk there, and it was pretty well marked. I could see the church in the distance, so it was not hard to find. When I reached the small, pretty church I sat down at a bench outside the little Albergue there and ate my left-over bocadillo from the day before. It was still good, and would have been even better with a cup of coffee! Then I headed back to the Camino - or so I thought - the way marking was not very clear, and I headed in the wrong direction, up a steep hill - then realizing this could not possibly be correct as the path ended in wooded wilderness! Oh joy - now my poor knees had to take me back down again! Well, I eventually got back on the Camino, and soon there was a bar where I could get a cefé con leche and a cold Gaseosa - sort of a sports drink, and just what I needed to lift my spirit again. I continued on towards my destination for the day - a small mountain village that sounded lovely according to my guidebook. - I enjoyed walking through Puenta de Reina, where I bought a peach and a nectarine, before I headed out over the medieval pilgrim bridge over the Rio Arga, built by royal command in the 11th c. and then up the little mountain towards the village of Cirauque.
It was getting hot, and I finally used the cooling neck tie Janicke and Erik had given me - later I also used it to cool my knee - a really handy little thing!
When I reached Cirauqui I was ready to get off my feet, and I was happy to find the Auberge Maralotx after a bit of searching. - It was so lovely, situated right across from the church, and a delightful and friendly hostelier who spoke English. As she welcomed me she told me to leave earlier, and not walk in the hot afternoon sun! Her concern was heart-warming! As I stepped in to the dorm room I was even more delighted to see Sarah from the day before, as well as Jane, whom I had met several times, but last I saw her was the night on the floor in Zubiri! We hugged like long-lost friends! That´s the Camino spirit!
After a shower and laundry I took my nap, and then enjoyed the lovely patio where I wrote my notes and just enjoyed the late afternoon in another lovely little Spanish village.
That evening we had a great dinner downstairs in the cloister-like cellar room, and the tables were set according to what language we spoke, so I was at the "English" table with 2 Canadian couples from Vancouver Island + an Austrian guy, Sarah and Jane and we had a lively conversation as we ate our way through an excellent pilgrim´s menu of Cream of Green Vegetable Soup, Spagetti w/Vegetables and Meatballs in a delicious sauce, yogurtwith fruits for dessert, copious amounts of red wine, bread and water. A great evening in a lovely setting, conversations in many languages, and lots of laughter!

Pamplona To Uterga Via Alto del Perdón

The weather was perfect the next morning, clear skies, and the sun was beginning to paint the sky in pastels as I headed West out of Pamplona. I had to keep eyes and ears open, so I would not miss the signs showing the way out of town. At a corner on the outskirts of town I ran in to two German ladies - Monika and Ewa, who were just starting their Camino walk from Pamplona - and we struck up a conversation and walked out of town together, while chatting.
It was nice to get out of the city, and at the first little town of Cizur Menor I stopped for a much desired café con leche and ordered a cheese bocadillo for my breakfast, and a chese and dried ham for my lunch. When he brought them out they were HUGE!! One would certainly have sufficed, so they actually lasted me until the following day!
The trek up the low Mount Alto del Perdón with all the windmills was a long, hot walk, but the rocky, steep downhill was even worse, and really hard on my knees!
On the top there was cut-out iron statues of pilgrims - and a supply car offering cold drinks and coffee. I got an orange juice to fortify me and give me stamina for the last downhill stretch, and then I braved the steep slope.
I had already decided that the next town of Uterga was going to be my stop for the day, and so had Monika and Ewa, so we reached the private Auberge Rte Camino del Perdón at the same time. They still had beds available, and soon we were getting unpacked, waiting for our turn to shower and do laundry. As we were waiting another woman I had seen on the Camino came in, Sarah from Wales. She later joined us outside where we were sitting chatting, writing notes and I did a bit of painting. We had dinner together as well, and we had a blast with the 4 of us communication in English and German, with me translating when it got to tough for one or the other to understand, as I was the only one who spoke both languages fluiently. I am certainly getting my German brushed up here on the Camino!

On To Pamplona

After a good night´s sleep, enjoying not having to sleep on the floor with lots of other people, I woke up rested as the sound of pilgrims packing their backpacks intensified. After having packed up my few belongings and getting them back in my backpack I headed out into the early morning light to find the Camino and hike the short distance in to Pamplona. It was only about 5 km, mainly along the road, so not too interesting until I reached the old part of Pamplona, and made sure not to loose the signs showing the way through the narrow streets. I found the Auberge Jesus y Maria right by the cathedral, and got my stamp, but they were not yet open, so I could not get rid of my backpack. However, I found a nice pastelleria and treated myself to a cafe con leche and a croissant. Then I asked around to find a place where I could get on-line to check emails and update my blog, etc. As I was sitting there busy writing, Margo came in - she was going to continue on to the next little town of Cizur Menor on the other side of Pamplona. I had no plans to continue on, as I wanted to give my poor knees a much-needed rest, so they would not give out on me completely, and I wanted to have a little time to check out Pamplona as well.
By the time I was done with my emails it was time to check in at the Auberge, which was situated right beside the Cathedral de Santa Maria, so it was pretty easy to find it again. The Auberge was nice and new, but very big, so it did not have the charm of the old Abbey.
I got my bunk assigned - bottom, and then proceeded to do the routine of shower, do laundry, hang it out to dry, and then headed out the check out Pamplona.
First I walked the short way over to the huge, beautiful cathedral and the museum attached to it - it was beautiful! So much to take in, and I am sure my photos will not do it justice!
By now I was getting hungry, so I started to look around for a place to have a late lunch. By some magic I stumbled on a little quaint restaurant only a short way from the Auberge, and the menu looked interesting - not that there was much on it I understood, but I decided this was the place. As I sat down the waiter brought me the menu, and it turned out it was a fixed menu with 3 courses, wine, water and bread included for €12.50, so I thought I might as well eat the Spanish way - big lunch, siesta and a light dinner or tapas. What an excellent meal it was! I had about 6 choices for all three courses, and only understanding few of the words, I did my best, and with the help of the waiter using sign language I ended up with a delicious lunch of Crepes with Spinach, Pork Tenderloin with a fabulous Roquefort sauce and a delicious rice dessert, + all the wine and water I wanted, so I was ready for siesta by the time I had finished! I sure hope my 3 musketeers had found this or an equally great plcae to eat, as I know a good meal was on their agenda for Pamplona!
After a long nap I wandered out to look at the city, now that it was coming alive with people. As all Spanish cities the streets were now bustling with life after the siesta, the cafes were full of Spaniards and tourists and on several of the plazas bands were playing. After wandering around for a while I just had a bocadilla for dinner in a small local bar close to the Auberge, I didn´t want to risk getting lost in the maze of narrow streets at night.

The Abbey at Trinidad de Arre

I was so happy I had chosen this particular refugio - it was so beautiful, and staying in the old Basilica de Arre convent righ beside the river Ulzama was really special. To get to the dormatory you had to go through the Abbey past the altar with statues of the Trinity, cross the courtyard with old fruit trees and cosy seating area - very picturesque.
As I was unpacking Margo, the American girl joined me in the women´s dormatory - I was happy to see her, and she thanked me for my advice - it was just the little nudge she needed, to make her decision to take care of herself and her body. We ended up being the only ones in the small dormatory, but the big one filled up, among others I was happy to see my German friend Dieter, from the night on the floor. He had also decided to take it easy, and not push through to Pamplona, so the 3 of us ended up having dinner together later that evening.
As I was checking out the town of Arre I met another of the pilgrims I had met earlier, back at the auberge at Orisson, Noel from Quebec, and we sat and chatted over a glass of wine in the late afternoon sun, watching the town slowly come alive, and then we walked over to the restaurant that served the pilgrim´s dinner. He joined some of his French-speaking friends, while I sat with Margo and Dieter, and we had a lovely evening talking about the Camino and life in general.

Zubiri to Trinidad del Arre

The next day I awoke to the hustling and bustling of many,many pilgrims packing up in the large gym building where we had been spending the night, many of us on the floor. I was a bit stiff, but able to get up, packed and with the backpack on, water bottles filled, moved with the others along the camino,looking for a bar that was open, so we could get a much-needed cup af warm coffee. The weather was nice, blue sky and sun, and even though my knees were giving me some trouble, I moved along first through the next village, Larrasoaña, where the streets were deserted, and you could see the left-over trash from the weekend fiesta still lying in the streets. Then through a long stretch of lovely country side, until I finally reached the village of Trinidad de Arre. As I crossed the bridge I saw an American girl sitting resting - I had seen her before, and we chatted a bit.
She was tired and a bit at odds with what she wanted to do. Stop here and rest as her body demanded, or push on to Pamplona to keep up with the friends she had made the first few days on the Camino. I told her it was important to head the signs the body gives us, and that she would no doubt make new friends along the camino. Then I crossed the bridge and was happy to have reached the lovely old Abbey where the priest greeted me warmly. Soon I was signed in, had gotten my stamp in my pilgrim´s Pass, and I was shown to a nice, small dormatory separated from the big dormatory, it was just for women, and I was the first one who had arrived, as the Abbey had just opened it´s doors for the day´s pilgrims. Obviously that meant I got a bottom bunk and could take my shower and do my laundry in peace and quiet - what a gift!

Roncesvalles to Zubiri

As the time neared 4 PM we started to line up outside the refugio building in Roncesvalles to get our bunks - and I talked with the 2 Germans - Wolfgang and Norbert - I had chatted with in Orisson the previous night. They introduced me to Peter - whom I had seen, but not spoken to the night before, and surprised him by talking Danish to him - he had not realized that I am actually Danish, so it was fun to see his surprise!
- We were among the first ones to get our beds in the huge dormitory, so I got a bottom bunk by the wall, far from the showers and toilets, but by the wall at the "dead end", so I figured it would be as quiet as one can expect with well over 100 people sleeping in one room!
After shower, laundry and nap, it was time to go for the pilgrim´s dinner and I ended up at the "French" table, but at least one of the ladies spoke some English, so we managed, and had a nice evening with good food and wine, and then I was VERY ready for bed, and slept amazingly well.
The next morning I awoke to the sound of people getting ready to hit the camino, and I got myself up and organized, and went out into the early morning light, heading west along with all the other pilgrims as the sky turned from pink to lavender and then blue!
I could feel the long walk up and down the mountains yesterday, my knees and leg muscles were sore, but after about 1/2 hour they warmed up, and it went quite well. The weather was beautiful, and it didn´t really heat up until later in the day, so the first 10 km through several small villages went fairly easy.
Around noon-time I reached the third of the villages that were close together, and contemplated staying there for the night to rest my body, but decided against it as it was still quite early, and the village not particularly inviting. So I pushed on, even though it was a +10 km commitment, as that was the distance to the next village. Little did I realize that it involved another steep decent on difficult, rocky trails! My knees were protesting, as was my entire body, and I had to take several breaks to recuperate, and I saw that I was not the only one having problems. I passed and was passed by a younger man several times, as we exchanged comments like "My knees are killing me!" "Yeah, mine too!"
As I finally reached the town of Zubiri the albergue I had hoped to stay at was full, so I dragged myself over to the refugio they directed me to, the guy I had been exchanging laments with was on the same path, and as we arrived at the next auberge we were met by chaos, and the sad tale that only floor space was available sans madrases! Well, we had no choice, since neither of us had another +17 km in us, so concrete floor in the gym of the village is was! The reason for the problem was that the next village was closed due to a fiesta, so twice as many pilgrims as usual were staying in Zubiri! As he and I walked into the big gymnasium filled with pilgrims on mattresses and on the floor I saw my two German friends and the Danish guy - they had been there early enough to at least get a matress. I was so exhausted, I just sat down and got my sleeping bag out, and got my self situated as best I could. My floor neighbor, whom I found out was German and named Dieter, got up and came back with 2 cardboard boxes - one of them for me!! How thoughtful was that! I cannot tell you how grateful I was! The three musketeers were discussing the outlook for dinner with all the people in town, and set out to find a place and make reservations - and they included me in their plans - I was so grateful once again, because I was just so tired, to the point of nausea, and there was no way I had the energy to go find a place for dinner!
I laid down on the cardboard and rested for a while, listening to the place filling up and voices and conversations in many languages. Among them Danish! A nice young Danish woman had landed a spot on the floor also, and next to her was an older Danish woman on a mattress - we had a nice chat, and later I shared the sink with the young woman to wash my clothes. - In spite of the circumstances, or maybe because of them, I had a really nice experience, and lots of fun at dinner with my 3 musketeers! They walked at a much faster pace than I, so we knew we would probably not meet up again, but we exchanged email addresses, and had a last goodnight drink, before we bid each other farewell and Buen Camino!
As I walked back to the refugio in the gym I walked into the internet room there, and met Jane, the English woman who lived in Denmark, and I remembered she had mentioned that she had not been able to figure out how to sent an email home, to let her son know she was doing fine. I asked her if she still needed to send an email, and she did, so I showed her how to do it, and she was so happy. It made me feel good to have helped someone, as I had received so much kindness today! I went to bed on my cardboard and slept amazingly well, considering the circumstances!

Getting Over The Pyrenees - Part II

Early the next morning, well before daybreak I awoke to the sound of pilgrims waking up and packing their few belongings in their backpacks - soon I followed suit, and after a quick look out the window I decided to pack down my rain jacket, as the pre-dawn sky spotted a few stars and it looked to be a clear day without rain.
After a typical French breakfast of cafe au lait, bread and jam, I put on my backpack, and started the trek up the mountains in the beautiful morning light. Clouds were lying deep in the valleys as the sun slowly climbed up over the distant mountain ridges. It was such a glorious morning, and I had to stop often, not only to catch my breath from the steep climbs, but to admire the beautiful landscape unfolding on all sides. It was a lovely, cool, windy day, perfect for the long hike over the ridge of the Pyrenees, which I had feared would be more than I could handle. It was exhausting, don´t get me wrong, but not as bad as I had feared, and the cool breeze helped a lot! I walked past herds of sheep, pastures with cattle and horses, and it was so green and lush, and the views went on for miles - just breathtaking! As soon as I have the chance I will add photos, so you can see for yourself!
Along the way I ate the hearty bocadillo I had picked up in the morning from the auberge and it tasted delicious - dried jamon (ham) and french cheese on a big, freshly-baked baguette - which would prove to be the standard lunch for most of the Camino.
After about 3 hours I reached the summit, and then the path went steeply down - very steeply, and quite rocky was the path, so I took it really slow, I could feel it was a heavy load for my knees, and I certainly did not want to slip and injure myself!
It went through lovely beech woods, and at one point I passed a bunch of people, some dressed up in old costumes from the days of the temple knights, and as I passed an ox team pulling a wagon with wooden wheels I realized I had walked right on to a movie set. I found out that they were filming a documentary about the Song Of Roland, which took place in these very mountains and woods right above Roncesvalles. I passed a pack of 4 wolves, and that´s were I got my information - a girl was watching the wolves, and she spoke English well, so I could get the story.
Soon I was out of the woods, and there in front of me was the monestary and church buildings of Roncesvalles - I had made it over the Pyrenees in one piece, and it was only about 1:45 PM - much quicker than I had tought! I even had a chance to get my bunk assignment in the big old monestary building that would house well over 100 tired pilgrims who had made the very same journey I had! Happy to have a bed secured I walked over to one of the outside cafes and had a drink with my fellow pelegrinos to celebrate!