Today we walked from Zubiri to Pamplona, a city famous for Ernst Hemingway and bull fights. We departed at 8 AM. The church bells rang just as we stepped outside Txantxorena Guest House.
We met many other pilgrims on our walk today. Lil did a much better job of initiating conversations with the people we meet. At breakfast we met David from Berea, Kentucky. He told us that he
worked at a college that was totally tuition free - if you can get into Berea, it won't cost you anything! Apparently it is an arts/crafts college - I guess that means you learn about painting, quilting, candle making?? At breakfast
we also saw Patrick from Ireland - previously we saw him on the train ride into St. Jean Pied de Port.
Once we were on the Camino, we met Nancy from the Bay Area again, third day in a row, and her new friend Karla from Sacramento. Also walked awhile with Steve and C.P. from Canberra Australia.
I was impressed with our pace, thinking friendly conversation with the Aussies was making the miles fly by - and then Steve said he needed to stretch his legs and they left us behind like the roadrunner dusts Wile E. Coyote. Those
Australians can really move!
Climbed up a hill to the small town of Akerreta. We took off the long layers of clothing and put on sunscreen. We read a sign that this was the town for the shooting of the movie "The Way" with Martin Sheen.
We stopped for a lunch break and talked to Gavin and Julie from Calgary. They are retired teachers. Also at the lunch stop we saw Karla there again, and met Eileen from East Bay Area.
Also at lunch was Thomas, a young man from Philadelphia who is studying philosophy at Ave Maria University in Florida. He spent a month in Pamplona studying and is writing a dissertation on why we should still study Philosophy in the age of AI. He was nursing a blister on a toe when we arrived.
As we walked along, Katherine from Cork Ireland saw the rosary in Lil’s hand and announced she had a gift of a small bottle of holy water from a shrine in Ireland for her.
I think I am forgetting some people we met. We say hi to all the hikers but if they don’t speak English so there’s not much more than a smile and a wave. If we were going all 33 stages, I could see how real friendships could form.
I think we are moving with the population of other late-starting, slow walkers, which is still a lot of pilgrims. I think there is another population of fit, fast walkers who start early and are always ahead of us and thus we will never meet them.
Pilgrims who don't have confirmed reservations race ahead to get to the next stop as quick as possible so that they can get a place to stay for the night.
When we reach Pamplona, the official Camino route goes through city streets of the suburbs before reaching the heart of the city. However, there is an alternate, shady path through parks besides the
river that we took instead. Greener and nicer!
Hotel Europa Pamplona turned out to be a pretty nice place. It probably uncommon for sweaty, dusty pilgrims to go tramping through their lobby. Perhaps there was a formal party going on, because we saw people
dressed in evening gowns and suits.
Despite the fact that Pamplona is a major city, we could not find any restaurant serving food before 7 PM. Checking the web for open restaurants wasn't helpful - Google showed that they were open, but they
were not serving anything but alcohol and appetizers. We must have looked like hungry Americans because at some restaurants, as soon as we stepped in they told us "No dinner!" We finally ended up purchasing ready-made salads from a grocery store
and eating those for dinner (along with some chips and a jar of olives).
The central square was full of activity because it was the finish line for an ongoing triathlon. We saw athletes in the colors of their countries come running in, apparently at the end of their marathon. TV screens
around the square showed some contestants still riding their bikes. We manuevered our way around the race and did some sightseeing in Pamplona.
Still Photographs
