I wasn’t as sore as I anticipated when I got out of bed. The only parts of my body that were talking to me were my hip flexors, or the very top of my thighs. The first step up some stairs told me that it might be a very long day. We had another 13 miles to go today. But, it shouldn’t be as difficult with the ups and downs as it was yesterday. We hoped, at least.
We crossed over the same “rabies” bridge we entered from just as the church bells told us it was 8 o’clock. The legend says that if you walk your animals three times under the center arch in the river, your animals won’t get rabies. Somehow I don’t see my cat liking that idea very much. My brothers are the the only other animals with me. And I’m pretty sure they won’t get rabies.
And, of course. We immediately started up a hill. 😩 But, it wasn’t long before we were on a nice paved road next to the magnesium plant. Good and bad. Take your choice. Then came the best path of the day, which was dried out grass shavings. Super soft and cushy. However, that only lasted for about 100 meters. Oh well.
We saw several different colors of slugs along the way. We had been following a nice stream. Several points along that stream you could see some of our fellow peregrinos bathing, or cooling off. Or both. It would have been perfect to stick our tired, aching feet in after a long day. But we were just starting. And putting dry socks on wet feet isn’t that easy.
The trails weren’t as bad as the day before, but we still had that crappy gravel to walk down in several stretches. We did a lot of road walking, which for our tired feet, wasn’t that horrible. The only annoying thing was the tap, tap, tap of my metal tipped walking sticks. I needed to get some rubber covers.
We stopped around 11am at a cute village with all of 4 buildings for a second breakfast. This stop was excellent. Bill had the ham and cheese sandwich. Bruce and I had some type of frittata. His was spinach, and mine was zucchini. And we all had coffee. There were several kittens hanging around and some chickens. At one point Bruce was eating some bread. He put his hand holding the bread in his lap and it got stolen by some very aggressive chickens. 😂
Toward the end of the day, it was starting to get really hot. And I had a small blister starting to form. So, I found a small copse of trees that conveniently had a bench and took off my pack. But, when I put my pack down, my poles fell and I got tripped up and somehow ended up with a gash on my leg. So I had two things to tend to; my blister and my bleeding leg.
We finally made it to Pamplona. Whew. Hot. Tired. And in my case, very grumpy. It didn’t help that the VRBO owner’s ringer was off on his phone, and we sat outside the apartment for about an hour before the housekeeper showed up to let us in. Thankfully there was a bar right next to where we were waiting and we all had a beer. That helped improve my mood a lot.
It was fairly quiet in the streets when we arrived at 3:13pm. Lots of stores were closed. Not sure if it was a siesta thing, or a COVID thing. We are never quite sure.
The first thing we did was shower and toss in some laundry. It was one appliance, in the kitchen. I think it was one of those combo washer/dryer things that we don’t have in the US. It took me 15 minutes and several YouTube videos to figure out how to turn it on. I figured it was best to hang our clothes to dry. You know. The old fashioned way.
The evening livened things up and people were out socializing, from a distance and with masks. Some just walking their dogs, or children. Some drinking or eating out at the restaurants. The atmosphere was great. But,the food not so much. We were in the major tourist area, so that’s not so surprising. We will look for better food tomorrow.
Our morning in Pamplona started out at the Cathedral which was right around the corner. We needed to get our stamps in our Peregrino Passport. Normally the hostels we stay in will stamp them upon arrival. But, we were in a VRBO so we had to find a place that had a stamp. The Cathedral has an amazing interior with all sorts of gold things. And a pretty interesting museum.
We wandered around for a bit and came across a store that caters exclusively to Peregrinos walking the Camino. One can purchase all sorts of individual things: safety pins, hair clips, socks, sandals, rain jackets, shells, pins, etc. This is where I got some rubber tips for my walking poles.
Bill and I had been in Pamplona some time back to run with the bulls. There were about ten of us on the trip. All family. My sister-in-law and I watched. From up high. Away from the bulls. And drunk people. Anyway, we wandered around and showed Bruce where the bulls start from and explained how it all worked. Sadly, many of the stores were closed along the route. This, I think, is directly related to COVID.
We had been eating a lot of meat, and bread, since that seems to be what people eat here. Bruce found a vegetarian restaurant. So, we ate at the only vegetarian restaurant in Pamplona. It was super tasty. And nice to have some veggies.
We promptly came back to the apartment for a nap. Well, they napped. I am currently updating this blog. And repacking. Getting rid of some extra things that I haven’t used. I brought way too much sanitizing gel. It’s very prevalent here. I only need a small bottle that I can replace when it empties.
Tomorrow we are off to Uterga. A slightly shorter distance than the last two days.
By the way, there are bonus photos posted on instagram @alhitstheroad
11 Sep 2020 ~ 31,688 steps ~ 13 miles ~ 84º F
