The pilgrims breakfast provided is usually just a couple pieces of bread with butter and jam with one cup of coffee. No free refills. But, once you get down the road there are cafes to stop at that have more stuff. Nothing super fancy. Usually more bread products.
The church bell was pealing for the 8 o’clock hour just as we emerged from under the gate to the monastery. It was a cool day to begin our Camino. The sun hadn’t yet made it over the top of the mountain, but we could see sunlight in the distance. We walked along a beautiful path thru the forest for quite some time. Came thru some beautiful little villages with white houses and window boxes full of flowers. Houses with nice gardens growing all sorts of vegetables.
Our first break came at exacty 2 hours after we started. Several of the other peregrinos had already stopped, so we took our packs off and had a cup of coffee.
We’ve been told over and over again by various people that the Camino is quiet this year. And we are always met with surprise when we say we are from the States. Eyebrows raise up and they ask us, conspiratorially, how we got in. We all have UK passports, and quarantined for 2 weeks in London before we set out. They smile and bid us “Buen Camino”. Most people speak a little bit of English. Dominic, the English professor from France, who was ending his Camino in Pamplona as he started just south of Lyon, France, and had already walked 750 km, was happy to have a beer and chat with us.
Mostly you pass people, they then pass you. It’s all very pleasant and we’ve gotten very chatty with them, in our broken Spanish, German, French and their much better English. We really need to teach our kids a foreign language so that they know it WELL.
The first day is all about learning. Learning your equipment and what works and what needs to be adjusted. Do you use your trekking poles or not. Yes, in my case for most of the time. It really does take off some of the strain to one’s feet. Also, learning what food is going to work for you, and what you need to buy in Pamplona. Like bug spray. Big bloody horseflies that bite are the bane of our existence for most of the day.
At noon we stopped again. Said hello to the other pilgrims on the road. I ate a sandwich with one slice of ibérica ham and cheese. Bill and Bruce ate nothing. I was shocked, because I was starving, but they told me they were looking for a better place. Unfortunately, nothing came up. Buy the time we got into Zubiri, we were all starving. Lessened learned. We ended up buying fruit and snacks for the trek the following day.
Our trek from Roncesvalles to Zubiri was loaded with tough uphills and really tough downhills. Downhills on scrabbly shale that slipped and slid from underneath us. Thankfully we came upon a food truck as we crossed the highway. I had a beer hoping that it would dull the pain in my feet from the gravel that was a good 2 inches in diameter. Basically, the gravel sucked. With a capital S.
Next to the “menu” of the food truck was this bin:
We were exhausted by the time we got to our 1600’s barn. We showered, and laid around for about an hour before we went off searching for some food. We all had a nice dinner and headed off to bed around 8:30.
10 Sep 2020 ~ 31,207 steps ~ 13 miles ~ Sunny 84º F
Wow, what a beautiful adventure!!