Our host handed us our breakfast bags last night.  Tearing into it this morning I found a juice box, ham sandwich, banana, and a token for a cappuccino from the machine.  Scarfed all that down while Joe was getting ready.   He is definitely hurting today.  

Church bells started their annoying 15 minute ringing thing promptly at 7:00.  I had a chance to chat a bit with our host about that topic.  He said it used to ring like that all night long.  Folks in the neighborhood complained about it for years until the current compromise was reached.  

Joe wants to be alone in his pain today, so I took off alone.  It will be raining on/off today with high in the 60’s F.   The topogrophy is noticeably changing.  Mostly low rolling hills and a lot more grape vines and larger files of wheat, oats, barely, and hay.  

I became fascinated by this building looming out of the mist in the middle of nowhere.  For some reason imagined it to be a super secret biotech research facility.  In reality, it is probably just some kind of packing house.  The thing I don’t get is that giant 30’ tall by 50’ wide opening to the hillside.   It looks like a loading dock, but there is no vehicle I could imagine that could reach the floor of the thing. 

I was hiking along passing folks all morning.  Walked up on my favorite grumpy Dutch lady, Tia.  I popped out the ear buds and slowed my pace for a bit to chat.  First thing she said was that I did not snore loudly last night.   She did complain Joe’s volume.  

Tia has had an interesting life.  She was born in Holland, then moved to California at 5 years of age.  She grew up there and was 2 years into her degree at Davis when her Mom moved back to Holland due to a divorce.  She followed, never completing her degree.  She felt like it put her on the back foot in credential obsessed Holland.

We talked about how Dutch public housing works, apparently she and her husband have rented all their lives as part of a public/private association that purchases apartment buildings, renovates them, then makes them available to its members under a strict rent control.  What you pay and whether you even qualify is dependent on your income, number of kids, expenses, type of work, and a million other factors.  She was clearly some kind of social worker which gave her some extra benefits in this scenario.  She raised a family, is intelligent, productive, happy, and feels secure….so there are clearly merits to the system.  I’ll have to read up on this someday. 

It was time to pick up the pace, so at a pause in the conversation, I gave her a “Buen Camino” and left behind my lovable little opinionated Dutch lady.  Next up was a little town conforming to the pattern seen in most towns in this region.  An old mill by the river, ancient water drainage, and a church.  Always a church.  

Next on the menu was a small city Estella.  I bumped into Joe here, munching away on his breakfast sandwich.  We hiked for a bit together through town.  I was starving, but really didn’t want to stop at some cafe.  Instead I separated from Joe at a gas station on the edge of town and bought a tuna sandwich, pringles, and a bag of chips.  OMG it was soooo good.  I ate it outside in the doorway sheltered from the rain like a homeless tramp.  The people gassing up their cars looked at me with a mixture of disdain and pity.  

Walking through the suburbs of the town, I saw these two old lanky guys pointing and waving at a tourist map posted on a wall.  Stopped to see what the ruckus was all about and met Bill and Brian from Southern England.  These guys never stop talking and virtually everything they say is funny. 

Brian (I think) has hiked the Camino before and is introducing his good friend Bill (I think) to it.  Or it might be Bill is introducing Brian to it.  Hard to keep those two straight.  Anyway, we walked together for a bit talking about prince Andrew’s dalliances, Henry being pussy whipped, and Trump’s appalling lack of protocol with the King.  God these guys were hilarious.  

The best part was that we walked up on a famous stop where the Monks supply 100 liters of wine every day for Pilgrims. They have a webcam setup so you can watch the party on the internet.  The tap is on the wall next to the Abbey.  Brian (or Bill?) was going on about last time he was here, there was an Australian who couldn’t believe his luck.  The guy had already been there for hours drinking from the tap, phoning his friends, and dancing for the webcam.   

Honestly, the wine wasn’t that bad.  I slurped up a bunch while the boys took a couple photos for me.  

Saw this dog doing his zoomies in the field.  Sorry for the poor camera work. 

Zooming

Arrived at Villa de Monjardin a little behind Joe.  We got checked in and stuffed in a top floor room of 10+ hikers.  Dominic was there next to us and I met a tall German dude named Andres who is pretty cool.  Andre said we had met briefly in the Pyrenees, but I honestly didn’t recall.  So many faces.  

Our biggest problem at this point is that we’ve no where to stay tomorrow.   We didn’t know how Joe would do in the coming days given his injury, so had not planned a destination.  Now it haunts us.  Joe finally got a message back from an Albergue in Samsol (20km ahead), they’ve one bed available which obviously should go to him.  I figure worse case I’ll do a 40 to Logrono then we hook up the next day.  

Today we are going bigly.  32km so we will be doing a 20 mile day.  I finished packing early so I went down in the common area to get some coffee and tease Kiera.   She bought a bunch of crap last night wondering the streets and now she is trying to give it away because it is too heavy.   Joe and I had some tasty coconut coated nut thing.  

Today’s weather starts at 50 and continues warming all day to 70’s by 4:00. Ventusky says we will be hitting rain blobs in the morning.  It rained hard last night, so another day of slippery trail.  

I took this pic while chatting with Alice. 

The first half hour of the hike was basically just getting out of town.  Pamplona is not a small place.  Once on the trail, it began a long gradual climb which we topped around 10:30.  

Our morning walk was basically a series of reunions with folks we have hiked with in the past.  First we bumped into Dale who hung out with us until his coffee break.  Dale is carrying his camp stove and he likes to stop at nice spots to brew a cup. I like his style, but we’ve work to do.  

Next up was Maria, a middle aged German gal who spent most of her life in shitty countries coordinating humanitarian aid.  She’s a little on the chubby side so the hill climbs hit her hard.   No doubt she will finish and likely be much thinner.  She is a determined gal.  She shared a few stories of her time in Afghanistan, Uzbekistan, Ethiopia, and the rest.  Seems she spent a lot of time in front of soulless bureaucrats which sounds as bad as hanging out with the impoverished.  

As Maria faded into the background, I bumped into several more recognizable folks.  Made a little small talk with them, then concentrated on the climb.  

Reaching the top of the climb, I could better see the topology of the Pamplona area.  The city resides in a huge, shallow valley collecting runoff from hills that completely surround it.  

Big Joe was there for the selfie

 

After the climb comes the decent which wasn’t bad, but plenty of slick spots.  The rain thing was disappointing, just a few drops.  Walking a lane to a tiny town call Cizur Menor, I saw this white cat strolling the opposite direction on the left side.   She casually strolled past a group of hikers then made a beeline for me, stopping at my feet and looking up.  Pets.  This cat must do her rounds every morning picking out hikers for pets.  Sorry I pic.

Joe and I finally got hungry and had an awesome Pilgrim’s Plate in Puente la Reina.  Salad, veal, fries, and flan washed down with cheap beer.  Fueled up, we did the last 4k to Cirauqui.  

We walked together for a bit, then I jumped off trail to check out a small side route to the ruins of the Monastery of Bargota.   That is a lot of words for what turned out to be a pile of rocks.   Here are the spectacular ruins 

Back on the road. Got a pic of Cirauqui from the distance.  The place is built on a hill.  Inside town it was a big climb to the hostel which was located near the top.  Next to a church.   Cool hostel, nice dude running it.  

Once we got settled, I ran off to the pharmacia to get Joe some KT tape and cold packs.  He had a slip yesterday and it seems that he has a case of shine splints on one leg.   I had a bad case on the PCT and it took me out for a week.  I could barely walk.   Hoping his is not so bad.  

The hostel dinner was the usual, salad, bean soup, bread, and endless wine.  Got to know a few new folks: Tia (Dutch), Dominic (young Swiss dude), and a few other characters.  

Tia is full of opinions which she loves to share.   I, of course, enjoy provoking her.   She was complaining about not getting enough sleep last night due to snoring people.  She said something like “if a person snores, they should book a private room”.  I told her my reputation.  Tonight she is in our room together with 14+ people.  I am 5 feet from her, ready to share my special lullaby.  

After dinner, Joe was chilling and I was writing.   This church bell rings every 15 minutes.  Wtf.  It finally stopped at 9 I think. 

Morning time in Urdaniz had everyone up early dressing and chatting.   Our host had a sort of breakfast for us which was basically OJ, coffee, and bread with spread.  Everyone likes strawberry and no one seems to pick peach.   I arrived a little late and nearly got stuck with the peach pile. 

Some of the folks wanted a pic with our host.  I took one the same time…. Didn’t feel like doing my own setup.  

It was a misty, drizzly morning.   We started with rain gear, but really was not necessary.   The overcast skies kept the temps down.  The trailed was muddy / wet and slick in places.  My feet slide out twice, but caught it before a spill.

Joe and I hiked with the Nick-meister for a while.   We got a good photo in  Basque Country.  Then Joe stepped ahead while Nick and I chatted for a couple hours.   Nick has a Maths background who used his skills in finance early in his career.   I didn’t ask, but I’m guessing he made a decent amount of money during that phase which allows him to pursue other, less/barely profitable businesses such as brewing.   We talked British politics, the structure of the British tax system, European integration challenges, Brexit, and various European trails.   

I learned that Slovakia has some of the best primitive hiking in Europe.  I still have 2 weeks after the Camino to spend.   Maybe a visit to Slovakia is in my future?  Isn’t that where Melania is from ?    

 

Around 10:30, Nick decided to take a little break.  I wanted to press on.  Firstly because I don’t want to overstay my welcome.  Secondly, and more importantly, I need to catch up a bit with Joe.  I left Nick with a Jolly Rancher and a fist bump.   

 

Trail began to dry out.   It was a nice single track through the country side.   After a bit of of a climb I bumped into a lady selling fresh squeezed OJ and bananas.  OJ was 3 euro.   Kind of expensive, but man it was good.   3 gulps and empty cup.   Kiera showed up and we chatted for a bit, then I took off while she worked on her banana.  

Arriving into the outskirts of Pamplona,  Kiera caught up and we chit chatted for a bit.  She is from somewhere near Liverpool, has 4 kids, and a husband who has meticulously planned her Camino.   He had done it himself a few years ago.   Poor Kiera is dealing with the Gen Z problem.   Her two late twenties boys have returned home after college and seem to be far too comfortable for her tastes.  Her girls are college age.   I think her biggest worry is that she will retire with 4 kids still in the house, haha.   

Carol mentioned last night that once entering Pamplona, she typically leaves the Camino and follows a municipal trail by the river.  I split with Kiera and, after getting stuck in dead ends a couple times, found the river and walked it.  It was pretty cool.   There were these puffy seed pods flying all over the place thick as snow.   Got a pic. 

Passed a cute little wannabe whitewater kayaking club.  They would enter the top in little groups then go over the waterfall screaming.  Good fun.

Apparently, Pamplona is where they do the running of the bulls every year.  Joe and I were admiring the stadium.  There are just 8 days of bull fighting every year.  Guess it is a big dealio.  

We got settled into the hostel and went off in search of a late lunch.  Our goal was Bang Bang noodle (closed), so we landed at a Korean BBQ place.   Korean bbq style has a cooker at the table onto which you plop your meats and vegetables.  Our instructor showed us how to operate the grill and how to order from an iPad which had a (ridiculously large) set of options.   For 20 euro, all you can eat.  

The dude left us and Joe and I started pressing buttons on the iPad.  Some of this, some of that.   Up to ten items per round after which we had to wait 5 minutes before ordering up to ten more.  Things began to arrive, stuff was getting dropped on the stove, all good.  

Somewhere in the middle of this, we start getting stuff we clearly didn’t intend order.  The guys came out and showed our order history to prove us wrong.  Fine, we will eat it.  Then 2 giant ultra hot bowls arrive filled with rice, chicken, random bits, and raw egg on top.  Part of the delivery is the guy works the bowl heating the contents and cooking the egg as it is mixed.  Joe and I are not a fan of the egg. We both just kind of looked at our bowls in shock.  

We finally figured out our error, we were pressing the “add” button for the adjacent item because their screen layout was confusing. We correct our error and order some more stuff that we actually want.  Meanwhile our host tells us that if we don’t eat a dish, they will charge us separately for it.  I go to work on my nasty gooy egg chicken rice and finish enough to satisfy my host.  Joe does not succeed in consuming his bowl.  The host frowns and hands it back to him.  Poor Joe.  He keeps choking it down until the guy finally relents.  

A bunch of stuff arrives that we got correct on the second round.  Various beef, vegetables, and squid.   Only now, we are full.  If we eat it, the bill is 20 euro.  If we don’t, it will be 40, 50, who knows. So we just sit there.  Hoping to digest out enough room to eat a second full meal.  The people keep coming by trying to put the food on grill for us.  The pressure is on.  

Eventually we fry up enough stuff to pass the test and the story ends with 20 per head.  Joe and I waddle out of the restaurant, arrive at the hostel and soon fall into a food coma.   We will not be hungry until noon the following day. 

 

 

Had a good night’s sleep.   Our room of 4 had only Joe and me.   In the morning we got our stuff together and had some free toast, jelly, and coffee.  Out on the street, it was a parade of hikers walking by.  We joined in. 

The trail out of town was mostly paved and easy walking for the first km or so.   I chatted with a retired dude from Virginia for a bit until the trail turned rocky and started climbing.   My Virginian’s pace slowed and we split.  Didn’t get his name, or more to the point, I didn’t chat long enough for it to stick.   

Was a fairly easy trek today, just a bit of ups/downs, then over the pass of Erro and 5km downhill to Zubiri.  About a 300m drop.  I didn’t really chat with many peeps today on the trail.   Joe and I were fairly close together during most of it, we would exchange leads occasionally but generally hiked solo.   

We were passing a ton of people today.  Bumped into Dale sitting in the dirt next to a German gal I had chatted with previously.  We caught up for a bit then started hiking together, but our pace was a little aggressive for those folks and we left them behind. 

By the time we reached Zubiri, it was lunch time.  Not many options, we found a small pub with outdoor seating in the road/parking lot.  A chubby retired French dude offered us half of his table.  Other pilgrims filled up the remaining 2 tables and flooded the indoor seating as well.  

Our chubby friend looked and acted like Tom Smykowski from Office Space.  He knew little English and, it seemed, very little Spanish.  However, he really wanted to talk.   Between Joe’s wannabe French, his wannabe English, and my arm waving, we managed to communicate, well, very little.  We did discover he is related to a famous 19th century US philosopher.  To be honest, most of time I was replaying scenes from Office Space in my head with this guy’s mug overlayed on it.  It passed the time. 

Joe and I ordered hamburguesa which was definitely not the American version.   It had a small patty on a giant bun covered with squishy bacon, a fried egg, bunch of lettuce and a tomato.  Tried to eat it by hand, but it sort of fragmented into its component parts and I resorted to knife and fork.  Joe attempted to master the hamburguesa with two hands and big bites.  Various juices oozed all over his plate, table, and I think his shorts.   Tom Sykowski clearly thought that was pretty funny.     

We bid our good buddy Tom goodbye and hiked a short 3km to Urdaniz.   Our stay tonight is a residence which has converted the large downstairs area into a ~12 person hostel.  This is the first place that had PCT vibes to it.   Our host showed us around and only spoke Spanish.  Joe and I did our best to keep up with his rapid fire delivery.   We figured out the important bits and got settled.  

We were assigned a bunk bed in a room for a total of 8.  The owner told us a group was coming in shortly to occupy the other spots.  We took a shower, changed clothes and lounged around for a while.  Most of our bunk mates showed up in the form of 5 (American) women.  The owner starts going through his rapid fire instructions and they clearly get overwhelmed.  In his early instructions he tell them they can wash their clothes in a sink that he points to, then tells them to remove their shoes and store them next to the sink before walking inside.  Somehow that gets interpreted as “take off your shoes and wash your hands.”  One by one, each removes their shoes and washes their hands in the clothes-washing-sink while he looks on in exasperation.   A Spanish speaking guy next to me tells me what’s going on and can’t stop laughing.  

Joe was get a few zzz’s when the cloud of females begin taking over our room.  I stayed in the common area and got to know Nick while typing stuff for this blog.  Joe joined us shortly after being female bombed.   He either wanted to see me or he didn’t want to see them.    

Nick is a British guy I met briefly yesterday.  He hikes by day and works into the evening on his laptop.  Nick has a financial consulting background who also runs a craft brewery and some other business I forgot.  He is one of those folks who is fascinated with business, economics, archeology, (and who knows what else) coupled with an insatiable wanderlust that takes him on hikes all over the place,  Definitely my kind of guy.   

Over dinner we reunite with our Canadian friends from our first night, Carol and Heather. They’ve been doing well.   They both share some route and lodging suggestions since they’ve done the trail before.  Som of our new gals join us for dinner together with Nick and another dude.    Dinner was an awesome salad, roasted chicken and spuds, and an ice cream bar for dessert.   Several bottles of a tasty local wine that the owner calls “grape juice” are passed around.  

We all crowd into bed and folks get to experience a top-snore performance from me.  Frankly, Joe was sharing some decent snores too, but they all agreed I was much worse.  Sorry.  

 

We had a little free breakfast, grabbed our 4 euro ready made sandwiches, and headed uphill.   Today is a long climb from 800m to 1400m+, then a rather steep decent to Burguete which is at 900m.  Peak was 1430m, approximately 4700 feet.   

It was a wonderful climb.  We were hiking through fog for most of the climb so nice and cool.  This is mostly pasture land.  I saw mostly horses and cattle who free range graze the land. All the animals had numbered ear tags.  All very organized and European.   

 

The grazing land is lush.  There some kind of weird bumps in the terrain, like the hills have measles or something.   Joe, Dale, and I were guessing it might be ground hogs/marmots/whatever the Europeans call them.   

Speaking of Dale, he is from Michigan and hiking this for the first time.  Dale did the Appalachian Trail 9 years ago when he turned 60.  He’s a tall, lanky dude with a great disposition and fun to talk to.   One of those guys who can combine intelligence, wit, and experience without getting all preachy.  Mostly he just seems to be permanently amused with humanity.  My kind of guy.  

IMG_4411

Some enterprising French person drove his van up the hill and setup a snack stand with fruit, coffee, etc.   I passed that with a chuckle (everyone else was stopping).   Joe and Dale had gotten ahead of me and by the time I caught up with Joe, Dale had disappeared.   Apparently the pull of coffee was too strong, he had stopped at the van.  

Joe and I kept the hammer down on the climb, reaching the top around 11 or 12.  Nice little bench there, so we munched on our ham and cheese baguette and ignored some gal who didn’t want to talk to us.   The view was beautiful.   I’ll have a picture sometime, after I figure out how to upload them to the site 🙂 .  

From here it was basically straight down the hill.  Joe generally hikes with his poles all the time, but I try to keep it 50/50.   On the downhill stretch it was all poles for me.  I need to take the load off my knees.   Somewhere, halfway down, we encountered a split in the trail that our counselor said we should take an easier road route. He said there were dangerous drop offs or something like that.  I had tried to quiz him a little more deeply about it at the time, I suspected he was giving us the pussy pilgrim route.  Well, somehow Joe and I wound up taking it anyway.  We did not die. 

Bottom of the hill, we headed into town for our hostel.   Arrived at 1:00, but nobody home till 3:00.   We found some chairs in the garden area an made ourselves comfy.  As they opened it started to rain.   heh.   Dodged that bullet.  

I was climbing the stairs and called out to Joe if he was ready for dinner.   Instead some Dutch dude named Alex answered “yes”.   So we had dinner with Alex, who turns out is a total crackup.   35, IT manager for the Dutch government who wants to maximize his days off.   That guys has plenty of good stories from various misadventures.  One of his highlights was getting super drunk in Thailand, then getting kicked in the balls by a trans person he was comparing hand sizes with.  My dude. 

So we are back at the hostel, Joe is asleep, and I am writing.  Hanging out with my work buddy Nick.  Nick is busy managing his businesses by night and hiking the Camino by day.  Looking forward to tomorrow.   Both Joe and I agree that our pace will be picking up soon !