Blog

Drawbridge, mosaic, belltower

We were able to get a bus into Pamplona. Dad was convinced that the bus would come, I was not so sure, especially since the street had plastic barricades up for a festival from the night before. The bus stop was past the barricades. As of 9am, the festival was still going! Lots of music and dancing in the hall. The bus was due at 10, so it came by at 10:20ish, and we got on. Spanish timing- they say to get to the stop 30 minutes early, and the driver may be 10 minutes early or 20 minutes late!
We came into Pamplona and went for our room. This one is in a newer area of the city, and it’s a bit far from the sights. No matter, we took a bus today. Got into Plaza del Castillo in the morning, and we ate breakfast and coffee at the Cafe Iruña. Pictures attached. We had a slice of torta, an omelette/tart with egg and potato and this one had ham and cheese in the middle. So delicious! The inside of the building is incredible with its wood moldings and details. Apparently the first bar to have electric lighting in the city. It was opened in 1888 and was a frequent haunt of Ernest Hemingway.

We walked over to the Hotel la Perla in the corner of the square, where Hemingway stayed. We looked in the windows, because it felt like we weren’t dressed for the lobby. Also, there was a man who drove up in an Aston Martin coupe right outside the door. Didn’t know you could do that!

After that, we went to the Museo de Navarre. Inside, it was free admission due to a huge renovation. The museum had several large Roman mosaics, some other items from the bronze and iron age, and some other things that were all in Spanish that I couldn’t translate! Also a room with a giant altarpiece and some artwork and organ from a local church. Now it has a cool modern art exhibit as well.

We headed to the big cathedral, which was a bit of a misadventure. We didn’t realize that it was so far from the Plaza, and with mom’s bad leg it was a fairly long walk. Then we decided to walk along the outside wall, which took even longer. Finally, we reached the cathedral entrance and, being Sunday, it was restricted for prayer. Oops. Got our stamps though. Pictures to follow.

Lunch was an entire plate of sausages for me, because I didn’t realize that it came without any sides. Mom had a basket of fried squid, and dad had a crispy chicken burger and fries. Awesome food, again.

The sign for Navarra is the marker for Spain.

Paris in the morning

This is Sheila. Long post, I was planning to do After a complete lack of sleep on our overnight flight from Montreal (turbulence), we arrived in Paris as it was still dark. Looks kind of like any other city in the dark, but we went through immigration and were out in time to catch the sunrise.
Our cab ride from the airport took us past the Arc de Triomphe and the Eiffel Tower! So, I can say that I did see Paris. Beautiful buildings everywhere! They are just like the historical buildings in Montreal and Quebec City, but everywhere you look! I don’t think we have pictures from the ride, things were moving past pretty quickly. Also, I was worried about the lane changes happening around us and all of the pedestrian traffic etc. There’s another place where I won’t be driving.

We ended up at the Montparnasse train station to head to St. Jean Pied de Port. There we had a lovely coffee and croissant with ham and cheese, with the sun streaming in behind us. While waiting for the train, a couple of Australian pilgrims saw our badges and struck up a conversation. Haven’t seen them since, but we may run into them again.

On the train, while zipping along at up to 296km/hr, we met a nice Italian man also going on the Camino. He barely spoke English, so we had a fun conversation through Google translate. We talked about his hometown in Sardinia and he shared some beautiful pictures.

Nothing much happened on the next train from Bayonne, beautiful views of the country (I think, because I slept a bit!) Dad says there were steep hills with sheep and horses. One hillside had diamond patterned terraces, from the sheep and their grazing routes.

Now in St. Jean, it was a beautiful town with terracotta roofs and white stucco. There is a picture of the first Camino marker we saw. Our auberge was small and very lovely. Lots of private rooms; there were 16 of us tourists staying. Everyone was there to walk.

Our dinner was wonderful and we’ve since run into several of these people again. Three from Canada, three from Australia, Germany, Dijon in France, Brazil, three from the US, another two from France…can’t remember all of the places. The dinner itself was an experience. Our hosts were very knowledgeable and had walked the Camino before. They had some ice breaker activities as we were getting to know each other. That helped. On the long table in the tiny patio we had pea soup and bread, and a vegetarian curry with various salads. We were squished in pretty tightly, but it was a fun time.

The next day, the angels of the house woke us up at 6:30. Beautiful Choral music drifted up the stairs to us for a gentle awakening. Breakfast was coffee, hardboiled eggs, toast, and fresh orange juice. Just the thing to keep us going for a full day of hiking.

Did I mention it was a full day?? By that, I mean we hiked 27km in 11.5 hours! We took the hardest part and didn’t get the chance to break it up, due to a lack of accommodation in the mountains. So, we had to wind our way and climb a pass through the Pyrenees. We went from St. Jean elevation of 200 meters up to the highest point around 1450 meters. In some sections I was ready to grab the nearest sheep for a ride to the top. It was so windy up there too, probably 70km winds trying to blow us off the trail.

That was the hard 21km, and then we were rewarded with the downhill 5km distance into Roncesvalles. It was down a steep rock incline, maybe a washed out logging road. Full of sharp rocks and tree roots to dodge the whole way down. Somewhere in the forest, it was getting near 7pm, and I was not sure if we would make our reservation in Roncesvalles. I went on ahead at this point to at least get us set up with the beds. On the way, I had many an internal crisis thinking about mom’s sore knee and their lack of water and food. I knew they were not too far behind me but I was concerned about not being in contact. I did manage to get the beds and found out that we could still make dinner at 8:30.

I had checked in, refilled my water, shoes off and bag put away. Then I went out to walk the trail back and find my parents, when I saw them at the last gate coming into town. Thankfully the converted monastery we stayed in is the very first building in town. It had 2 bunks per pod, and about 200 beds per floor, 3 floors total. I was expecting Harry Potter-style dining in a noisy hall, however they had us dine at the Casa Sabina instead. There were tables of 2 to 8 set up in a small dining room. Really nice choice of chicken or fish dinner. There was a full bottle of wine placed on our table, for just the three of us. Gratis.

We woke up to a Gregorian chant at 6ish, and had to be up and packed and out the door for 8. Breakfast was lovely, toast with ham and cheese, butter, jam, nice coffee and fresh orange juice, an apple, and a dessert. On to the walking. We only went for about 5km to a little town called Burguete-Auritz, and we tried to get a room but were turned away a couple of times before the third place asked us to come back for check-in at 2. It was about 11. There wasn’t much to do but wander and look at the buildings. We had coffee and a pastry at a little breakfast place.

Our albergue was a bed and breakfast run by one man. We had two rooms, with our own bathrooms. This was a major luxury after the first two hostels. No waiting for others to finish showering. We also had a 12pm checkout which was so nice!

So today, mom woke up with a problem on her other leg. Her left has a meniscus strain, and it’s doing fine with some KT tape. Today her right has a blood clot from a bruise that happened back in Canada two weeks before we left.

We learned about the incredible Spanish medical system. No line in this tiniest town ever, and she was seen and out the door in 25 minutes. Luckily it’s just a surface clot and all that’s recommended are anti-inflammatories and rest. So we spent almost a full day trying to get a ride to the next town outside of Zubiri called Larrasoaña. What turned out to be the only cab company in the area had us wait until 4pm for a pickup. We tried for the bus, which is now on the winter schedule with one morning trip per day, so we definitely missed that.

We hung out at the lovely Bar de Fronton in the town square and saw lots of traffic going by. It was fun watching small cars dive into lane ways to allow the hay trucks through the narrow street. Around 1:30 we went for a short walk, looked in the beautiful church, and wandered down the road. Then a taxi stopped a couple on the other side of the road to ask if they were going to Larrasoaña. He found us early! So we hopped in and took a very windy ride through hairpin turns and mountains to the next little town.

Here in Larrasoaña, we have a 6 bed dorm that is just for the three of us. Wonderful meal tonight, the menu de peregrinos was a pinxto of a local sausage, vegetable stew and bread, wonderful meatballs, more bread and another jug of wine followed by a chocolate cake for dessert.

It’s now 9pm, and I’ve written enough to get you all caught up. Tomorrow we will try to get the bus to Pamplona, or another taxi. We’ll be there for 2 days, and if we need to transit again, there will be a lot more options. My bits of Spanish are working ok for me, and where that fails, the phone works. I need to learn more though. Ok goodnight!
Sheila

Leaving Victoria at 6:30.