Pamplona, just the word is a poem in its own right. San Fermín, the running of the bulls, Hemingway and the myriad pinchos bars with their culinary delights. All this was our goal for the day. We had a great sleep in Zubiri and had a light breakfast at the local bar.
The trail was cold on a crystal clear morning. We ran into Mads and Mikael, Karen, Siobhan and Alice as we made our way along the valley. James suggested we grab a cafe con leche at Larrosoana. The village was so quiet and we were not sure that we would find the cafe. But eventually we found Amari and it’s welcoming host. Also there were Donna, Jaz and Sam, our Newcastle friends. We enjoyed a warm coffee as we received some advice about asking for the best beer, Cana, not cerveza.
The Way followed the river down the valley where James and I met Ishaia from Israel. What a lovely fellow! James and he talked about their favourite computer games and soccer teams as we tried to explain what Aussie Rules football was – a massive field, fast and skilful ball movement and the best sport on the planet. I’m not sure we got him signed up as a Geelong Cats member, but give it time and he’ll be wearing the hoops and loving the Catters.
As the day went on, it got much warmer and we took a couple of opportunities to recline in the sun. We met up with Evalina from Estonia and had a great conversation about the world as well as gaining an insight into life in her country. She expressed a deep desire to want to help the environment, ideally she’d like to do a masters in environmental psychology, but also her frustration at not knowing how to make a difference.
We also caught up with Donna, Jaz and Sam on numerous occasions, always a delight as they are the loveliest people.
I may have mentioned this before, but Donna lives in St James Road (the Camino De Santiago) about 150m from where James lives with his mum. Sam and Jaz have lived in Berlin for the last 5 years, but are planning to return to Australia soon. They’ll leave Donna in 2 days. Donna will keep walking whilst they return to prepare for the next exciting phase of their life.
Once we hit the outskirts of Pamplona, we still had 4.5km to get to the centre and our room at Albergue Plaza Catedral. It was the toughest part of the day as we were there, but not there. The city was lovely, but it was also flat, the worst type of walking for your feet. Eventually we crossed the river, made our way through the old city walls, across the drawbridge and into the old city.
We headed straight to a bar for a Cana and some pinchos, both divine. Our Albergue is just opposite the cathedral and the bells toll the hours and times in between. It’s quite lovely. At 4:00 we headed out to sort our mobile phones and do some shopping. Pamplona is a beautiful city. I can only imagine what it would be like during San Fermin.
Cafe Iruña is famous as not only an Art Deco masterpiece, but the cafe frequented by Ernest Hemingway. As we waited for our drinks, we had the pleasant surprise of seeing Rebecca and Mary Ann, our bunk buddies from Roncesvalles. We had a wonderful afternoon trading stories, they are such lovely people. They have planned to have a rest day in Pamplona tomorrow. We hope to see them on the way again soon .
From there, we headed to the pinchos Street, C. San Nicholas. We enjoyed anchovies, olives, chorizo, prawns, octopus, beef, jamón. It was unbelievably good food. We ran into Simone and Anthony from England and had a great chat. Anthony is walking to raise money for a cancer charity and the scouts. They are great companions.
Then who should walk in but Donna, Jaz and Sam. We shared stories over vermouth, vino Tinto and pinchos. What a great day, despite the sore feet and muscles. Tomorrow we head up another mountain. But that is then, for now we sleep.
The Long Camino 