Settling In

Starting off today was bittersweet, as we said goodbye to two of our friends before even leaving for the road this morning. It was lovely to have met them, but very sad to see them go so soon. One of the things that seems to be a constant on the Camino is that things come and go, and you never know which will stay, which you will end up meeting again later, and which are only crossing your path briefly.

After a lot of the rest of the group did an early-morning yoga session and I dealt with some bank nonsense, we headed off. Today's hike was probably the first time things have started to feel routine. We were all pretty familiar with the rhythm of hiking and talking, grabbing lunch at a cafe, hiking and talking some more, maybe stopping at some historic sights or churches, and then checking in to our albergue for the evening. Today largely followed that pattern, and it was nice to feel that, while the details were still a mystery, we could all relax into the overall form of the day.

The specifics today were lots of hills, but no mountains, a lot of farmland, and not as much green.

In the afternoon, me and a couple of other folks stopped in a small town at the only bar that was open. Two of us spoke a little Spanish, so we managed to stumble our way through an order for sandwiches and drinks, and sat around outside while we waited for a historic church to reopen after siesta. While we waited, we started to understand why they have siesta here, as sitting in the shade with the midday heat and a cool breeze threatened to put us to sleep as well.

Eventually two Spanish brothers we'd met earlier on stopped by the same bar. Being anywhere they choose to go is almost always a good sign, as they seem to know the inside scoop on this whole route. They were headed to the same church we were, so we chatted for a bit and then headed off. It added a bit to our route, but the detour to see the church was absolutely worth it, and it was a fascinating example of 12th century architecture.

The slightly misaligned ribs on the ceiling especially fascinated me.

The rest of the hike to our stopping point was much like the beginning of the day, and soon we got to our albergue.

Bottles on posts for... Scaring off deer? I feel certain I've seen this somewhere, but I can't recall where.

When we got to our albergue, we felt like we had stumbled into a resort. It had real sheets on the bed, a shower with no time limit, and even provided us with towels! It's true we didn't pick the cheapest option in town, but this is still far and away the most luxurious albergue we've stayed in.

Once we'd cleaned up, we headed for dinner, which was a buffet of soup, salad and carb options, a bowl of lentil soup, pork ribs with fries, and a dessert buffet. We all stuffed ourselves, as it was the first time we'd been able to eat as much as we wanted on this trip, and the food was fantastic. After dinner, some of us went for a walk down into the town. Most things were closed, but we did get a very pretty view at sunset of the bridge our route crosses tomorrow.

Apparently it's a romantic bridge. I guess I can see it.

After that we walked around a little bit, mostly just seeing the streets. Pamplona was beautiful, but it seems that as towns get bigger, they also become more similar. This little town really felt like we were seeing a bit of true Basque country, albeit with a tourist flair.

Then it was back to the albergue (I nearly called it a hotel just now, it's so nice) and time for bed.