On Friday, we walked in beautiful sunshine through the forest and scrublands from Zubiri to Pamplona. While there was a lot of ups and downs throughout the walk over all we lost 1600 feet of elevation, so it was not a difficult day and only 13.5 miles. We are starting to fall into the rhythm of this pilgrim life. I don't think this was the way the penitents and mendicants did it, however. We have a nice hotel each night and the heavy loads are transferred from location to location while we walk. All we have to carry is what we might need on the way and a means to pay for coffee/beer or other refreshments along the way. At our first stop Friday, we were serenaded by a talented guitarist/singer who was covering American popular music. A great way to forget about the putting one foot in front of the other part of the journey.
Today is our first rest day. Pamplona is the first "big" city experience we have had. We were in the outskirts of the city for about the last 2 hours of our walk yesterday and ended our hike right in the center of Pamplona just off the Plaza del Castillo. That is the center of the San Fermin festival each May when the running of the bulls takes place.
Friday night, it was full of people. There are cafes all around the plaza. They were full. We "re"-discovered how late the Spanish like to eat. After walking all day, we were looking for food at 6:00 and many don't start serving until 8:30. We found a meal and a very nice Crianza Rioja wine, and then we strolled the Plaza to observe the thousands of people who were out to meet and greet in that public setting. It was definitely spring-like conditions and I felt like it was more a celebration of the end of winter. It felt a bit like opening day of the boating season in Seattle. Definitely a festive night.
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