Camino de Santiago Day Three

By -
May 13
Day 3: Zubiri to Pamplona

We walked the Camino path along the river six hours from Zubiri to Pamplona. It rained a little, but the clouds opened up and there was sun. And then it would lightly rain again. Actually very refreshing for the Camino.


Another beautiful day walking through farms with cows, miniature ponies, geese and chickens. I'm in awe of the beauty of creation, the friendliness of locals and the pilgrims from all over the world.







We met a woman from London who is on the Camino as a life check up/balance. She belongs to a Jesuit small group that meets bi-weekly to read, share, be silent and pray together. She came alone. "I realized I don’t have community, so I joined a group. My church is small and older, and my boyfriend doesn’t go to church. I came on the Camino alone and was worried I’d be alone, but everyone is so friendly."



Graffiti on the walls to protest unemployment or have a conversation about whether the region of Navarra is of España or País Vasco.

.
It was an easier day of walking 13 miles—less elevation—but still the last hour was hard. I think the lactic acid build up from the first day may it tough.

We got to Pamplona, cleaned up and talked with a German couple here to serve in an albuergue as hospitaleros, volunteering for three weeks. They started the Camino in 2010 did another route in 2012 and 2014 and decided to start volunteering in the hostels.

We went to a small prayer service in a Dominican church for a song (No Turbe, a Taise song based on Teresa of Avila), scripture about Abraham leaving Home, a little sharing and prayer. The woman leading and playing guitar reminded us of the inner journey of the Camino and the need to share our experiences with others.

We ate at Café Oruña—another place Hemingway slept? Walked? Ate?




Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Cappadocia

By -
Image
Amy and I have traveled to Turkey twice before, but this is our first time leading a group into Cappadocia.  What an amazing way to start our 14 day pilgrimage on the footsteps of Paul. It feels like we're in a different world. The landscape is more like the moon or a scene in Star Wars.  Hittites, Persians, Greeks, Romans, Turks all passed through and conquered. First century believers returned here after Pentecost and Peter wrote his first letter to encourage them in their persecution and suffering. In the fourth century, Simon devoted 42 years of his life in isolation on top of a fairy castle, seeking time alone with God. People brought him food and were drawn to his way of life and stayed. The soft tufa volcanic stone allowed for monks and whole communities to create monasteries and homes hidden inside whole mountains.  We visited a handful of those 365 churches (one for every day of the year) that once existed in the Goreme and Zelve valleys.  It strikes
Read more

Camino de Santiago Day Thirty-seven and Thirty-eight: We made it!

By -
Image
A Salceda to Santiago de Compostela We decided to walk 22km to the outskirts of Santiago and walk the last few kilometers in the morning. Neither of us could sleep, so we got up, packed our mochilas for the last time and walked to the old city at 5am. It was dark and rather than being joined by other pilgrims, we passed a few late night partiers and a woman walking her dog. It's not the entrance into Santiago we pictured, but we were all alone in the Praza do Obradoiro in front of the Cathedral. It was June 17 — thirty-eight days and 780 kilometers since we started May 11, in Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port. We were two of the first ten pilgrims in line for our compostelas , which meant we got tickets for a free lunch at the historic parador. Peter from Australia showed up and introduced us to Michael and Linda from Washington DC, who also got the lucky tickets. Peter also knew Ted and Darlene from Winnipeg, and gave them contact, since my phone died and we cou
Read more

Camino de Santiago Day Thirty-four to Thirty-six

By -
Image
Gonzar to Melide to A Salceda Today we completed two 30km days in a row and we are within 25km of Santiago. We've walked over 700km from Saint Jean Pied de Port, France, for more than a month.  And after two days of rain, the sun came out and the sky was clear and blue.  We stopped in Melide for the night where we found an amazing vegetarian-vegan restaurant Casa Alongo run by Concha. She was happy to speak English and share her passion for fresh, local food. After a Camino of meat and typical pilgrim meals, it was a great find. She served us grilled vegetables with avocado aioli and  tostada de pulpo-- Galician bread toast with local cheese and octopus. . One bar along the road has bottled their own La Peregrina lager and invites pilgrims to write something on the bottle and decorate the patio. We walked our second to last day with friends we met a week ago--John, Norbert and Agnes. We talked about our families and what it's like to make friends on the Camino.  Everyone is a
Read more