Walking The Way

Sept 8- Happy Birthday to me!! Today I walked a full 24 kilometers (15 miles) from the pilgrim Albergue in Roncesvalles to the small village of Zubiri. Only about 400 people live there and since it is in the direct path of the Camino de Santiago route, it caters to the pilgrims with many hostels.

I started the walk at 7:30 today, after a nice pilgrims breakfast’ that included Serrano ham, cheese, bread, and of course cafe con leche.

The walk today started nice and flat, it was cool enough outside (48 degrees) to need a jacket. I walked through several areas that were green and just beautiful. The majority of this walk wound through tiny villages, fields of cows and sheep, and forested areas that canopied us all from the sun. Today, the walk included so many pilgrims there was rarely a time when I was walking alone. I met so many great people today from all over the world. We would chat while walking at the same pace, then veer off from one another for various reasons only to meet someone new.

This second half of this walk was not easy, there were several very steep hills to walk up, with the final 3 miles of this walk being rocky downhill slopes where you really had to pay attention to where you placed your foot so as not to slip and injure yourself.

Just when I felt this walk would never end, Zubiri was seen in the distance and I knew I could push on. Today my body is tired all over. No blisters, I was able to walk the whole thing, but just tired and glad for some welcome rest.

My accommodations tonight is at a very nice pilgrim hostel with rooms that have 4 sets of bunk beds. My roommates are the couple from Dallas, Texas I had dinner with last night (Mark and Connie) three people from France, and two gentlemen from Germany. Dinner was served at a large table,with all the pilgrims staying here, at 7pm and for the first time included salad, fresh veggies and some traditional Spanish soup, meats, and desserts.

As luck would have it, I was also able to pay 4 euros and have the hostel wash and dry my dirty clothes. A luxury you don’t see often on the Camino. Score!!

Tomorrow, I will walk 27 kilometers (17 miles) from Zubiri to Pamplona! I already expect it not to be easy, but I’m up for the challenge.

My thoughts: Sometimes this walk is hard, but today I saw it was just as hard for everyone else no matter your physical condition… and we all put one foot in front of the other and just kept moving. Giving up would be easy. Pushing on will be rewarding.