Walking The Way

Sept 9 – Today I walked 27 km (17 miles) from Zubiri to Pamplona. I woke after an awesome nights sleep (no one in my room snored) feeling refreshed and ready to go. I mean, I’m walking to Pamplona!!! I ate the typical pilgrims breakfast at 6:30 then grabbed my things and was on the trail putting one foot in front of the other heading toward Pamplona.

Today started out overcast with a slight mist in the air, which was amazing for someone walking the trails. This turned out to be a fairly “tranquil” morning’s walk along the river Agra following us a lot of the way. The landscape was beautiful as I walked through tiny villages, across bridges, and through fields.

Though the distance today was long, I was happy to see that the elevation was consistent and I didn’t have steep climbs or descents. Instead, the walk was fairly level and pleasant. Walked with some familiar people today in various stages : the sisters from Belgium, the mom and daughter from Germany, and my friend from England. I ended up stopping at a nice little cafe that catered to pilgrims right along the river and met up with all of them there as well for a short rest and a snack.

Overall today was lovely and a much needed level walk. I had always planned to do rest days in certain cities on the Camino and Pamplona is the first. So, I’m staying in a nice hotel tonight and tomorrow night. It’s currently siesta so nothing is open but when they reopen, I’ll be having some “pintxos”!!!

My thoughts: Just when you think you’re in for another hard walk, the Camino provides you with an easier day. One thing you can’t predict is what each day will be like. Today it was about new friends I’ve met. I’ll be a day behind them now since I’m staying one extra day in Pamplona. Hopefully our paths will cross again. Every person walking is a genuinely kind person. It’s great to see how we all look after each other. Feeling blessed!