Camino de Santiago, Part 2. Pamplona to Naverette.

Windmills in the mist.

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We continued through Pamplona (from our albergue in Villava) and pushed on through the southwestern suburbs and into the countryside. As we ascended some hills, the cloudy skies finally decided to start raining on us. Not a heavy downpour, but a steady rain which started to make the paths a little mucky. Some low-lying spots became quite muddy, and we tried to move around the worst of them. Eventually we came to a cloud-shrouded summit; we could just see the wind-power generators, we could actually hear them before we saw them, they're really pretty noisy! I've never been that close to one before.

Heading down the other side of the summit we hit some really muddy trails, our feet probably picked up pounds of mud as we plodded on! The rain finally quit and we reached Obanos where we stopped for the night. It was another long day, 8 hours, 24 kilometers. My left foot, which had been giving me problems even before the trip, was bothering me. Plantar Fasciitis, look it up, it's not pleasant, but it wan't bad enough to make me want to stop, either. Shelly was having issues too. There was only one place open for the Pilgrims' dinner so all the peregrinos came there. We shared the table with three Germans and four American girls. It was a nice time.

Puente la Reina

Left Obanos the next morning after the innkeeper ran our clothes through the drier, (for 2.00 Euros). Had breakfast at a hotel's cafe in Puente la Reina. Nice old bridge, (puente) here.We had planned to do a short day, but stretched it to another 24+ K day and made it to Estella. We were sore, but as always, glad to make it to where we did. Shelly was starting to get a shin splint, so we found a pharmacy and bought some tape. The next day was relatively short, 21 K. to Los Arcos. An interesting stop along the way was the Fuente de Vino, which dispenses free wine to the peregrinos passing by. It's a limited amount, by the way. I was able to get only a taste as it was almost empty, but it wasn't bad!

The first albergue we checked out in Los Arcos was full, so we panicked and took a pension for the night. It was nice having a room, but kind of pricy. The next morning we noticed a couple of other albergues further into town that were not full, so we could have gotten a bed after all. A lesson learned.

Along the was to Estella, notice the ruined castle on the upper right.

After Los Arcos, the next stop should have been Logrono, but we found a nice place called Viana a little before Logrono and decided to stop there. Here we enjoyed the first Sangrias of the trip!

Departing Vianna, we had to then push through Logrono, a large city. Indeed, by the time we were finally out of the city it was time for lunch!

Entering Logrono

We ended the day in Naverette, finding a nice albergue which was next to a cafe which had really excellent food. We had tapas (appetizers) with some local wine and we could tell this place had good quality food so we planned dinner there too and weren't disappointed! I has peppers stuffed with cheese and cooked in squid ink that was delicious!

We met several fellow pilgrims we had met before and it was always nice to chat with them. One American couple was quitting and another lady was having such trouble with her feet that she bought new boots on Logrono! The four American girls we had met in Obanos were also ending their Camino, they didn't have the time and only planned to do part of it anyway. One of them was having serious foot problems anyway. Several people had complained of loosing toenails! The difficulty of extended walking was taking its toll. We too had our problems. Mine was mainly that sore left foot and Shelly was having lots of blisters. It seemed that 20 K a day was our comfort limit, but we routinely pushed beyond that distance.

Our friend, Santiago.