It was good to get out of the city and into the country again. Pamplona was interesting, but very busy and noisy. Whenever we opened the window of our hotel room during the evening yesterday, the room was filled with a constant roar due to the crowds of people filling the street below. It was literally wall to wall people on the street, and it sounded like the bulls were running.
We had a later than usual start because we couldn't have breakfast any earlier than 7:30, and by the time the food arrived it was 8 a.m. The only people up at this time, it seems, are street cleaners and hotel staff who have to deal with early rising Canadians.
We left old Pamplona, made our way through some beautiful city parks outside the old city walls, the through the grounds of the university of Navarra, and immediately found ourselves walking through fields of canola...
With all the climbing involved again, Diane found the need to stretch at the stack of bales Bert hastily assembled just for that purpose, using all the experience gained over the years at the Luymes farm! Hey, don't push too hard!!
The weather, as you may have noticed from each day's pictures, has been stunning: cool in the early morning, with jackets coming off within an hour and sunny and warm the rest of the day. As you will also notice from the pictures below, there were lots of steep ups and downs again, with stunning scenery all day long that our camera just can't capture.
At the top of this climb were rows and rows of wind turbines, and an old wrought iron sculpture of medieval pilgrims. And yes, it really was that windy on top of this hill.
The climb up was followed by a tricky climb down, tricky because of all the loose stones,as you can see...
Along the way down, we found a perfect spot for a late lunch...
As we continued our walk to Puente La Reina, we made our way through 3 separate villages, each with its own particular charms...
We reached our destination for this day at 3 p.m., dumped our stuff in our rooms, and then enjoyed cool drinks on the bar patio outside our hotel. Dinner is served late in Spain (7:30) and a couple of granola bars brought from home (from our stash of 132!) will help us survive until then. All in all, a great day full of beauty all around us, enjoyed in good health. God has been good to us!
Time on the road: 6:40
Total distance to date: 94.4 kms
Walking days remaining: 32
Hello dear Pilgrims all
ReplyDeleteJoe and I are sitting in a picturesque little red booth here in scenic Toronto Airport, enjoying a little picnic lunch of our own :). We were happy to find an update from Bert, with all the beautiful pictures of your walk today! So glad you're all doing well, having had a rest day yesterday, and wish you a good night's'.sleep! We will be on our way to Ottawa in an hour, thankfully in an airplane :). Sending our love to all. J&J