Pamplona

This morning my mom and I woke up in Pamplona with our bags reorganized, our hair washed and we were ready to go! We left before the sun came up again because today’s hike was a longer one with a fairly steep mountain in the middle. Before the day started we had tossed around the idea of my mom skipping this day because of the steepness of the mountain, both uphill and downhill. We got our back packs on, headed out the door, made it to the edge of Pamplona, took one quick look at the mountain ahead and agreed to have her find a cab and meet me in Puente La Reina. We split ways and she got here early enough to get a nice 10 mile walk in around the village.

I ended up getting 23 km done in 5 and 1/2 hours (around 14 miles) and it was beautiful.

Doesn’t this look like a scene straight from “The Wizard of Oz”? The first hour of the trek was COVERED in spent sunflower fields. I can’t even imagine what this sight would have been two weeks ago when they were fully blooming. A part of me was a tiny glad that they weren’t at their potential today because I would have been sad that my mom missed all of their beauty.

I managed to find two in full bloom. One for me and one for my mom.

The hike up and down the mountain side was really nice to do alone. It went by fast and for the first portion I listened to my headphones. My music definitely got me going at first, through some villages and side streets but as soon as we hit the sunflower fields, those suckers came off. I find something really calming in listening to music but I don’t know, it just felt wrong to be filling my ears with sound when all of my other senses were being fulfilled.. it was like I couldn’t really take in everything I was seeing when I had a soundtrack going on in my head. I enjoyed the sound of my feet crunching against the rock more than any of my favorite artists. That is saying a lot because music is my life. It was just so peaceful and quiet out.

Once I got to the top where all of the wind turbines were, the wind was enough of a soundtrack. Everything was whistling louder than I’ve ever heard, it was pretty amazing.

At the top of Alto de Perdon there was a monument to the Pilgrims. You can see the wind doing its thing and you can also see a sliver of the view which was looking back on the city of Pamplona.

The rest of the hike was fairly easy and if you were hungry, unprepared or just over trusting, need not worry! Plentyyy of wild berries!!

One woman picked some blackberries and offered me one. I’m surprised I didn’t slap her hand away. Haha, just kidding.. but I did politely decline and she was very sweet for offering. The last thing I need is a poisonous berry situation.

I ended up meeting a nice young man from Germany who only had ten days to do part of of the walk. He was great company, especially during the end when my feet began to hurt, he was cracking jokes and I actually thought they were pretty funny.

I also met an older gentleman who had a heart attack after climbing the route that we had trouble with a couple of days back. He spent the last two days in a Hospital in Pamplona and I almost dropped to the ground when he said that. I was so concerned about him and all he said was, “We’re all gonna go some time, why not go out doing something courageous.” I guess he is half right, we are all gonna go sometime but meeting him scared the bajeesus out of me. It made me thankful my mom and I are being careful about pushing our limits. Don’t worry everyone, we are doing just fine! We’re tending to our blistered feet and giggling over a batch of fresh grapes. Resting up for tomorrow.

We made it to Pamplona! No crazy stories about our walk this time, we walked a safe and calm walk. This is more of an update through pictures rather than stories. Short but sweet. Our walk was mostly through tiny villages built on ruins but a little portion of the trail was more scenic. It was all very beautiful and much more flat than the other day. The weather made the day a lot more enjoyable.

There was a nice little rest stop for all the “pilgrims.” So we stopped and got tea and an omelette.

We ended up staying in one of the places that was in the movie “The Way.” (If you haven’t seen it, you should watch it tonight! It’s an amazing movie about the Camino.) It’s where Martin Sheen meets the Canadian woman and where he looks out and sees the man pull the table cloth off the table and uses it as a bullfighter’s cape. It was the most magnificent little place right along the Camino. The owner was so sweet and they made us breakfast, dinner and gave us amazing wine. If I ever do this again, which I definitely plan to, I will stay there. It was called “Hotel Akerreta” in case anyone is planning to walk and is reading this.

Pamplona has been really amazing so far. The people are sweet and welcoming and there are a lot of others here walking the Camino. We already ran into two groups of friends that we’ve met along the way. It’s always nice seeing a familiar face when you are so far from home. We’re staying here in Pamplona for an extra night for my dad’s birthday which was yesterday. The running of the bulls is traditionally held here so we figured it was appropriate.

Our wifi is horrible but I almost wish that it didn’t work at all yesterday. I ended up getting really offended and upset at Facebook last night for prompting me to “buy him a Target gift card” and for also plastering his age to the entire Facebook universe. The only time I ever remember actually upsetting my dad was when I called him an “old man.” He’d always try and sneak a year away from his age when his birthday came around. I remember once saying, “didn’t you turn 58 last year?” I’m certain me catching on aggravated him and I am also certain he was aggravated yesterday and would have wanted one of us to somehow make it disappear.

I wish so badly I had him in my ear asking me to fix something on his Facebook, post some picture, help him write out an argument on someone’s page that would offend everyone who had previously commented. I just miss him in general.. and I’m hating stupid Facebook. So annoying.

It’s been really nice to change up the scenery from bushes and cliffs to cafés and restrooms. We’re enjoying walking this city portion so far even though we feel a little out of place with our huge back packs on.

We loved this mural!!

Where we had tea this morning. Apparently we drink a lot of tea..? I think it’s because I’m trying to not drink as much coffee on this trip. I need my heart in tip top shape in order to dodge lightning bolts on a regular basis.

I think it is hilarious that the rooftops here pass any kind of safety codes. All of their satellites seriously look like they are being held together by a thread and a bungee cord and whoever was putting it up was in a serious rush. My mom and I are finding that there are no real “rules” here. We’ve decided that we are fine with that and we’ll act accordingly until someone informs us that we’re misbehaving.

My Camino

Tag Archives: Pamplona

Alto de Perdon Alone