Day four – Aug 12.
The most interesting thing about Zubiri is the bridge that you cross over into the town which is more industrial than the ones we’ve walked through the past few days (there’s a magnesium factory on the outskirts where many of the locals work). The bridge is Romanesque and called Punta de la Rabia (Rabies Bridge). Named so because of a tradition based on a 15th century legend that if animals are led across three times, they will be protected from rabies.
We cross back over the bridge before sunrise the next morning trying to get an earlier start as it’s forecast to be in the high 90’s again. Walking west out of Zubiri is a bit uninteresting as we walk past the magnesium factory for a stretch. Onno soon joins us and we walk together having a great conversation about Amsterdam, the U.S., politics and each other. The path eventually becomes more pleasant; lined on either side with tall grass and other vegetation including berries and fruit trees which we discovered was a small type of plum. We happen upon an old church where we find a “self-serve” stamp for our credencial* for a small donation.
* I briefly mentioned the credencial when I wrote about registering at the Pilgrim’s office in St John – it’s a document that identifies us as a pilgrim with space for stamps from the albergues we stay at and other sites along the way such as churches and the bars where we have coffee, snacks or lunch. It also affords us reduced rates for entry into many points of interest as well allowing us to stay at albergues that accommodate only pilgrims. The goal is to fill this document with stamps so we can claim a compostella – certificate of completion – once we arrive in Santiago. And, by the way, a “bar” is not necessarily a place for alcohol, it’s what we Americans refer to as a café or small restaurant.
A reminder we are in Basque country, we also walk through a tunnel of green and past a field of ponies (which I failed to photograph), the River Arga always nearby. We pass through some lovely villages with amazing old buildings dating back to the 13th, 15th and 16th centuries. In the small hamlet of Akerrata there is a hotel which was featured in the movie “The Way” – where Martin Sheen’s character spent a night.
After a couple hours or so of walking, our stomachs are calling for food (we have yet to drink our first cup of coffee!), and we look forward to stopping at the next town that has a bar – visions of egg tortillas and café con leche (for Cindy) and Americano (for me 😉). Luckily up ahead is an inviting place to stop just across the river and where we recognize other pilgrims we’ve met. These breakfasts quickly become a favorite as by the time we sit down to eat, we’re quite hungry and we get to talk, laugh and share stories with all the wonderful people we are meeting.
Appetites sated and fueled with caffeine, we cross back over the bridge and walk for a short distance before we realize we haven’t seen any Camino shells or arrows telling us we’re on the right path. Get out the map (ie: cellphone) to check… sure enough, rather than cross back over the bridge, we should have continued on. Reverse direction and we now have to walk by the bar where we had breakfast and see our friends waving and grinning – Cindy called it the ‘walk of shame’. 😉
We pass through one more small village and walk the rest of the way along the river (which wasn’t any cooler!) entering the outskirts of Pamplona from a different direction and perspective than when we arrived by train a week before. First crossing over the five-arched bridge, we ultimately walk along the impressive 500-year-old wall and through the drawbridge into old town Pamplona.
We happen to be re-entering on a Friday which we found having been here already on a Friday is kind of crazy. So, we said “hasta luego” to Onno, quickly found our Albergue, had some lunch, showered and did our laundry. Because we had not yet had our credencials the week before, we decided to wait until we were back through to visit the cathedral which was within a block of our Albergue. Wow! What an amazing structure with so much history.
The heat wave still going strong, and being very hot but not that hungry, we went in search of ice cream for our dinner! Then to bed in a non air-conditioned room and a restless night. And with the plan to leave well before sunup the next morning – once again to try and beat the hottest part of the day.
Generally many pilgrims who start their Camino in St John will plan their first rest day in Pamplona as it’s a larger city and has much to see. But since we’d chosen here to acclimate once arriving in Spain… “been there, done that”.
So on to Puente La Reina tomorrow… and an air conditioned room!
“Life is short and the world is wide.”
~~More pics in Photo Album~~
Tunnel of green