We managed to make it to 9 pm, which in Spain is the middle of the afternoon, but when you’re up early and walk all day, it’s an effort. Anyway, caught some of the celebrations.
April 14, 2017
14 miles, 22 Km. Another nice, sunny day. Left Estella this morning and it was a bit cool, but the sun soon warmed us up. Day started with a bit of a disappointment. There’s a wine fountain just outside the town, and it was dry!!!! We’ve been looking forward to this for so long! After that there are two options for this section, one that goes through a few towns, and a path less traveled over a mountain which we decided to take. Didn’t see as much in towns, but we got views from far away. Nice green hills and fields with yellow flowers. Finally arrived to Los Arcos. It’s a bigger town than expected. The old part is surrounded by a wall, but it extends far beyond that. Because it’s Good Friday, pretty much everything is closed. There are some religious celebrations going on. The ones in the church don’t allow photography, but we will try to catch some later.
14 miles (22 Km). Sunny day, and a bit warmer. Left Puente de la Reina walking over the bridge, and most of the walk was through rural areas. We had a few hills, but overall the walk was easier, maybe we’re getting used to this!
We walked through a few little towns, narrow streets and of course, a church or more in each town. Estella is a bit bigger town than Puente de la Reina, lots of narrow streets, but pretty busy until siesta time, then it’s empty. It will fill up in the evening again. This town has some generous wine cellars, and on the way out, which we will see tomorrow there’s a wine fountain. This is my kind of town!
April 12, 2017
Another beautiful day. 14.5 miles (23 Km). Left Pamplona but still walked through city streets for a few miles, then it turned into a more rural setting. Passed through small towns and lots of fields. We had a pretty nice hill with a few wind turbines at the top, and the famous Monument of the Pilgrims. After that there was a downhill portion through a few small towns, until we got to Puente de la Reina. Also a small town where the older part is enclosed in walls. There are three churches from 12th to 15th centuries. We did see some stork nests on top of two of the churches in town. On the far side of town there’s another beautiful bridge, which we will cross tomorrow when we leave.
Made our way through old town eating tapas for dinner. Such good food! 
April 11, 2017
A bit shorter walk today, around 14 miles (22.5 Km) and not as hilly. Day started out a bit cooler. Leaving the town we walked by an industrial area, and became a nice walk by the river. Walked through some small towns until we got near Pamplona, where a lot of the walking was through the city and suburbs. One of the small towns we walked through had a church from the 13th century, very cool. We even got to go up in the belfry and rang the bell once each.
We also walked over a few very cool bridges (see pictures). Pamplona is a big city, but the old town is smaller, enclosed by a city wall. Many small streets, lots of people. Visited the Cathedral and the outside of the bull fighting ring where the running of the bulls ends. Food has been great so far, and so is the wine & beer. We had a toast for Carles’ birthday!
April 10 – 16 miles ( 25 Km). Still a few hills, but nothing like yesterday. There were a few downhill portions that were much harder than going uphill. Nice day, sunny and a bit cooler. We walked through some small villages with cows, horses and sheep. Saw some cute baby horses and cows. We saw more people walking today than yesterday. Legs are feeling tired and we are a bit sore all over, but no problems with blisters! Soaked in a cold stream, which felt very good.
Sean’s backpack with the Camino shell
The Camino is this way
Arriving in Zubiri
Cooling off the legs
Great first day! 16 miles (almost 26 Km), 4300 feet of elevation, beautiful blue skies. It had snowed two weeks ago so we expected cool weather. We changed into shorts in no time, as the temperature was in the 70s. Stopped at Orisson for coffee, picnic lunch at some point. Going up was hard work, going downhill was harder. But we made it! Very cool sitting at the stops and hearing all kinds of languages. People from everywhere all going to the same place.
Roncesvalles is a tiny town with a church, hotel, and of course 2 bars.
Planes, trains and automobiles, we made it to St. Jean after a drive through Paris. Nice little hotel with excellent food and wine. Hotel Les Pyrenees.
First toast goes to Maureen and her good news. Getting excited for tomorrow’s walk with a little stroll before bedtime.
Sean is leaving San Francisco today and flying into Paris, where he arrives tomorrow. I will leave Barcelona and meet him in Paris. We were going to fly into Biarritz and take a car from there to St. Jean Pied de Port where we will start our walk. It turns out there’s some sort of strike, so we are now taking a train. We will arrive much later. But hopefully still arrive tomorrow, since we start walking on Sunday. Barcelona has been great. I’ve seen family and friends, which has been very nice, had lunch in the city, and even spent a bit of time on the beach!
McHughs on The Camino 