Cruising to Pamplona

“Once the travel bug bites there is no known antidote, and I know that I shall be happily infected until the end of my life.” – Michael Palin

Day 3 – Burguete to Larrasoana – 14.8 miles May 20

Elizabeth:

I knew today would be a tough walk for me.  Over 14 miles on day three. I still need to get my hiking legs. By the end of the trek my legs felt like they had gained 5 lbs each. Ugggh! Needless to say, I was overjoyed to see the sign for our stop for the day: Pension Tau in Larrasoana. Agenda: check in, remove pack, take off shoes, raise legs up on headboard for 10-15 min., wash a few items, shower, nap, then dinner. 

We stayed here in Larrasoana in 2019, now population 138. Our favorite size town to lay our heads. Gary and I recalled our wonderful, impromptu dinner at the grocery store in 2019: the owner sat a group of about 6 of us on the patio behind the grocery store and cooked us a fabulous meal while he tended to patrons in the store at the same time! Thinking we could not repeat such an event this year we intended to eat at Pension (bed and breakfast) Tau. Unfortunately, they were not serving until 8pm. Too late for us. So, we headed to the grocery again, 4 yrs later, to see if our backyard chef was still there! The proprietor was French. We told him we had been there 4 yrs earlier. He smiled and said: ” I am a different owner, the previous guy retired, he drank too much wine I think!”. We asked him if he still served dinner and he said “oui, but of course!”. We sat down in the back yard of the same grocery store and he served us our choice of wine, beer or water, a salad and roasted chicken with ice cream for dessert. We recognized a couple young ladies from Germany sitting with another couple also from Germany and they invited us to their table. We were soon joined buy a woman from France and not long after that, 7 additional French women and as Spanish gentlemen rounded out the tables on the patio. The language barrier is a minor problem with gestures and some English from all. We had a fabulous time singing 1970s American songs being played on the radio. The owner of the grocery store/restaurant told us he would be back in 10 minutes as he had a family errand to run but he would return and serve us promptly. We love the relaxed and casual atmosphere these small towns bring. See pic.

I probably should backup as there were more events throughout the day prior to us landing at the yet again, impromptu dinner at the grocery store in Larrasoana!

The terrain was gradual up-and-down throughout the 14 miles. We went through a couple of towns which afforded me another cafe’ con leche : ) and “rest” stops, and we stopped at a food truck. There, we ran into Leslie from New Orleans who we had met in Madrid. We reconnected with a young man from New York City who wanted our blog as his mother is interested in doing the Camino but very hesitant/unsure/needed more info. Others that congregated at the food truck were a gentleman from Montreal, a guy from Wales, a Korean woman and more. Welcome to the Camino!

I don’t think we hit 60° today. The sun went in and out so we went from short sleeves to long sleeves, my down jacket went on, back to long-sleeved and short sleeves yet again. It remained mostly in the 50s. Great hiking weather.

We experienced a wonderful show of roughly 20 galloping horses at one point, many with their new foals. We had just missed the equine parade coming down the Camino trail from the barn up the hill to the large, lush green pastures! I would have a photo for you… but… I was in awe and only recorded it in memory. 

Our small world story for the day…

There was a woman named Julie who checked into Auberge Borda on day two where stayed. We had met her briefly at that time and then saw her again today. She was born in the States but lives in Italy. She asked if we walked the Camino in May of 2019. Quite a specific question so we said: “yes, why do you ask?”. Turns out she was walking at the same time in 2019 and remembers Gary and I not only from that time frame, but literally from the same town we were standing in at that moment! Again, Welcome to the Camino!

Day 4 – Larrasoana to Pamplona – 11.5 miles May 21

Elizabeth:

We had seen on one of Efren Gonzalez’ Camino  YouTubes that there was a river/park walk entering Pamplona. It was our first time taking this route, Awesome decision!! See slide show below!

You can choose to walk through the City of Pamplona, which we have done twice before, or walk through the City’s river route enjoying grass, families and dogs along the the Argua Rio (river). For us, it was a clear choice. We were able to be in a park along the water, with local joggers, dads with strollers and elders holding hands during this 66 degree sunny Sunday morning. It’s a bit longer walk but a much more pleasurable stroll coming out at the Plaza de Toro de Pamplona. 

We have never seen the inside of the stadium where each July the Running of the Bulls through the streets of Pamplona culminates. The Festival de San Fermin. There are mixed feelings throughout the world regarding the arena’s traditional bull “fight” but standing in the arena and experiencing the incredible acoustics in the 19,000 seat stadium was impressive! It was 7 euro to do a self guided, audio tour… no bulls present. With no hesitation and a spur-of-the-moment adventure, we crossed the street, bought our tickets and for just an hour or so, became one with the second largest bull ring in Spain – 4th largest in the world. It’s history, culture, costumes, tradition, and feel while standing in the middle of the ring and in all the “back of the house” locations made the tour a fabulous last minute decision. 

Pamplona was our destination. We planned on enjoying lunch before an additional 1.5 mile walk to our room for the night in the University section of the city on the way out of Pamplona. We chose Cafe’ Iruna as we have been there before. Chose an outside table overlooking the Plaza del Castillo. We both chose the Menu del Dia (Menu of the day). Each town, small or large usually offers this three course meal. Each course has multiple offerings. You choose one option from each of the three courses. It comes with wine, beer or water and bread. In the cities it’s more extravagant and more costly but still very reasonable! In Pamplona the Menu del Dia was 25 euros each. Most of the time, in the smaller towns, it’s 10-15 euros for a simpler version. This lunch I chose a first course of a salad with fried squid, salmon and sardines. Second course was a stew consistency of salmon, cod, onion, garlic and red pepper. Gary had a green salad with bacon, raisins and chicken as his 1st course and pork ribs as the main dish. Good thing European mid day meals are the main meal of the day and take two hours! We both choose the chocolate cake to para llavar / take away (to-go) for later 🙃