Phil Merrell

(Posted 6/16/25) It was raining lightly when we started out, but quickly petered out into a mostly sunny day. We are sending our backpacks ahead to lighten our load. We walked around 6 miles. Before getting to a long, steep downhill section . Between my sketchy knees and Dale’s bruised ribs, we chose discretion over valor and shared a cab ride down the hill and on with some other more mature pilgrims. Dale’s ribs are bugging him a lot.
We made our destination for the night, an albergue run by nuns at the Church of Saint Stephen in the tiny village of Zabaldika (pop. 14). This ended up one of the nicest stops on our walk. The head sister opened the church before dinner and explained the history of the church and the different paintings and features. We were invited to climb the narrow winding stone staircase up the bell tower and ring the bell. The bell was made in the 11th century and is the oldest bell in Navarre Province. After being rung, the pure tones of the bell linger an incredibly long time. After a great communal dinner, we went back to the church for a sharing time and a very moving blessing of the pilgrims.Baca lagi