Rufugio de Peregrinos de Roncesvalles

We're in Spain! Recieved our second Compostela stamp at the Rufugio de Peregrinos de Roncesvalles. It is 12 euro / night plus 10 euro for dinner (@ 7pm) and 5 euro for breakfast. It has 183 beds, Tom and I were assigned 114 & 116, both top bunks. The bunks don't have a safety railing so Tom offered to sneak into my bed (which is directly across from his) and sleep on the outside to make sure I don't roll off and fall 6ft down to the floor in my sleep. It's offers like this which remind me that I picked the perfect life partner. 💓

Tom arrived around 12:30pm and both of us were quite hungry. Unfortunately, there are no stores here that sell food. There are 3 restaurants, none open before 2pm, all of them expensive. Have I mentioned how cold it is yet? It is very, very cold. It was 39 degrees this morning when we set off and it has warmed up to the high temperature today, 54 degrees.

We couldn't check in to our Refugio until 2pm today (apparently, all the businesses here are owned by some sort of creature who ceases to exist until 2pm) so Tom and I paid 4 euro each to visit a museum, entirely so that we could have some relief from the frigid temps and frightfully cold winds. You can imagine our dismay when it dawned on us that the museum was mostly outdoors. There was one room, but it held the sarcophagus of some holy person or other. So that was what we were working with today, huddle next to the dead guy and random "relics" (ie: bone shavings, finger nails, etc) in a creepy cloister or freeze outside.

This journey feels a bit like a summer camp I signed up to do. Our Refugio booked up so there were about 180 Peregrinos sleeping in bunks in one big castel like building. They fed us in two shifts, we all got the same options, pasta or spinach soup and fish or chicken. I opted for spinach and pasta (although they were both technically first dishes). Along the Camino I see the same faces from the Refugio the night before. It feels organized, though it isn't! :)

Jet lag is still present (and awful)...goal is to stay awake until 8pm today. And success! I slept from about 9pm to about 3:30am.Read more