Burguete-Auritz to Zubiri

I left Burguete-Agritz before the sun rose over the mountains and was accompanied by crickets and cowbells tinkling in the dark.

This area is very agrarian and I often am startled by an errant donkey honk or sheep baah. Early in the morning, I saw foals sleeping in hay piles with the sun on their coats. I really wanted to just lay down with him since I didn’t sleep well and wished I were somewhere as cozy.

I walked up on a strange sight: people getting pictures and stamps from cops. I’m not sure if the public’s relationship with police here is different than the US but I was still weirded out by the scene.

When I arrived at my destination for the night, I was delighted to find a river and, before testing the waters, I stripped down to take a swim. I did not anticipate how much colder this river was than the others I had swam in this trip. It was a fun little adventure regardless. I find I am getting less and less prudish about stripping to my skivvies as my trip goes on.

I met a new friend at dinner named Amy. She is a cat lover, a disability rights advocate, and sign language enthusiast. We had great conversation and the food was pretty good. I actually even got a choice between meat and fish this time! Though, if you think about it, fish is meat. It’s not somehow plant matter or something. It’s all meat.

One of the courses for the meal was a simple puréed potato and vegetable soup our table received one very large pot. One guy volunteered to serve all of us and I pulled out my Oliver Twist impression when I asked for seconds.
“Please sir can I have some more?”Read more