From Iglesia San Esteban to Pamplona

As Chris mentioned, I spent last night at the parochial albergue associated with San Esteban church. I was just too wiped out from the long journey into Zubiri in the heat to go any farther.

Chris and I’d talked about my taking a taxi into Pamplona, but then San Esteban was so beautiful and Sister Mari Ascunción kindly suggested that I should stay the night in their community hostel. When I explained that I’d shipped my baggage ahead because I use a CPAP for my snoring, S. Mari Ascunción said, “Oh, that’s no problem! We have a special room for snorers.” How could I refuse?

While Chris was making his beautiful — if hot — descent into Pamplona, I spent the rest of the afternoon settling into the special room that the albergue reserved for “las roncas” (snorers) and napping in the shade of the 13th Century church that stole my heart.

While Chris was doing his pinxtos field research, I had dinner with 5 other pilgrims and the two volunteer hospitaleros (inn keepers) who spend 2 weeks a year cooking and cleaning and caring for pilgrims as a way of giving thanks for the impact the Camino has had on their lives. Most of my fellow peregrinas and both of the sisters spoke English, but the hospiteleros only spoke Spanish so I got some serious practice in.

We ended the evening with some prayer, reflection, and sharing in the church’s intimate atrium, halfway up to the bell tower.

This morning, I woke up before five and was on my way to Pamplona before 6. The walk that had been too hot and too hard yesterday, was refreshing this morning (until I tried to take a shortcut to the hotel and added a couple of uphill kilometers of backtracking to my walk.)

Today has been a true rest day. We’ve done a tiny bit of sightseeing, but spent several hours this afternoon enjoying the hotel air conditioning and the most comfortable bed we’ve had since leaving home last week.

We’ve spent the last couple of hours enjoying the delights of Pamplona’s bar and pinxtos culture. We’d love to linger more, but the alarm clock’s ringing at 4:30 tomorrow. We want to make the Alto de Perdón before it gets too hot. It’s supposed to top out in the mid-90’s tomorrow. I intend to stop walking around noon even if it means taking a taxi. Chris intends to walk all the way to our next stop, Obanos.
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