Uterga- Cirauqui-Estella

Hola! Buenas Dias! Buen Camino!

These are the greetings which meet us as we begin the days. The Spanish are so welcoming- Hello! Good morning! Good walking or good pilgrimage! We respond with the same or simply Grathias!
I am struck by this wonderful attitude to life- so welcoming, so connected to others. It makes me feel happy to be alive!

Pamplona was a wonderful city experience, however it has been a surprising relief to be back on the way and on the pilgrim trail again. Leaving behind the city streets and seeing the wide expanse of brown country rise up in front of us was like a breath of fresh air.

The earth had just been turned, ready to lie fallow for the coming winter. As the autumn sun warmed the topsoil, insects and birds flew about us, trees yielding figs and the last of blackberries and seed podded weeds along the path. Autumn truly is a golden time here! There is always something to catch the eye!
Unfortunately though the noticing was all about the hilltop villages- and to get to them- the hill had to be climbed!

One of the major landmarks of these three days was climbing the Alto del Perdon where a monument stands to pilgrims of the Way to Santiago across the centuries. It is an achievement to arrive atop this mountain as the path upward is stony and steep with the ridge studded with wind turbines your only marker until you arrive at the top.

The villages of Uterga and Cirauqui were farming villages and the people so warm and welcoming. They grow their own wine called Bodegas which we tasted with our pilgrim meals which featured specialties that the locals would eat and prepare. One night we ate in the oldest part of the house which was the wine cellar! Wonderful!

Boys these villages were also remnants of Roman days- we walked out of Cirauqui on an old roman road and over a Roman built bridge. Imagine getting across here then! See photo- also a man in the village had been growing a map in a field- see if you can recognise it!

Estella was a small town on the river Arga. Surrounded by hills, It had two enormous churches adorning the old town- one we visited was named after St Peter and it was here that the kings of Navarre would come to be crowned. It had an adjoining cloister and was magnificent!Read more