The Tasty Pilgrim

Last night I stayed at the enormous hangar in Roncevalles. Inside the cloister there is an office where you fill in a form and pay 6 Euro and get a voucher for a bed. I was number 88 ! We crossed the road and went inside where you are issued a cushion and may choose any bed you wish. It is run by Dutch volunteers and one of them I knew from last year. He recognised me and explained the whole routine. Immediately we went to a small restaurant to book dinner at seven. I will write a seperate story in it. So after dinner I went to bed and tried to fall asleep. First I had a shower. When I arrived in the afternoon there was a queque. Only four showers for the whole population. Imagine !!!!!!! But more than a hundred people talking makes for a noisy beehive. In the middle of the night we had a thunderstorm, quite impressive. Perhaps a warning from the holy Saint to take the pilgrimage seriously.

Next morning it was raining softly, so I put on my poncho. We walked for over an hour and found a nice bar for coffee and a roll. This little place prospers by all the people passing. I had a roll with and ommelet and bought a roll ham and cheese for on the road. Breakfast should be taken seriously, but the other two wished to press on. So here is where we parted. And it should be like this.

I always walk in my own tempo and everyone should do the same. After al it is your Camino, an adventure you have with yourself ! There are enough other pilgrims on the road that you contstantly meet and have a chat with. I just walked on and in spite of the drizzle tried to enjoy the landscape.  Every two hourse I stopped to refresh the water bottle and eat something. The countryside is all hills and the path mainly follows the valleys. Then we had to walk up another mountainridge, this time through forest. Last year it was one large mudslide and you had to mind every step. This year they had paved the path with stone chips, that was better. Amazing that I could not remember some stretches of the road from last year. I must have been too wrapped up in my thoughts. At around noon I was sweating all over and decided to change. I had put on some long trousers, as I thought it could keep me warmer in the wet. But now it had become drier. Had brought along some wide shorts and this felt much better walking along. You see all the transpiration goes down you back into your trousers and the heat is pent up there. Now I could concentrate on the path. We had to walk for miles and miles downhill. Very glad that I brougt my Nordic Walking sticks. They serve as my second legs and have saved me a few times from having a fall. The afternoon was really strenuous walking that path which really was a brook bedding with rolling stones. All the time I kep on my hat as a protection against the ticks that fall down on you in the forest. This is horse country ! Lots of groups of horses roaming around with a leader with a bell around its neck. I wonder why they need so many ponies up here. There is a lot of hunting going on as so see many sogns Coto de Caza Privado, meaning private shooting. Lots of deer and wild boar droppings on the path. At last I came out of the forest and found a little village in front of me. I had started to walk before eight and now it is past three in the afternoon. I had done 25 kilometers, quite enough. I kew that here in Zubiri there is a small private refugio, just a dozen beds, which is excellent. As expected they were full. So I found another refugio. This place is exactly as I would have like to arrange it. Very, very clean ! Not a spec of dust anywhere. The lady at the reception desk showed that angelic smile and explained you can also book for the menu pelegrino that they have in the evening. In the garden there is a basin to clean your dirty boots. Upstairs are rooms with enough showers and toilets, all very clean. Modern safety feature. Doors open with a kind of credit card which is issued to you. So I took a shower and stepped into bed first to get some sleep.

Dinner is waiting for me now, but I will continues the conversation after.

The Tasty Pilgrim !