The Camino Continues…days 2-6

We are still working out how we want to write about the Camino. There is so much to say about the 30+ day adventure. Below is the easiest way we thought to organize the trip. 

Day 2: Roncesvalles – Zubiri

Distance: 23.1 km

The first few km of day 2 were also full of snow/ice. The benefit of leaving at 6:30-7 AM is that the sun is not all the way up yet so the snow was frozen enough that we could walk on the deeper sections to avoid the iced over patches.

At lunch time we stopped in a little market to buy ingredients for a road sandwich. A road sandwich is something that I (Clay) would often make for us when we drove from Atlanta to Birmingham and didn’t want to stop to eat. It is exactly what you might envision a sandwich to be – lettuce, tomato, cheese, deli meat, mustard, etc, but it was perfectly delicious while driving and great for walking too.

A camino road sandwich is a little different. On the camino you work with what the market give you. This particular market provided pan (bread), chorizo, queso, and peppers. All that we lacked was a knife to cut the bread in half. The knife we found in the market was a 1.50. Surprisingly, when we made it to the cash register to pay, the price jumped to two Euros.

 

This was not a fancy knife or pocket knife, but a knife you would cut your pot roast with on your plate on Sunday afternoons. It was not a sharp knife or a good knife, but now it was ours. When Elizabeth sat down with all our sandwich goods so I could start making the sandwich, the knife slid off the edge of our perch and about ten feet down into a briar patch.

Much cursing was done and I headed down to find the knife, but to no avail. Great way to spend two euro. We bummed a knife from some other pilgrims and made due. Eventually Elizabeth headed down and after several minutes she found the knife (It should be noted that as of 4/27, we still have the knife, around 40 days hauling a crappy knife across all of Spain).

 

Day 3: Zubiri – Pamplona

Distance: 22.7 km

Every 3-4 km on the Camino, there is a town/village to walk through. It allows pilgrims the ability to pack light on food and buy as they go. There are also cafe’s in these towns that allow pilgrims to break for a hot or cold bocadillo instead of buying from a mercado.

We were buying fruit and also stuff to make sandwiches. The trail mix/cocktail mix is disappointing in Spain. They use fried corn kernels, never add raisins and include pistachios…still in their shells. It’s terrible.

The walk this day ended in Pamplona, a city we had already visited.

We slept in another huge albergue, hosting around 150 pilgrims. We met a German girl with an Irish accent, done so to hide the fact that she is German.

She had to endure the first Camino couple we encountered. It happened to involve the Spanish man we met our first night at dinner in Roncesvalles and a seemingly lonely Irish woman. We escaped most of the canoodling while we were out, but our German friend got to experience the sights and sounds of middle aged strangers making out.

When you walk the Camino this time of the year, the crowds tend to be small and you recognize everyone. We would see these same people many times over the next week.

For our dinner, we headed out for pintxos. It is the Basque (yet another divided culture in Spain) version of tapas. It was fine and we enjoyed ourselves, but as we were walking home the streets were filled with the sweet smell of pastries.

We headed into a candy shop, but quickly realized they made nothing and we were in the wrong place. Back on the street we noticed a line had formed in the middle of the road (it was a pedestrian street so no cars would get in the way of the line). We didn’t know what was being served, but thought it must be good.

The line continued to grow behind us and we finally figured out enough information to determine that the shop we were waiting to enter is a famous pastry shop in Pamplona that makes a specific pastry, serves them hot, sells out often, and people buy these pastries by the kilo (which is 2.2 pounds).

We waited 45 minutes to enter the store and were hit with a huge bout of panic as it seemed we were going to have to buy a kilo or more of pastry. That would have been fine on any other trip, but we did not want to haul pounds of pastries up and down mountains.

Of course after eating the pastries, it would have been worth it. The pastry in question was nothing special. It was a small rectangular shaped croissant filled with chocolate. What made it special was the pastry is served hot and fresh like a Krispy Kreme so the chocolate in the middle was melted and still very warm.

We regretted only getting six croissants. We saw others buy 5+ pounds.

Day 4: Pamplona – Puente La Reina

Distance: 25.5 km

Today was split in half. The first half was climbing the mountain. The second half, climbing down. The climb was not as bad as we thought, especially in comparison to our first day on the trail.

The walk was fairly windy (curvy) and very windy (breezy) on the way up the mountain. Although we didn’t stay on the top long, we were surround by amazing wind turbines and a nice set of Camino sculptures. On the way down, we ran into the German girl we met in Pamplona again and a Hawaiian woman (our first American) who had just retired and was looking for adventure. We walked with them for a bit and carried on.

We arrived early to the town and found the albergue for which we had decided to stay. We were in a room full of five Irish girls and later, the same German girl.There were many Irish pilgrims early on in the trip who were taking advantage of Ireland’s long Easter holiday.

The Irish group was doing the Camino in a different fashion than most of us. This particular group of Irish girls sent their backpacks ahead to whatever city they were walking to the next day so they carried nothing on the trail. It is not incredibly uncommon for people to walk that way, particularly older or wealthier pilgrims.

These girls had packed all the essentials for walking across rural Spain. It mostly consisted of outfits and make-up.

Later on in the evening, a group gathered in the albergue common room and talk drifted to European politics. The talk took place between an older Dutch man, a young Dane (who was walking the Camino in 25 days, which is sadistic), and our German friend. It was a great look into people’s perceptions of the situations happening all over Europe.

Thankfully talk stayed away from US politics for the most part, although the Dutchman made it well known that he loved the US and everything it stood for. He also turned out to be an extremely colorful individual, one we would encounter several other times.

Day 5: Puente La Reina – Estella

Distance: 23.4 km

We were awoken very early in the morning and were not happy about it. The Irish girls were up and moving around at 6 AM. Now most albergues ask that you exit around 8 AM. Some of them are nice about it, others not. No one asks you to leave at 6. We still cannot figure out why the Irish girls wanted to get up at 6 AM to walk without backpacks. It is an easy walk most days and even easier without having to carry anything.

For some reason this day, I (Clay) had a rough day walking. We took a really long time to cover a shorter distance. We had lunch really early that day. I took a nap because I felt awful and managed to sweat out whatever was ailing me. I am assuming it did not help that the day was very sunny and we were still not drinking enough water.

I recovered at dinner and made spaghetti and meatballs (from scratch). I know at one point on this trip I revolted against any bocadillo with jamon or chorizo (not the good kind, the Spanish kind) and refused to eat another.The meal turned out great and we enjoyed it with the South African/Canadian friend we had met a few days prior.

Day 6: Estella – Los Arcos

Distance: 23.3 km

We took the long way today. It was supposed to be more scenic and have a peak for better views. We were dragging again so we didn’t get far fast. Elizabeth was having a slow day even in spite of the wine fountain.

In the 90’s, the 1990’s, a winery located in a closed monastery began to offer wine from a tap. They also offer water, but I think it is much less popular. The wine was red and it drank.

We spent the night at an albergue run by Austrians. This was well known to the 10+ Germans that chosed to stay here, but not to us.

Since it was Good Friday, the city was having its Semana Santa procession. It starts in one church and ends in another, some 5-600 meters from one another.

The outfits were colorful and klan-like. The traditional outfits predate the KKK, but it is quite striking to see these outfits being worn in the street on purpose. There are miniature chocolate and white chocolate figures that can be bought in the local confectionery shops. We did not indulge.

That almost sums up our first week on the Camino. Stay tuned for the next installment of the Cornelius Camino.